Solution Design Authority Engineer

We're looking for an experienced Solution Design Authority Engineer to take ownership of end-to-end solution design and design governance across complex network/infrastructure change initiatives. You'll act as the technical authority ensuring solutions are fit-for-purpose, secure, supportable, and aligned to enterprise standards-while enabling delivery teams to execute at pace., * Own and assure solution designs from early discovery through to delivery handover (HLD/LLD as required).

• Provide technical authority and governance, ensuring designs align to architecture, security, operational, and commercial constraints.

• Lead/drive design forums (eg, design reviews, technical authority boards) and manage design sign-off.

• Translate business requirements into clear, implementable technical solutions, balancing risk, cost, time, and quality.

• Produce and maintain design artefacts such as:

• Solution design documents (HLD/LLD)

• Option analysis & trade-offs

• Interface/integration designs

• Implementation approach, assumptions, dependencies, and constraints

• RAID items (risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies) relevant to design

Collaborate with internal/external delivery partners (engineering, vendors, managed service providers) to ensure build aligns to approved design.

Ensure solutions meet security and compliance expectations (eg, secure-by-design, threat considerations, design hardening).

Support operational readiness: non-functional requirements, monitoring, support model, acceptance criteria, and handover documentation.

Provide clear technical leadership to engineers and stakeholders-removing ambiguity and unblocking delivery.

• Proven experience operating as a Solution Design Authority/Design Authority/Lead Solution Designer in complex environments.

• Strong background in network and infrastructure solution design (enterprise-grade, multi-site, high-availability).

• Strong documentation skills: producing high-quality HLD/LLD and running design governance properly.

• Solid understanding of:

• Network architecture/design (LAN/WAN, routing/switching, segmentation)

• Security-by-design principles (firewalls, secure connectivity, identity considerations)

• Resilience, performance, capacity, and operational supportability

Comfortable managing senior stakeholders and driving decisions in ambiguous situations.

Experience working within structured delivery frameworks (Agile/Waterfall/hybrid) and with multiple suppliers.

Desirable/Nice to Have

• Telco/large enterprise experience (highly relevant for Vodafone-scale environments).
• Experience with SD-WAN, cloud connectivity, zero trust, SASE, NAC, or large-scale transformation programmes.
• Formal architecture/design qualifications (eg, TOGAF) - beneficial but not essential.
• Security clearance (SC) if required for specific programmes.

• Reason for hire: Increased workload/demand - need additional contract Solution Design Authority (SDA) capability to support delivery., This is a contract role, suited to someone comfortable working in large-scale, multi-stakeholder environments with strong design assurance discipline.