Solution Architect

UCL; City Of London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

41 Days holiday

Defined benefit pension scheme

Cycle to work scheme

On-site gym

Enhanced parental leave pay

Job summary

UCL is seeking a Solution Architect to join its Information Services Division (ISD). The successful candidate will lead solution design and collaborate closely with stakeholders and teams to develop scalable and maintainable outcomes. This role is crucial for shaping UCL's digital services in a complex environment.

Candidates should have proven experience within large organisations, strong analytical skills, and the ability to translate strategic goals into practical solutions. UCL offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous holiday entitlement and a supportive work environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience within large, complex organisations.
• Capability to shape resilient, scalable solutions.
• Experience in multidisciplinary product teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead solution design in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Translate strategic priorities into pragmatic solutions.
• Provide clear direction while engaging hands-on.

Skills

End-to-end solution architectures

Analytical skills

Strong communication

Technical breadth across technology stacks

Education

Experience or qualifications in TOGAF and/or SAFe

Job description

Information Services Division (ISD) is the primary provider of IT services to UCL. We support and enhance learning, teaching, research and administrative processes by providing information- and technology-related services to over 50,000 staff and students of UCL and associated institutions. Our goal is to be the top IT services group in the HE sector and we are growing our team's capability in AI, experience/UX, agile development, security, cloud, service management and partnering. We are modernising our technology foundations, digitising the processes of the university to transform experience for students and staff, and partnering across the university to drive differentiation in UCL education and research.

The Solution Architecture Team is part of a wider team of Architects including Enterprise, Platform, Data, Integration and AI Architecture teams who are responsible for defining and governing architecture, driving solution design, and maintaining the repository to include current and future states.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join UCL's Information Services Division (ISD) as a Solution Architect to help deliver excellence whilst continually evolving and progressing at this globally recognised top 10 university.

About the role

We are seeking a Solution Architect with a proven ability to operate at the intersection of strategy, technology, and delivery, and who is motivated by shaping meaningful change within a complex and intellectually vibrant organisation. This is a high-impact role for an experienced architect or similar who wants to influence how UCL designs, builds, and evolves its digital services across programmes, platforms, and product areas.

You will lead solution design in close collaboration with stakeholders, fellow architects, delivery teams, and external partners. Translating strategic priorities into pragmatic, resilient solutions, you will help shape architectural standards, patterns, and governance while remaining close to delivery. Acting as a trusted advisor to product owners, you will balance enterprise-level outcomes with hands‑on architectural depth to address complex challenges with broad institutional impact.

*If we get a high number of applications, we may close the advert early before the published closing date. As a minimum we will keep all adverts open for 2 weeks*

About you

What you'll bring:

• Proven experience working within large, complex organisations, with the ability to understand strategic drivers and translate them into practical, deliverable solution designs that meet real business and user needs
• The capability to shape end‑to‑end solution architectures, balancing strategic intent with delivery constraints to produce resilient, scalable, and maintainable outcomes
• Experience within multidisciplinary product teams, including product owners, business analysts, technical leads, software engineers, test engineers, user experience and accessibility practitioners, DevOps, security, operations, and external partners
• The ability to operate at both strategic and detailed levels, providing clear direction while engaging hands‑on with design decisions, trade‑offs, and implementation approaches
• A pragmatic mindset, with strong analytical skills and the ability to navigate complexity, ambiguity, and competing priorities in a matrix environment
• Solid technical breadth across modern technology stacks, including cloud platforms, integration patterns, APIs, identity, and application architectures
• Experience translating architectural principles and standards into actionable guidance for delivery teams, supporting consistency without creating unnecessary friction
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly and build alignment among diverse stakeholders
• A collaborative approach and interest in contributing to architectural communities of practice, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement
• Experience or qualifications in TOGAF and/or SAFe (or equivalent frameworks) are advantageous, but not essential.

What we offer

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays, and 6 closure days)
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On‑site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women