Solution Architect

Royal London; Alderley Edge; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days annual leave

Private medical insurance

Employer pension scheme

Job summary

Royal London is seeking a Senior Solution Architect to shape modern technology solutions for customers in retirement and annuities. The role involves ownership across multiple initiatives, coaching and mentoring other architects, and influencing strategic technology decisions.

The position offers hybrid working arrangements (50% home, 50% office) in Alderley Park or Glasgow, with a focus on delivering secure, scalable, and customer-centric platforms and digital services.

Qualifications

• Ability to translate business needs into technical designs.
• Experience delivering end-to-end architectures across multiple systems and teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Understanding of non-functional requirements and their impact on design.

Responsibilities

• Design end-to-end solutions for complex business and technology initiatives.
• Translate business needs into practical architecture.
• Shape solutions with a mix of bespoke, cloud-based and third-party technologies.
• Support platform modernisation and digital self-service improvements.
• Ensure security, resilience, performance, and operability considerations are integral to designs.
• Explain architectural options to stakeholders with clear recommendations.
• Collaborate across delivery teams, business areas, and technology partners.

Skills

Solution architecture

Stakeholder management

Cloud architecture

Non-functional requirements

Cross-team collaboration

Tools

Azure

Job description

Contract Type: Perm
Location: Alderley Park or Glasgow
Working Style: Hybrid - 50% from home / 50% office base

Right To Work: Only candidates whopossess a valid right to work in the UK or Eligibility to work in Ireland will beable to undertakethis role. Unfortunately, Royal London are unable to offer visa sponsorship

We have exciting opportunities for a Senior Solution Architect to join Royal London's Longstanding Customers & Annuities business area. You'll help shape modern technology solutions that support customers throughout retirement, contributing to significant change across annuities, retirement journeys and digital services. From modernising longstanding platforms to improving online self-service, your work will help us deliver more accessible and effective experiences for our customers.

This is an opportunity to influence important technology decisions, work across complex business initiatives and contribute to the continued growth of Royal London's annuity business. You'll also take ownership across multiple initiatives, provide strategic oversight and support the development of other architects through coaching, mentoring and workload leadership.

About the role

• You'll also take greater ownership across multiple initiatives, provide strategic oversight and support the development of other architects through coaching, mentoring and workload leadership.
• Design end-to-end solutions for complex business and technology initiatives.
• Translate business needs and customer outcomes into practical, deliverable architecture.
• Shape solutions using a combination of bespoke, cloud-based and third-party technologies.
• Support the modernisation of platforms serving longstanding customers.
• Help enhance customer portals and digital self-service capabilities.
• Consider security, resilience, performance, supportability and other non-functional requirements throughout the design process.
• Explain architectural options and provide clear recommendations to business and technology stakeholders.
• Work collaboratively across delivery teams, business areas, technology partners and suppliers.
• Ensure solutions align with wider architecture principles, standards and strategic direction.

What you'll bring

• Strong experience designing and delivering sizeable, complex solutions.
• The ability to translate business requirements into clear technical designs.
• Experience creating end-to-end solution architectures across multiple systems, teams and technologies.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills.
• Confidence explaining and justifying architectural decisions.
• Experience balancing customer needs, business priorities and technical considerations.
• A clear understanding of non-functional requirements and how they influence solution design.
• The ability to collaborate effectively across business and technology teams.

Desirable experience

• Integration architecture.
• Microsoft Azure or another cloud environment.
• Digital or customer-facing solution delivery.
• Financial services or another regulated industry. (Financial services experience is helpful but not essential. We're more interested in your architecture capability, approach to solution design and ability to influence successful outcomes).

About Royal London

We're the UK's largest mutual life, pensions and investment company, offering protection, long-term savings and asset management products and services.

Our People Promise to our colleagues is that we will all work somewhere inclusive, responsible, enjoyable and fulfilling. This is underpinned by our Spirit of Royal London values; Empowered, Trustworthy, Collaborate, Achieve.

We've always been proud to reward employees by offering great workplace benefits such as 28 days annual leave in addition to bank holidays, an up to 14% employer matching pension scheme and private medical insurance.

Inclusion, diversity and belonging

We're an inclusive employer. We celebrate and value different backgrounds and cultures across Royal London. Our diverse people and perspectives give us a range of skills which are recognised and respected - whatever their background.