Head of Architecture

ARC IT Recruitment; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

ARC IT Recruitment is seeking a Head of Architecture for a global financial advisory group in London. Hybrid work with leadership across infrastructure, applications, security and data.

You will report to the CTO, guide governance, and remain hands-on on complex enterprise-scale designs while growing the architecture function.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in IT architecture leadership.
• MS and Azure background.
• TOGAF qualified ideally.
• Ability to win buy-in from stakeholders.
• Strong communicator at senior levels.
• Experience shaping architecture strategy and governance.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead an architecture team across infra, apps, security and data.
• Define principles, patterns and standards and drive adoption.
• Own design governance with PMO, CISO, GRC and app teams.
• Represent architecture in senior forums and with stakeholders.
• Shape technology strategy, roadmap and debt management.
• Lead design on enterprise-scale solutions as hands-on architect.

Skills

Leadership

Azure

MS Stack

TOGAF

Stakeholder engagement

Architecture governance

Education

TOGAF certified

Tools

Azure

Microsoft Stack

Job description

Head of Architecture | Global Financial Advisory Group | London (Hybrid)

Highly competitve £ and total comp

A leading global financial services group is hiring a Head of Architecture to lead and grow its Group IT Architecture function, with scope across Infrastructure, Business Applications, Security and Data.

Overseeing a growing team of architects, this is a critial role to the business. What matters most here is leadership. You'll be the person who builds credibility for architecture across the business, wins buy-in from sceptical stakeholders, and turns governance from a blocker into something teams actually want to use.

You'll report to the CTO, sit on the senior IT leadership agenda, and remain hands-on: leading design on complex, enterprise-scale systems alongside running the function.

What you'll be doing:

• Building and leading a team of architects covering infrastructure, applications, security and data
• Defining architecture principles, patterns and standards, and driving their adoption across engineering and business teams
• Owning design governance, working closely with PMO, CISO, GRC and business application teams
• Representing architecture at senior forums, presenting to business stakeholders and leadership
• Shaping technology strategy, roadmap and technical debt management
• Leading design on complex, enterprise-scale solutions as a hands-on architect

What they're looking for:

• 10+ years in IT architecture leadership
• MS and Azure background
• TOGAF qualified ideally, strong grounding in enterprise architecture frameworks
• A track record of getting a business to genuinely value architecture, not just tolerate it
• Comfortable having direct conversations, including difficult ones, with both stakeholders and your own team
• Strong communicator, confident presenting to large and senior audiences

Based in the City of London, hybrid working, with occasional european travel.