Principal Enterprise Architect
Department: Technology: Architecture, Strategy, Testing & Dev Ops
Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time
Location: London or Manchester UK
Description
About us
We're Transform.
We turn data and tech into competitive advantage and social impact for the world's most complex organisations, both public and private.
Organisations like Toyota, the Cabinet Office, Transport for London, Public Health England, Historic Royal Palaces, HM Courts and Tribunal Service, Santander, Department for Education and Domino’s. To name but a few.
We're not here to generate more business for ourselves. We're here to create startling, ambitious outcomes for clients - leaving them with the capabilities they need to take it from there.
We love creating real change. Making a big impact on people's lives. Optimising services, driving business growth or realising social change.
To do that, we built an inclusive, high-performance culture where the world's most talented people do the best work of their careers.
That's what gets us out of bed every day. We hope you feel the same.
We're part of the Next 15 group, a multi-national organisation spanning over 25 brands. Brands like ours, looking to stand out from the crowd as they deliver best in class work for their clients. Find out more at: www.transformUK.com
The Role:
We are looking for a strategic and business-oriented Principal Architect to join our consulting firm. In this leadership role, you will help shape clients’ enterprise architecture vision, align technology with business strategy, and drive large-scale transformation initiatives. You will develop solution architecture and advocate for strategic architecture practices.
This role is to support driving growth in our winning and delivery of architecture services. You will be key to supporting sales efforts, ensuring successful project delivery, and building internal enterprise/solution architecture capabilities.
You will engage with senior client stakeholders, define architecture roadmaps, guide execution, and mentor both client and internal teams. The ideal candidate combines deep architectural expertise with strong consulting and leadership skills, and thrives in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
Key Responsibilities
Project Delivery
- Define, implement and govern enterprise architecture frameworks, principles, and standards across client engagements
- Lead the development of target operating models, capability maturity assessments, and transformation roadmaps
- Ensure alignment between business goals, IT strategy, and solution delivery through architecture governance
- Act as a senior advisor to client executives, helping them navigate change and technology evolution
Sales Support
- Collaborate with sales and account teams to identify enterprise-level challenges and shape transformational architecture strategies
- Lead architecture visioning and strategy sessions with client executives and technology leaders
- Develop high-level enterprise architectures, capability maps, and transformation roadmaps during pre-sales engagements
- Contribute to proposals, RFP responses, and executive presentations that clearly articulate enterprise value
Internal Capability Creation and Enhancement
- Develop and enhance enterprise architecture methodologies, tools, and reusable templates
- Mentor consultants and architects, internally and in clients, in enterprise architecture best practices and advocating architectural practice
- Contribute to the development of consulting offerings related to architecture strategy, governance, and transformation
- Lead internal knowledge-sharing forums and communities of practice focused on enterprise architecture
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
- 10+ years of experience in solution/enterprise architecture or a combination of strategic IT leadership and architecture roles.
- Strong background in developing enterprise-wide architecture strategies, reference architectures, and capability models.
- Proven experience aligning technology with business strategy across large, complex organisations, and delivery of architecture projects to achieve strategic goals.
- Helping build organisational maturity in architecture practice from varying current levels of capability and internal team skills.
- Led or been involved in TDA (Technical Design Authorities) to define infrastructure, technology architectures, networking and industry security standards and compliance. Depth in some domains with working knowledge in all.
- Understanding across architecture domains including business, data, application, technology and infrastructure architecture.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, especially with C-level audiences.
- Strong consulting background with experience in client-facing delivery and strategic advisory roles
- Familiar with ISO27001, ITIL V4 and Cyber Essentials+ from an enterprise architecture perspective
- Architecture mapping, as-is to-be and led architect design from discovery to implementation
- Has provided strategic direction and overseen the integration of emerging new technology platforms including cloud platforms, new enterprise applications, big data platforms and tools for advanced analytics including AI/machine learning/data science that drive business value
Desirable
- Experience with enterprise architecture tools (e.g., Bizzdesign, Sparx EA, etc)
- Familiarity with TOGAF, DAMA, or other recognised architecture frameworks
- Industry-specific architecture knowledge (e.g. public sector (GDS Service standard), utilities, healthcare)
- Certifications such as TOGAF, AWS/Azure, or business architecture certifications
- Experience leading enterprise transformations involving cloud migration, data strategy, or operating model redesign
- Experience across a range of related technology disciplines such as Agile, Product Management, DevOps, Cyber Security, User Centred Design, Design Thinking amongst others – we are looking for someone to connect and add value across disciplines and teams skill sets
Our culture and our benefits
- Being one team; looking out for each other as a team
- The world never stops changing and we’ll never stop learning
- Infinity & Beyond; we’re crazy ambitious, not afraid to fail along the way (it’s just falling with style)
- Integrity is everything; we’re honest with each other and with our clients
- Diversity is our superpower; everyone’s story is different, and we celebrate differences
- We’re all in; we take on tough, complex challenges with lots of moving parts and we’re committed to the work, our clients and each other
Our benefits include:
- Holiday entitlement, 28 days with the option to buy/sell up to 5 days
- Day off (on or in the week of) your birthday
- Pension eligibility, up to 5% matched contributions
- Private healthcare
- Life assurance
- Enhanced maternity and enhanced paternity and shared parental leave
- Cycle to work & electric car schemes
- Gym & retail discounts
- Regular social events/activities
- A range of other benefits from our flexible benefits package
At Transform we believe in a culture of inclusivity, we celebrate difference and believe that diversity makes our business more relevant, our work more meaningful and our people more empowered. We’re committed to equality of opportunity for all, and we actively seek applications from all ethnicities, orientations, beliefs, gender identities + those with neurodiverse traits and disabilities. We want you to have the best opportunity to show us who you are and what you can do. Please do let us know if you need any adjustments now or at any point in the recruitment process.
If this sounds like you, please get in touch to discuss in more detail.
Use of AI in CV and Interviews
Whilst we are a technology company and promote using AI the right and ethical way, we value authenticity and transparency in our hiring process. To ensure fairness and accuracy in assessing your skills and experience, we kindly request that you refrain from using AI-assisted tools to generate answers during interviews or enhancing your CV.
We are looking for genuine insights into your abilities, experiences, and personality. Any misrepresentation through AI-generated content may impact our ability to make an informed decision. We look forward to getting to know the real you!