Solutions Architect

The Open University
Central Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
5 days ago

Role details

Contract type
Temporary contract
Employment type
Full-time (> 32 hours)
Working hours
Regular working hours
Languages
English
Compensation
£ 57K

Job location

Remote
Central Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Tech stack

API
Agile Methodologies
Cloud Computing
Togaf

Job description

This is an excellent opportunity for a Solutions Architects to join our Digital Services team. You will work with the business, analysts, and the technical team to architect solutions that enable our staff to deliver fantastic services to our students, owning the solution architecture from inception through to delivery.

Your design role will be varied, including solutions utilising cloud technologies and integrating them using APIs. You may be overseeing the architecture for brand new products, delivered via Strategic Programmes or architecting changes to existing Open University systems. You will ensure that Architecture is aligned to our strategic direction and adheres to our principles and processes.

As part of the wider architecture community, you will work to shape our architecture, developing patterns and standards, and supporting your colleagues to achieve their goals., * Defining and documenting IT solutions that:

  • Align to the business functional and non-functional requirements.
  • Align to the cost and timeframes expected by the business and IT.
  • Align to University and IT strategy.
  • Align to principles, policies, standards, and patterns, raising design exceptions as required.
  • Defining repeatable patterns and standards that aid future projects to be aligned to IT strategy .
  • Communicating the defined solution to all stakeholders and obtaining relevant approval.
  • Acting as an advisor to technical and business community on architectural issues.
  • Ensuring that the solutions delivered align to the documented and approved solution.
  • Helping to shape new requests and demand as part of the IT pipeline process.
  • The Solution Architect will also be involved with:
  • Defining long-term roadmaps
  • Investigative work to identify new opportunities
  • Providing support during triage of incidents
  • Chairing design authorities
  • Evangelising architecture principals and approaches in the wider IT and business communities., You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.

Requirements

Do you have experience in TOGAF?, * A degree level qualification with a significant computing element or relevant industry experience.

  • Demonstrable understanding of IT architectural frameworks such as TOGAF.
  • Proven ability to design and document solutions based on business requirements.
  • Evidence of excellent written and verbal communications with the ability to deliver messages in a language relevant to the audiences.
  • Experience of successfully working with agile development teams including both internal staff, external suppliers, and consultancies.
  • Excellent skills of negotiation, influencing and conflict resolution.
  • An ability to gain influence and trust with business and technical stakeholders, including third-parties at all levels of an organisation.

Desirable:

  • Evidence of successfully working in a Solution Architect role.
  • Knowledge and experience of designing cloud-based architectures and solutions.
  • An ability to work with business users to understand and refine their requirements.

Benefits & conditions

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it's a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We'd expect this to be on average 1-2 times per week. Next steps in the Recruitment process

About the company

The Open University is the UK's largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

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