Application Architect

HotSchedules; Macclesfield; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 holidays

Hybrid work

Gym discounts

Laptop provided

Healthcare claims

Certifications sponsorship

Annual meetups

Pension and life insurance

On-demand pay

Job summary

Fourth LTD is seeking an experienced Application Architect to shape the architecture of strategic initiatives across the organization. You will provide hands-on architectural leadership within delivery teams, guiding engineers to design scalable, maintainable, and resilient software solutions.

Working as part of the Enterprise Architecture group, you will collaborate with architects across disciplines to tackle complex challenges, champion engineering excellence, and evolve AI-enabled

Qualifications

• Demonstrable hands-on experience in application or software architecture and engineering.
• Strong knowledge of design patterns and architectural styles (microservices, event-driven, layered).
• Experience with modern application frameworks and technologies.
• Experience with API design for microservices and distributed systems.
• Excellent collaboration and problem-solving skills with the ability to document complex solutions.
• Ability to lead and manage projects and teams in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Deliver the application architecture for strategic projects and programmes, ensuring scalable, maintainable, secure solutions.
• Provide hands-on architectural leadership within delivery teams and guide decisions from concept to delivery.
• Apply and evolve architecture standards, patterns and engineering principles through practical delivery.
• Produce architectural designs, decision records, and technical documentation for long-term maintainability.
• Participate in architecture, design, and code reviews and provide constructive feedback.
• Collaborate with business, product, engineering, and other architects to translate requirements into high-quality solutions.
• Own the architectural direction of assigned initiatives balancing business and technical needs.
• Identify risks and technical debt and develop remediation plans.
• Research, evaluate, and recommend new technologies to improve engineering effectiveness.

Skills

Architecture design

Microservices

APIs & distributed systems

Azure cloud

AI tools awareness

Leadership

Collaboration

Job description

Our Story

In July 2019, Fourth joined forces with HotSchedules to become the global leader in end-to-end restaurant and hospitality management technology solutions. Together, the merged company now represents the world’s largest and only provider of end-to-end restaurant and hospitality management solutions for customers across the globe and of all sizes, from a single location or franchisee restaurant to a global restaurant or hotel chain. The combined company’s complete software-as-service (SaaS) solution suite including scheduling, time & attendance, applicant tracking, training, inventory management / procurement, HR / benefits and payroll services now serves customers in 120,000 locations worldwide and is supported by a dedicated, unified team across offices in the US, UK, Bulgaria, China, Australia, and UAE.

Interested in joining our smart, fun, and talented team?

Position Overview

We are seeking a motivated Application Architect to help shape the architecture of key strategic initiatives across Fourth. Working as an embedded member of delivery teams, you will provide hands-on architectural leadership, helping engineers design, build and evolve scalable, maintainable and resilient software solutions.

You will apply Fourth's application architecture standards, patterns and engineering principles, while contributing to their ongoing evolution through practical delivery experience. Working closely with software engineers, technical leads and fellow architects, you will balance technical quality with pragmatic delivery, ensuring architectural decisions support both immediate project needs and the long-term direction of the platform.

As part of the wider Enterprise Architecture team, you will collaborate with architects across multiple disciplines to solve complex technical challenges, champion engineering excellence, and leverage AI-assisted software engineering to rapidly prototype, validate and deliver high-quality solutions. You will also help evolve modern AI-enabled engineering practices, enabling teams to adopt AI safely and effectively while improving engineering productivity across Fourth's so,ware portfolio.

Primary Responsibilities

• Deliver the application architecture for strategic projects and programmes, ensuring solutions are scalable, maintainable, secure, and aligned with Fourth's architectural direction.
• Provide hands-on architectural leadership within delivery teams, working alongside engineers to solve complex technical challenges and guide architectural decision making from concept through to delivery.
• Apply and contribute to the evolution of Fourth's application architecture standards, patterns, and engineering principles through practical delivery experience.
• Produce architectural designs, decision records, and technical documentation that clearly communicate solution intent and support long-term maintainability.
• Participate in architecture, design, and code reviews, providing constructive feedback and helping ensure consistency with established architectural principles.
• Collaborate with business, product, engineering, and fellow architects to understand requirements and translate them into pragmatic, high-quality technical solutions.
• Own the architectural direction of assigned initiatives, balancing business objectives, technical quality, operational considerations, and long-term maintainability.
• Identify technical risks, architectural debt, and opportunities for improvement, working with engineering teams to develop practical remediation plans.
• Design and evolve AI-assisted software engineering practices, tooling, and delivery pipelines that enable teams to build software safely, efficiently, and consistently.
• Use AI-assisted development tools to prototype, validate, and deliver architectural solutions, reference implementations, and production-quality software where appropriate.
• Research, evaluate, and recommend new technologies, frameworks, and architectural approaches that improve engineering effectiveness and deliver measurable business value.
• Champion the adoption of AI and emerging technologies to enhance application capabilities, engineering productivity, and software quality.
• Share knowledge, mentor engineers and technical leads, and contribute to the continuous improvement of Fourth's architecture and engineering communities.

Preferred Experience And/or Qualifications

• Demonstrable, hands-on experience in application or software architecture and engineering.
• Strong knowledge of application design patterns and architectural styles (e.g. microservices, event-driven, layered).
• Experience with modern application frameworks and technologies.
• Experience with API design, microservices, and distributed systems architecture.
• Excellent collaboration and problem-solving skills with the ability to document and communicate complex solutions.
• Ability to lead and manage projects and teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency in one or more programming or scripting languages.
• Solid understanding of the end-to-end Software Development Lifecycle.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (preferably Microsoft Azure) and their application services.
• Awareness of or hands-on experience with AI tools and technologies, and their application in software development and engineering productivity.

Benefits

• Holidays. We all need to rest so you get 25 basic holidays with the option to grow up to 30 with service + your birthday off + bank holidays!
• Flexible working! Use our flexible working hours and hybrid working environments to manage it.
• Wellness activities and a lot of pampering included. On top of that, you can add gym subscription discounts.
• Laptop and equipment.
• Healthcare expense claim tools!
• Like in life, at work we also want you to grow with certifications.
• Annual meet ups!
• Enhanced parenting scheme!
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan provided.
• Pension and life insurance? Several, for you to choose what looks convenient.
• On demand pay tools for you to be able to access salary even before the end of the month!

All personal data provided by you in your application will be processed by Fourth LTD solely for our recruitment purposes. More information on Fourth LTD's privacy policy for job candidates is available here and by applying you confirm that you have read it.

Fourth is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration without discrimination because of sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, age, national origin, military status, religion, or disability or any other legally protected status.