Solution Architecture Manager

Anglian Water Services Ltd; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water management company in the UK is seeking an experienced Solution Architecture Manager to lead the solution architecture profession. The role involves defining standards, overseeing governance on investment proposals, and fostering a collaborative culture among architects. Candidates should have a degree in a relevant field and demonstrate a successful track record in complex enterprise environments. This position offers a flexible working culture and competitive benefits package including a pension scheme and life assurance.

Benefits

26 days leave, rising with service

Flexible working culture

Competitive pension scheme

Life Assurance

Personal Accident cover

Bonus Scheme

Qualifications

• Track record of defining and leading a solution architecture practice in a complex, multi-technology enterprise.
• Experience in designing solutions across multiple technology domains.
• Experience in developing architectural standards and guardrails.

Responsibilities

• Lead the solution architecture profession ensuring high-performance capability.
• Define vision and standards for solution delivery across the organization.
• Oversee governance and provide expert input on proposals.

Skills

Solution Architecture

Stakeholder Engagement

Mentoring

Agile Methodologies

Technical Governance

Education

Degree in a technology or business discipline

Job description

We're looking for an experienced and visionary Solution Architecture Manager to lead Anglian Water's solution architecture profession. In this role, you'll combine deep technical expertise with strong leadership to build a high-performing team of architects embedded across products and projects, shaping technology change across the enterprise.

You’ll set and maintain architectural guardrails, standards, and patterns to ensure all solutions are secure, robust, and strategically aligned. By championing architectural excellence, embedding consistent ways of working, and providing clear professional development pathways, you’ll enable the team to deliver value at pace while staying aligned to broader technology strategies.

This role operates across business and technology boundaries, influencing investment and design decisions, reducing technical debt, and enabling Anglian Water to deliver modern, scalable, and resilient solutions that make a real impact.

What You'll Be Doing

As Solution Architecture Manager, you will lead Anglian Water's solution architecture profession, ensuring it operates as a cohesive, high-performing capability. You will define the vision, guardrails, standards, and architectural patterns that guide solution delivery across the organisation, embedding consistency, technical excellence, and alignment with enterprise architecture and business strategy.

You will oversee governance, providing expert input on investment proposals, business cases, and design decisions, while identifying opportunities for reuse, simplification, and risk reduction. You will champion modern solution design, integration patterns, and security-by-design principles, ensuring architectures are robust, scalable, and fit-for-purpose.

In addition, you will foster a collaborative culture, working closely with peers, mentoring and developing architects, defining career pathways, and building a resilient, skilled team. You will also manage recruitment, succession planning, and professional development to ensure the long-term strength and effectiveness of the solution architecture profession.

You are a confident and influential leader with strong experience in mentoring and developing architects, including partner-supplied resources. You excel at building trusted relationships across business, delivery, operations, and partner teams, and can communicate complex architectural concepts in a way that resonates with both technical and non-technical audiences.

You are skilled at engaging stakeholders at all levels, gaining buy-in, and constructively challenging decisions to uphold standards. You have a strategic mindset, capable of evaluating complex problems, understanding dependencies, and making informed design trade-offs. With strong verbal and written communication skills, including storytelling and visualisation, you can inspire teams and drive alignment across the organisation.

Skills and Qualifications

• Degree in a technology, computing discipline and/or Business discipline - desirable
• Track record of defining and/or leading a solution architecture practice in a complex, multi‑technology enterprise
• Experience in designing and governing solutions across multiple technology domains (e.g. ERP, SaaS, integration, cloud)
• Experience in developing and embedding architectural standards, guardrails, and reference architectures
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with experience influencing senior business and technology leaders to align investment and delivery with strategic goals
• Track record of technology rationalisation and reuse initiatives that improved cost efficiency and reduced complexity
• Experience in agile and product‑based delivery environments
• Experience in architectural governance and review processes, ensuring quality without impeding delivery
• Experience in transition planning, shaping roadmaps from current state to target state while managing technical debt

Benefits

• 26 days leave, rising with service + Bank Holidays, with the option to swap Christmas and Easter holidays for those celebrated by your religion
• A flexible working culture
• Competitive pension scheme – we double‑match your contributions up to 6%
• Life Assurance at eight times your salary
• Personal Accident cover – up to 5x your salary
• Bonus Scheme