Solution Architect

New Look; Newcastle-under-Lyme; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fashion retailer in the UK is seeking a Solutions Architect to provide technical solution designs and guidance for retail and supply chain programmes. The role requires extensive experience in omnichannel solutions and strong interpersonal skills to work with stakeholders. Competitive benefits include staff discounts and a contributory pension scheme. Flexible working patterns may be considered.

Benefits

40% staff discount

Monthly 25% off vouchers

Season ticket loans

Contributory pension scheme

Virtual GP access

Qualifications

• Previous experience as Architect or Senior Engineer on large programmes.
• Previous experience in Omnichannel Retail and Supply Chain solutions.
• Experience coordinating multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical solution designs and implementation guidance.
• Contribute to the architecture community through development of artefacts.
• Lead vendor selection activities, engaging stakeholders.

Skills

Technical leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Solution design

Cloud solutions

Interpersonal skills

Education

Degree in IT or related topic

Tools

Azure

AWS

GCP

Terraform

Job description

From our first store in the 1960s, a little Taunton shop with great clothes and even better prices, to an omni‑channel business serving millions of customers… we're New Look.

Our purpose is always to inspire That New Look Feeling and we believe that starts with us. Our values motivate us every day : we play to win, we’re customer‑obsessed and we work as one.

It's a busy and exciting time for the brand and we’re on the hunt for a Solutions Architect to join our team.

The Role

Responsible for providing technical solution designs and implementation guidance for complex retail and supply chain programmes.

The role works closely with business stakeholders, delivery and support teams as well as the wider architecture community to implement key technologies that deliver cost‑effective business change.

Senior Solution Architects contribute to the strategy definition and generation of road‑maps for applications in business domains, ensuring a vision for key technologies is understood by stakeholders across the organisation.

Responsibilities

Strategy, Governance & Planning

• Establish or improve controls around applications and solution components to ensure they are cost‑effective, secure, compliant, performant, scalable and supported.
• Accountable for the technical and commercial viability of proposed solution designs.
• Responsible for defining and ensuring that solution designs comply with best practice throughout project design, delivery and into support.
• Contribute to the architecture community at New Look through continual development of our artefacts, methodologies and processes, and identification and assessment of new and emerging technologies.
• Establish and communicate a cost‑effective and viable vision for applications and their components, managing their evolution through a multi‑year roadmap.

Solution Design

• Generate and evaluate commercial and technical options that meet business requirements.
• Support the analysis of business and technical requirements, identifying risks, benefits and opportunities.
• Maintain an accurate set of architectural assets including as‑is views, road‑maps, best practices and standards across a range of applications.
• Actively support stakeholders including other architects, technical managers, engineers, testers, and business SMEs to assure the quality of delivered solutions.
• Provide technical leadership for the design of technology solutions.
• Research, understand and provide briefings on technology innovation to internal stakeholders.
• Create and maintain strong relationships with external organisations to establish best practice and technology‑fit for the organisation.
• Lead vendor selection activities, engaging stakeholders throughout the process.

About You

• A degree in IT or related topic, or equivalent industrial experience.
• Previous experience as Architect, Technical Analyst, Senior Engineer on large programmes using both Agile and Waterfall project methodologies.
• Previous experience designing and delivering change in Omnichannel Retail and Supply Chain solutions.
• Experience co‑ordinating in‑house and 3rd party multi‑disciplinary teams, both on‑site and offshore.
• Proficiency in methods and techniques for structured reviews, including reviews of key design decisions, non‑functional requirements, technical documents, test plans, business cases and other key deliverables.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work with business stakeholders to establish requirements, inspire others and champion solution ideas, and manage expectations in non‑technical language.
• In‑depth experience of solution design for on‑premise, hybrid or multi‑cloud solutions.
• Experience establishing and maintaining enterprise‑wide policies and standards.
• Experience designing and implementing cloud solutions in either Azure, AWS or GCP.
• Understanding of networking standards such as HTTP / S, DNS, BGP.
• Understanding of virtualisation and containerisation technologies.
• Understanding of IaaC enabling technologies such as ARM or Terraform.
• Exposure to observability platforms.

Why New Look?

• 40% staff discount
• Monthly 25% off privilege vouchers for family and friends to enjoy
• Season ticket loans
• Pension – a contributory private pension scheme
• Virtual GP access

Apply now to find out more.

We pride ourselves on being a flexible employer. Although this is a full‑time role, our colleagues work a range of patterns. If you have a specific pattern in mind, we're keen to discuss this with you in line with the output needed for the role.