Solution Designer

Barclays UK; Knutsford; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading banking institution seeks a Solution Designer to support infrastructure virtualization efforts. The role involves collaborating with stakeholders, managing infrastructure, and developing solutions to complex business problems while promoting security and cost efficiency. The ideal candidate should possess strong VMware experience and excellent documentation skills.

Qualifications

• Experience with VMware Cloud Foundation products and SDDC.
• Strong documentation skills using Confluence and other tools.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop solutions to meet business requirements.
• Support migration of applications to virtualized platforms.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand needs and propose solutions.

Skills

Troubleshooting

Documentation

Education

VMware Network Virtualization (VCP6-NV) certification

VMware Data Center Virtualization (VCP6.5-DCV) certification

Tools

VMware Cloud Foundation

Confluence

Job description

Join us as a Solution Designer to support ongoing efforts to virtualize bank infrastructure in a controlled, quality-oriented, and repeatable manner.

The Solution Designer is part of The Service Delivery Team, based in Radbroke, UK, and Whippany. They are responsible for managing infrastructure demand and optimization on an ongoing basis, as well as providing specialized support across various GTIS technologies deployed in both private and public cloud environments.

You will support the migration of applications to next-generation virtualized platforms.

You will collaborate with stakeholders and application teams to understand functional and non-functional requirements, develop repeatable patterns, and propose innovative migration approaches. Feedback will be provided to engineering teams to enhance platform support for a broad range of use cases.

To succeed as a Solution Designer, you should have experience with:

Essential Skills

• Experience with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) products; SDDC, VMware vCenter, ESX 6.x, 7.x, VRA, VRO, vROPs, and others.
• Ability to troubleshoot technical issues.
• Strong documentation skills using Confluence and other repositories.

Additional valued skills include:

Desirable Skills

• Good understanding of network technologies, including VMware NSX-V & NSX-T.
• VMware Data Center Virtualization (VCP6.5-DCV) or equivalent certification.
• VMware Network Virtualization (VCP6-NV) certification preferred.
• Experience with containerization technologies such as OpenShift, KubeVirt, or Harvester.

You may be assessed on key skills relevant to success in the role, such as risk and controls, change management, business acumen, strategic thinking, digital and technological skills.

Location: Knutsford

Purpose of the Role

Design, develop, and implement solutions to complex business problems by collaborating with stakeholders to understand their needs, balancing technology risks with business delivery, and driving consistency.

Accountabilities

• Design and develop evolving solutions that meet business requirements, following modern software engineering practices and automated delivery tools.
• Apply workload placement strategies to maximize cloud benefits such as elasticity, serverless, and containerization.
• Ensure designs incorporate security principles like defense in depth and minimal blast radius, meeting bank resiliency standards.
• Create solutions that balance risks and controls to deliver business and technological value.
• Promote the use of standardized solutions, contributing to their evolution when necessary.
• Support operational teams with fault diagnosis and performance issues, utilizing available tools.
• Assess the impact of solutions regarding risk, capacity, and cost, including project change estimates and ongoing operational costs.
• Develop architecture artifacts to comply with governance, privacy, security, and records management requirements.

Vice President Expectations

• Contribute to strategy, requirements, and change recommendations. Manage resources, budgets, policies, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• If managing a team, define roles, plan for future needs, and oversee performance and development.
• Demonstrate leadership behaviors such as listening, inspiring, aligning, and developing others.
• For individual contributors, act as a subject matter expert, guide technical direction, and mentor less experienced colleagues.
• Advise stakeholders and senior management on impacts and strategic alignment.
• Manage risks, strengthen controls, and ensure compliance with organizational policies.
• Build relationships with stakeholders to support business objectives, using influence and negotiation skills.

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