Head of Architecture & Applications
Warner Hotels
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Warner Hotels in Hemel Hempstead is seeking a Head of Architecture & Applications to define the target architecture across 160+ services, lead the enterprise architecture and govern the application portfolio, and accelerate automation to align with business strategy.
You will own the enterprise architecture framework, define standards and guardrails, and lead architecture reviews for major changes, ensuring architecture decisions support business goals with CTO sponsorship.
Qualifications
- An Architect with Commercial Edge: you can design elegant systems and justify their value.
- A Portfolio Thinker: you see the whole estate, not just individual applications.
- A Pragmatist: you know when to ship rather than chase perfection.
- A Communicator: you explain architecture clearly to business leaders and engineers.
- Extensive experience in architecture or application portfolio leadership.
- Demonstrable experience rationalising complex application estates.
Responsibilities
- Define & Own the Enterprise Architecture.
- Establish and maintain Warner's enterprise architecture framework across application, data, integration and infrastructure layers.
- Define target architecture principles, standards and guardrails.
- Lead architecture reviews for significant change initiatives.
- Own the full application portfolio — 160+ services across domains.
- Lead the application rationalisation roadmap and vendor/licence management.
- Define Warner's integration architecture: API-first, event-driven.
- Govern the integration landscape to reduce complexity and technical debt.
- Collaborate with Data & Digital Engineering to align data platforms and products.
- Contribute to IT strategy and chair architecture governance forums.
- Provide technology roadmapping to give business visibility into the estate's direction.
Skills
Tools
Job description
Warner Hotels operates a portfolio of 100+ technology services across a modern, cloud-first estate — but the application landscape is fragmented, point-to-point integrations are the norm, and there is no enterprise architecture function to govern where the estate is going. The result is cost, complexity, and constraint on the business's ability to grow.
We are looking for a Head of Architecture & Applications who can bring order, clarity and direction to this landscape. This role sits at the intersection of technical rigour and commercial pragmatism — someone who can define the target architecture, govern the application portfolio, and ensure that every application Warner runs is earning its place.
As the owner of Warner's enterprise architecture and application portfolio, you will define how the technology estate should evolve — across commercial applications (iStay, Maestro, Zonal), corporate platforms (ERPx, ElementSuite, Coupa), and the integrations that connect them. You will set and govern architecture standards, lead the application rationalisation agenda, accelerate automation, and ensure that our platform choices support — not constrain — the business's strategic ambitions.
- Clean mandate: The architecture function does not exist today — you will build it from the ground up with full CTO sponsorship.
- Rationalisation and AI Enabled automation agenda to drive.
Define & Own the Enterprise Architecture
- Establish and maintain Warner's enterprise architecture framework — covering application, data, integration, and infrastructure layers.
- Define target architecture principles, standards, and guardrails that all technology decisions are measured against.
- Lead architecture reviews for all significant change initiatives, ensuring alignment to the target state.
- Own the full application portfolio — 160+ services across commercial, hotel operations, F&B, corporate and back-office domains
- Lead the application rationalisation roadmap: identifying duplication, underutilisation and consolidation opportunities.
- Manage application vendor relationships and licence agreements, ensuring value for money and strategic alignment.
- Define Warner's integration architecture — moving from point-to-point towards an API-first, event-driven model.
- Govern the integration landscape to reduce complexity, eliminate technical debt, and improve reliability.
- Work closely with the Head of Data & Digital Engineering to ensure the data platform and digital products are built on sound integration foundations.
- Contribute to the overall IT strategy — specifically the 'Simplify the Core' pillar.
- Chair architecture governance forums and ensure all significant technology decisions are reviewed, documented, and aligned.
- Provide technology roadmapping capability, ensuring the business has visibility of where the estate is going and why.
- Enterprise architecture frameworks (TOGAF or equivalent).
- Application portfolio management across SaaS and on-premise.
- Power Automate / RPA
- Integration patterns: API-first, event-driven, microservices.
- Hospitality application landscape: PMS (Maestro), POS (Zonal), booking engines (iStay), ERP (ERPx/Unit4), HCM (ElementSuite).
- Cloud architecture: AWS and Azure.
- An Architect with Commercial Edge: You can design elegant systems and also make the business case for why they matter.
- A Portfolio Thinker: You see the whole estate, not just individual applications. You can rationalise as well as build.
- A Pragmatist: You know when 'good enough and deployed' beats 'perfect and delayed'.
- A Communicator: You can explain architecture decisions to a Finance Director as clearly as to an engineer.
- You'll have extensive experience within technology roles, working within architecture or application portfolio leadership.
- Demonstrable experience rationalising complex application estates.
- Hospitality, retail or multi-site consumer sector experience strongly preferred
- Annual Bonus
- Pension scheme: 3% employer, 5% employee
- 25 days annual leave per year + flexible 8 bank holidays + you can purchase up to 5 days additional leave per year
- 20% discount at breaks at Warner, Butlins & Haven + additional discounts during your stays
- Help @ Hand from Unum - including virtual GP, Physiotherapy support, Mental Health sessions
- Life Assurance
- Free Car Parking
- Electric Vehicle scheme
- Enhanced Family Friendly policies
- Refer a friend scheme
- Aslan: Our Reward & recognition portal includes access to a financial wellbeing platform
- Access to a discounts platform including a points based discount plan to increase your retail discounts
- Employee Assistance Programme
- L&G Care Concierge
- Glow Getters and Long Service Awards
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