Solution Architect - Chief Controls Office

Barclays; Knutsford; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

A major financial institution in the UK is seeking a Solution Architect to design and implement solutions for complex business challenges. Collaborating with various stakeholders, the ideal candidate will have strong experience in technology architecture and risk management, aiming to enhance application performance and consistency while adhering to security standards. Opportunities are available in Knutsford, Northampton, or Glasgow.

Qualifications

• Experience in solution design, development, and implementation.
• Knowledge of operational risk and control frameworks is preferred.
• Proficiency in data management and reporting tools.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop modern solutions meeting business requirements.
• Apply strategies for workload placement and cloud optimization.
• Incorporate security principles into architecture designs.

Skills

Solution, Technology & Enterprise Architecture design

Critical analysis and thought leadership

Stakeholder management

Tech strategies for application health

Job description

Join us as a Solution Architect

Work in controls and operational risk, with reach into audit, compliance, and legal. You will be the first onshore team hire in a growing team with a large workload. You will be part of the delivery of transformation with Phase 1 and Phase 2 due in 2026.

To be successful as a Solution Architect, you should have experience with

Essential Skills

• Solution, Technology & Enterprise Architecture roadmap design, creation, and curation
• Critical analysis, thought leadership, and strong stakeholder management
• Drivers and levers of tech strategies to improve application health, deliver simplification, and cost optimization

Desirable Skills

• Knowledge of Controls, Op Risk, and 3 LoD strategy
• Data lake & data product strategy and implementation
• SNOW design and operation experience

You may be assessed on key skills such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking, digital and technology, as well as technical skills like Excel reporting and data management.

Location

Knutsford or alternatively Northampton or Glasgow

Purpose of the role

Design, develop, and implement solutions to complex business problems, collaborating with stakeholders to understand their needs and design solutions that balance technology risks against business delivery, driving consistency.

Accountabilities

• Design and develop solutions as products that can evolve, meeting business requirements with modern software engineering practices and automated delivery tooling.
• Apply workload placement strategies and maximize cloud capabilities such as elasticity, serverless, and containerization.
• Incorporate security principles into design, meeting the Bank’s resiliency expectations.
• Balance risks and controls to deliver business and technology value.
• Adopt standard solutions where appropriate and contribute to their evolution.
• Support operational teams with fault finding and performance issues.
• Assess solution design impacts on risk, capacity, and cost, including ongoing costs.
• Develop architecture inputs for governance compliance, including design artifacts for architecture, privacy, security, and records management.

Vice President Expectations

• Contribute to strategy, requirements, and change recommendations. Manage resources, budgets, and policies; deliver improvements and escalate breaches.
• If managing a team, define roles, plan for future needs, and lead performance management and development.
• Demonstrate leadership behaviors: Listen and be authentic, Energize and inspire, Align across the enterprise, Develop others.
• For individual contributors, guide technical direction, lead assignments, and mentor less experienced staff.
• Advise stakeholders on functional and cross-functional impacts and alignment.
• Manage risks and demonstrate accountability for controls and governance.
• Collaborate across departments to stay aligned with business strategies.
• Develop solutions through analytical thinking and research, building trusting relationships with stakeholders.

All colleagues are expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, and Stewardship, and embody the Barclays Mindset of Empower, Challenge, and Drive.