Senior Solutions Architect

Are you an experienced Solution Architect with a passion for designing complex, secure solutions for Defence and National Security customers?

Sopra Steria’s Aerospace, Defence and Security business is looking for Solution Architects to join our growing architecture community, supporting some of the UK’s most important and highly secure programmes.

You’ll work closely with our customers, delivery teams and technology specialists to shape, design and lead the implementation of innovative solutions within complex and highly secure environments.

We’re particularly interested in architects who have a broad understanding across multiple technology and architecture domains as you will be working across business, application, data, infrastructure, security and service considerations, bringing these together into a coherent end-to-end solution.

The role offers flexibility around location, although you will need to be comfortable travelling regularly to customer and Sopra Steria sites across the M3/M4 corridor as required.

What you’ll be doing:

• Owning the end-to-end solution architecture for complex Defence and National Security programmes, ensuring business, application, data, infrastructure, security and service requirements come together into a coherent and deliverable solution.
• Defining architecture and high-level designs that meet functional and non-functional requirements, considering integration, performance, usability, security, maintainability, affordability and alignment with customer technology strategies and roadmaps.
• Working closely with customers and senior stakeholders to understand their challenges, translate business requirements into technical solutions and provide trusted architectural guidance throughout the solution lifecycle.
• Providing technical leadership throughout delivery, working alongside engineering, infrastructure, cyber security, application, data and service specialists to ensure solutions are implemented in line with the agreed architecture and design principles.
• Supporting bids, pre-sales and growth opportunities, helping shape solution approaches, assess technical options, identify risks and communicate compelling architectures that address both existing and future customer requirements.
• Reviewing and assuring solutions and architectures, identifying technical risks, dependencies and opportunities for improvement while ensuring alignment with relevant standards, policies, architectural principles and secure-by-design approaches.

What you’ll bring:

• Solution Architecture experience with the ability to work across several architectural and technology domains, bringing together applications, data, infrastructure, security, integration and service considerations into end-to-end solutions.
• Experience designing and delivering complex solutions within Defence, MOD, UK Intelligence Community, National Security or similarly highly regulated and secure environments.
• Strong experience of owning solution designs from initial requirements and options analysis through to implementation, including architectures incorporating COTS products, existing services and new capabilities.
• A good understanding of modern technology and software delivery practices, including Agile delivery, DevSecOps, cloud technologies, integration patterns and contemporary application development approaches.
• Strong knowledge of architecture frameworks, standards and modelling approaches, such as TOGAF, ArchiMate, C4 or equivalent architecture methodologies.
• Strong customer and stakeholder engagement skills, with experience communicating complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences and contributing to both delivery and pre-sales activities.

It would be great if you had:

• Membership or professional registration with BCS, The Open Group or another relevant professional body.
• Experience applying Secure by Design principles, security architecture practices or designing solutions incorporating security-enforcing capabilities.
• Experience mentoring other architects, contributing to architecture communities of practice, or helping develop architectural standards, roadmaps and reusable approaches.
• eDV or MoD DV Security Clearance. 

If you are interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we’re looking for, please do apply, we’d love to hear from you!

Employment Type: Permanent Location: This role will require regular travel to customer and Sopra Steria sites across the M3/M4 corridor, depending on project and customer requirements.  Security Clearance Level: Holding an active SC and willingness to go through MoD DV Internal Recruiter: Josh Salary: Competitive, based on experience Benefits: £5,400 car allowance, which can also be taken as cash. Benefits include 25 days’ holiday, with the option to purchase up to an additional 10 days per year, AXA medical insurance, 6% pension contribution and life assurance at 4x salary.

If you’re interested and need to work flexibly, we encourage you to apply and talk to us about what might be possible.

Loved reading about this job and want to know more about us?

Sopra Steria’s Aerospace, Defence and Security business designs, develops and deploys digital solutions to Central Government clients. The work we do makes a real difference to the client’s goal of National Security, and we operate in a unique and privileged environment. We are given time for professional development activities, and we coach and mentor our colleagues, sharing knowledge and learning from each other. We foster a culture in which employees feel valued and supported and have pride in their work for the customer, delivering outstanding rates of customer satisfaction in the UK’s most complex safety- and security-critical markets.