Solution Architect - Long Standing Customers

Royal London; Alderley Edge; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mutual life and pensions company in the UK is seeking a Solution Architect to lead Policy Administration Systems migrations. The ideal candidate will have a solid understanding of business and technology, experience with modeling languages, and familiarity with data migration technologies. This role requires strong analytical skills and offers a hybrid working environment with extensive benefits.

Benefits

28 days annual leave

Up to 14% employer pension matching

Private medical insurance

Qualifications

• You should have a solid understanding of business goals and processes.
• Experience leading large-scale migrations is required.
• Ability to coach and mentor other architects.

Responsibilities

• Lead migrations of Policy Administration Systems.
• Develop customer-centric, data-driven architectures.
• Collaborate with business analysts for requirements.

Skills

Experience with modeling languages (C4, ArchiMate)

Understanding of data/application migration technologies

Knowledge of policy platforms

Skills to modernize estates

Familiarity with SDLC methodologies

Strong analytical skills

Communication skills

Tools

Azure Data Factory

Java

Microsoft technologies

Azure

Job description

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Solution Architect - Long Standing Customers

Date: 1 Aug 2025

Company: Royal London Group

Job Title: Solution Architect

Business Value Stream / Platform: Long Standing Customers

Contract Type: Permanent

Working style: Hybrid 50% home/office based

Closing date: 14th August 2025

Context

At Royal London Group, our Solutions Architects play a pivotal role in evolving our technology landscape. Your primary objective is to enable our organization to safely exploit the potential of technology capabilities to serve our society better. Your contribution directly impacts the value to our customers and members, and business growth across Domains / Business Value Streams of Protection / Assurance, Equity Release, Long-term Savings / Pensions, Long Standing Customers, Annuities.

Our Solutions Architects work with Senior Solutions Architects, Business Analysts, and operational colleagues to develop technology products and solutions for our core propositions. You will bring your experience in modern architectural practices to innovate, refresh our estate, and experiment across a complex range of organizational capabilities within a bounded context. Projects involve cloud computing, AI, consolidation, migration, integrations, and simplification, affecting business processes, operating models, applications, data flows, infrastructure, and third-party services.

You should have a solid understanding of business goals, objectives, outcomes, capabilities, value-streams, and processes, and their importance in solution architecture.

We are committed to your growth, offering continuous learning, mentorship, and a clear professional development path. You will join a supportive, inclusive team that values collaboration, trust, empowerment, and collective achievement.

We seek passionate, experienced Solutions Architects with a strong technical background. If you're enthusiastic about leveraging your expertise to drive innovation and impact, we want to hear from you.

About the role

• Reports to the Principal Architect (Lead Domain Architect) and aligns with the Business Value Stream to deliver solutions meeting strategic business outcomes.
• Leads large-scale Policy Administration Systems migrations and challenges the status quo with modern architecture options.
• Works in a fast-paced environment within an enduring squad in the regulated insurance industry, preferably within Life Assurance/Pensions/Annuities.
• Develops personal and team capabilities; enjoys coaching and mentoring other architects.
• Explores emerging technology trends for traditional problems.
• Uses architecture modeling languages like ArchiMate, C4; EA tools such as Ardoq, BizzDesign, LeanIX, Orbus Infinity; and frameworks like TOGAF, Zachman to create executable solution patterns. Familiarity with Visio is a plus.
• Collaborates with business analysts to understand and implement business requirements.
• Manages architecture design through governance processes, including presenting solutions to design forums and stakeholders.
• Coordinates with other architecture disciplines to ensure comprehensive designs.
• Supports engineering teams during implementation.
• Maintains enterprise architecture tooling with updates on new technologies and designs.

Responsibilities across three key dimensions:

• Interpret Business Needs: Uses decision trees and architecture patterns to translate requirements into executable designs. Works with analysts and engineers to develop customer-centric, data-driven architectures linked to transition states and change requirements. Understands current and future business and technical capabilities.
• Assess Technology: Monitors the current solution portfolio, supports decisions on retiring or refreshing systems, analyzes opportunities for legacy modernization, and collaborates on evaluating security, infrastructure, and network considerations.
• Apply Technology: Evaluates, designs, and analyzes technologies aligned with enterprise strategy, managing and designing architectures for projects that integrate into the broader enterprise capability. Ensures plans align with designs and business promises.

Five Core Competencies:

• Interpersonal Excellence: Articulates concepts effectively to educate, engage, influence, and collaborate with stakeholders.
• Business and Technology Strategy: Aligns technology and processes with strategic goals, guiding flexible and resilient solutions.
• Critical Thinking: Challenges legacy assumptions, solves complex problems, and adapts to new information for business success.
• Digital Enablement: Uses design-thinking to address end-user needs, manages interdependencies, and promotes best practices.
• Architecture Foundations: Designs transition architectures, owns non-functional requirements, and develops roadmaps toward future states.

Skills

You bring technical breadth, credible design leadership, and industry experience. You are a hands-on architect with an engineering background, capable of considering multiple viewpoints, providing solution options, and ensuring architectural governance and standards.

• Experience with modeling languages like C4 and ArchiMate.
• Understanding of data/application migration technologies such as Azure Data Factory.
• Knowledge of policy platforms like Bravura Sonata, TCS BaNCS, FNZ, and legacy systems.
• Skills to modernize estates, improve serviceability, and implement observability dashboards.
• Understanding of data principles and operational processes in Policy Administration Systems.
• Familiarity with SDLC methodologies like Agile, Incremental, DevOps.
• Knowledge of Domain Driven Design, microservices decomposition, event sourcing, and architecture patterns.
• Strong analytical, influencing, and communication skills.

Engineering background in areas such as:

• Modern CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration.
• Cloud migration frameworks (Azure functions, Logic Apps).
• Java, Microsoft technologies, Azure, .Net.
• Database technologies (SQL, NoSQL, Data Lake, Snowflake, Databricks, MongoDB, Oracle).
• Observability platforms (Splunk, Dynatrace, Datadog, Grafana).

About Royal London

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

Our People Promise is to work somewhere inclusive, responsible, enjoyable, and fulfilling, guided by our Spirit of Royal London values: Empowered, Trustworthy, Collaborate, Achieve.

We offer benefits such as 28 days annual leave, up to 14% employer pension matching, and private medical insurance. See our benefits here.

Inclusion, diversity, and belonging

We’re an inclusive employer, valuing diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which enhance our skills and culture.