Lead Solution Architect

You'll join AQA at an exciting point in our transformation journey, where technology is central to how we improve the assessment experience for learners, teachers, and internal users. As Lead Solution Architect, you'll shape the solutions that underpin our digital products and services, working across a diverse and evolving technology landscape. You'll help us modernise how assessments are designed, delivered, and supported, while enabling teams to innovate with clarity and confidence. You'll play a key role in building a strong architectural capability creating ways of working, championing best practice, and guiding the organisation to make decisions that balance ambition, practicality, and long term value., You'll lead the Solution Architecture function within Assessment Technology, defining and evolving the standards, principles and frameworks that guide how solutions are created across the organisation. You'll support wider architectural alignment by working closely with the Enterprise Architect, Lead Data Architect and Lead Cloud Architect, ensuring decisions reflect AQA's strategic direction. You'll enable product, engineering, and business teams to shape solution options effectively simplifying complexity, aligning technology choices to outcomes, and building shared understanding across senior stakeholders., In this role, you'll be responsible for:

• Defining and maintaining solution architecture standards, principles, and frameworks.
• Leading and managing a team of Solution Architects, supporting their development and embedding best practice.
• Collaborating across product, technology, and business domains to evaluate solution options and shape clear recommendations.
• Providing architectural oversight and governance across initiatives, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture, data strategy, and security policies.

What we are looking for

You'll thrive in this role if you:

• Bring solution architecture experience across complex or multi-domain environments.
• Are confident engaging with senior stakeholders and translating architectural thinking for non-technical audiences.
• Have a strong technical background and understanding of modern architectural practices, especially cloud-native approaches
• Are collaborative, inquisitive, and comfortable challenging thinking constructively.
• Can lead, mentor, and inspire a team even if you've not had formal line management responsibilities before.

Do you have experience in Solution architecture?

• Shape the future of solution architecture at AQA and influence enterprise wide decision making.
• 25 days' annual leave, rising to 30 with service, plus bank holidays and extra closure days at Christmas
• a 35-hour working week with flexible working arrangements
• an excellent contributory pension scheme (6%-11.5% depending on your contribution)
• life assurance, BUPA PMI, and health cash plan

At AQA, we are committed to fostering a workplace that celebrates diversity and promotes equity and inclusion. We believe that a diverse team brings richer perspectives and drives better outcomes. Our ED&I strategy ensures that everyone regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, age, disability, sexual orientation, or background is valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and lived experiences.