Solution Architect

Marks and Spencer; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A renowned retail company in London is seeking an experienced Architect to shape end-to-end solutions in a hybrid role. You will lead design efforts, ensure alignment with technical strategy, and mentor teams. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of experience in digital transformation. This role offers competitive benefits and supports innovation in a collaborative environment.

Benefits

20% discount on M&S products

Competitive holiday allowance

Discretionary bonus schemes

Strong pension and life assurance

Tailored induction and training

Exclusive perks and savings

Market-leading family policies

24/7 wellbeing support

One paid volunteer day a year

Qualifications

• 5+ years in large-scale digital transformation.
• Ability to translate complex landscapes into outcome-driven architectures.
• Deep understanding of emerging platforms and retail experience.

Responsibilities

• Shape end-to-end solution architecture and develop roadmaps.
• Drive architectural guardrails and promote continuous improvement.
• Guide teams and coach engineers to achieve high performance.

Skills

Solution architecture expertise

End-to-end design skills

Strong engineering and technology knowledge

Leadership and influence

Commercial and strategic acumen

Job description

All the details

Summary

As an integral member of the M&S Architecture team, you'll be joining a well-loved, historic brand with technology solutions that serve millions of customers and empower thousands of colleagues every year. At M&S, we're transforming and modernising our approach to technology, ensuring the business continues to differentiate through strategic technology investments and growing our architecture capability as a key enabler.

As an Architect at M&S you will provide technical expertise within a retail environment. Being creative and curious, you will be an integral part our of empowered, self-managing technology teams- scoping, designing and supporting Products and Platforms in collaboration with others across architecture, platform and engineering teams. You will lead on design of elegant and robust solutions that solve complex problems for our customers and colleagues.

What you\'ll do

• Shape end-to-end solution architecture - develop roadmaps, target states, and transition plans that balance business goals, technology, and cost effectiveness.
• Own design and delivery - ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, technical strategy, and standards, securing approvals where needed.
• Drive architectural guardrails - promote policy-as-code, continuous improvement, and alignment across squads, tribes, and the wider engineering community.
• Provide leadership and mentorship - guide teams, simplify complex ideas for diverse stakeholders, and coach engineers to achieve high performance.
• Champion innovation and alignment - evaluate emerging tech, define patterns and standards, and represent the Architecture Community in shaping partner and enterprise decisions.

Who you are

• Proven solution architecture expertise - 5+ years in large-scale digital transformation, with recent experience applying emerging technologies and Agile ways of working.
• End-to-end design skills - ability to translate complex technical, people, and process landscapes into clear, outcome-driven architectures.
• Strong engineering and technology knowledge - deep understanding of current and emerging platforms, with retail or enterprise-scale experience a plus.
• Leadership and influence - skilled at coaching teams, guiding change, and engaging senior stakeholders through clear, customer-focused communication.
• Commercial and strategic acumen - experienced in balancing risk, compliance, cost, and benefit to drive innovation and sustainable business outcomes.

What\'s in it for you?

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We\'re inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you\'ve completed your probation
• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more
• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours
• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future
• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one
• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal
• Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave
• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services
• One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you

Everyone\'s welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We\'re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We\'re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you\'d benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don\'t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

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