Solutions Architect

About the role

The Solutions Architect reviews and guides end-to-end solution designs for project and business-as-usual initiatives across applications, infrastructure, integrations, data and cloud. The role ensures solutions align with business needs, enterprise architecture standards, approved technology direction, corporate policies, regulatory requirements and governance frameworks. It sits in the EA & Data Platform team within the Group Technology Office (GTO) Operations Pillar and works closely with the AI Pillar, GTO Infrastructure, Enterprise Platforms & Solutions, Digital Governance and the CISO team.

Key responsibilities

• Review and guide solution architectures for projects and day-to-day initiatives, covering applications, infrastructure, integrations, data, cloud, resilience, security and operational readiness.
• Guide integration architecture across enterprise platforms, including ERP, the Enterprise Data and AI Platform, robotics and operational technology.
• Assess SaaS, PaaS, cloud-hosted and hybrid designs, including integrations, APIs, extensibility, identity dependencies, vendor constraints, data requirements, security and resilience.
• Identify improvements to performance, scalability, reliability, maintainability, compliance and cost-effectiveness.
• Ensure compliance with enterprise standards and regulations, coordinate data, AI and cybersecurity reviews, and document risks, exceptions and remediation actions.
• Review architecture diagrams, integration models, application views and transition designs, and develop reusable solution patterns and reference architectures.
• Support requestors preparing for architecture governance reviews and maintain approved application, interface, technology, ownership and lifecycle information in the enterprise architecture repository.
• Lead build-versus-buy, platform, product and vendor assessments, and provide architecture assurance through detailed design, delivery and transition to operations.
• Communicate architecture options, decisions, risks and trade-offs to technical and non-technical stakeholders, and assess emerging technologies.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering or a related discipline.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant technology experience, including responsibility for solution architecture, technical design or architecture assurance.
• Experience assessing how application, integration, data, hosting, resilience, security and operational support decisions affect feasibility, maintainability and cost-effectiveness.
• Experience reviewing design blueprints, supporting architecture governance forums and maintaining enterprise architecture repositories.
• Experience assessing build-versus-buy options, vendor solutions and total cost of ownership, and challenging system-integrator proposals.

Required skills

• Strong working knowledge of enterprise architecture, cloud and hybrid environments, SaaS and PaaS, integration and API patterns, data governance, cybersecurity, resilience, regulatory compliance and application lifecycle management.
• Familiarity with SAP LeanIX and TOGAF or equivalent architecture frameworks and tools is advantageous.
• Experience with ERP integration, operational technology, IoT, real-time platforms, enterprise data platforms or AI-enabled solutions is advantageous.