Application Architect (Fixed Term Contract)

Oxford University Press; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working policy

Job summary

Oxford University Press is seeking an Application Architect to shape the technology behind the OED, Oxford Languages Premium, and related platforms. You will translate business needs into scalable, secure, API-driven solutions across content, editorial, and integration layers, partnering with product and engineering teams.

This role offers hybrid working with at least two days in the Oxford office, an 18-month fixed-term contract, and opportunities to lead architecture initiatives across modern

Qualifications

• Experience designing scalable, API-driven architectures for cloud-native apps.
• Ability to translate business needs into technical roadmaps and solutions.
• Strong collaboration with product, engineering and delivery partners.

Responsibilities

• Define and govern application, API, and data-flow designs.
• Lead architecture work across modern and legacy environments.
• Mentor teams and communicate complex concepts clearly.

Skills

Cloud architecture

APIs & integrations

DevOps

Security & compliance

Leadership & mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS / Azure

Kubernetes

CI/CD tooling

Job description

About the Role

Join Oxford University Press and play a pivotal role in shaping the technology that powers some of the world's most trusted language resources, including the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Oxford Languages Premium, and the platforms that support them. As an Application Architect, you will work across a diverse portfolio of content, editorial, API and integration platforms, helping to design and evolve solutions that enable customers, editors and product teams to access language content securely, reliably and at scale. Working closely with Product Owners, engineering teams and stakeholders, you will translate business requirements into practical technical solutions, guiding the architecture of new products, enhancements, migrations and platform improvements.

This is a highly collaborative role where you will provide technical leadership across internal teams and external delivery partners. You will define and assure application, API, integration and data-flow designs, ensuring that security, accessibility, performance, resilience and maintainability are considered from the outset. You'll be a trusted advisor who can communicate complex technical concepts in a clear and accessible way, helping stakeholders make informed decisions while supporting delivery teams with architecture guidance, technical roadmaps and best practice throughout the development lifecycle.

We're looking for an experienced architect with a strong background in modern software engineering, cloud-hosted applications, APIs, integrations and DevOps practices. You will be comfortable working across both modern and legacy technology environments, identifying opportunities to simplify, standardise and modernise platforms while supporting long-term strategic goals. If you enjoy solving complex technical challenges, influencing technology direction and coaching teams to deliver high-quality solutions that make a real impact for a global audience, we'd love to hear from you.

This is an 18-month fixed term contract. We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.