Job Specifications
Senior Solutions Architect | Manchester
About the Role
Senior Solutions Architect | You’ll define end‑to‑end architectures, integration patterns, and data exchange models that connect our systems into a seamless, scalable ecosystem. This is a hands‑on, high‑impact role that partners across engineering, product, and pre‑sales to deliver modern, innovative solutions.
Design end‑to‑end technical architectures for new and evolving platforms.
Define integration patterns, data flows, and system interaction models.
Produce API/interface specifications, technical mappings, configuration requirements, and solution documentation.
Support innovation and transformation strategy, shaping and presenting solution options to very level of the organisation
Lead innovation, championing modern engineering and architectural practices.
Collaborate across product, engineering, data, and security teams to ensure cohesive, compliant, and secure designs.
The Senior Technology Architect is responsible for designing end-to-end technical architectures across complex, interconnected systems. This role defines integration patterns, data exchange models, and interface specifications for new and evolving platforms, ensuring consistency, scalability, and security across the enterprise landscape.
The architect partners closely with engineering, product, compliance, and pre‑sales teams to translate business needs into robust technical designs, while driving technical innovation across the organisation.
Key Responsibilities
End‑to‑End Architecture Design
Develop comprehensive end‑to‑end technical architectures for new platforms, enhancements, and cross‑system integrations, ensuring alignment with strategic technology direction.
Produce high‑level and low‑level architectural artefacts, leveraging appropriate frameworks and standards (referencing existing internal structures from such as the Solution Architect role context).
Integration Patterns & Data Exchange Models
Define integration patterns (API‑led, event‑driven, messaging, batch, streaming) suitable for regulated financial services environments.
Establish data exchange models, ensuring consistency of schemas, data lineage, and interoperability across internal platforms and third‑party systems.
Analyse existing architecture options and contribute to architectural workshops and modelling activity (similar to materials in
Interface & API Specifications
Define and document interface specifications, API requirements, payload structures, mappings, schemas, and configuration parameters.
Ensure API governance, versioning, security models, and operational considerations are built into designs.
Technical Pre‑Sales Support
Support Sales and Business Development teams by providing architectural insight during pre‑sales engagements.
Produce technical solution outlines, architectural options, risks, and assumptions for RFPs, proposals, and customer solution presentations.
Participate in client and partner workshops as the technical SME.
Innovation & Technology Leadership
Lead innovation initiatives, evaluating new technologies, integration approaches, and architectural patterns relevant to the company’s long‑term strategy.
Promote architecture best practice across engineering teams; mentor other team technology members.
Contribute to strategic initiatives such as platform convergence, cloud modernisation, and enterprise-wide architecture alignment (consistent with strategic architecture discussions highlighted
Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Work closely with product, engineering, security, data, and operations teams to ensure architecture is practical, secure, compliant, and deliverable.
Align with governance, audit, integration, and compliance requirements, particularly where platforms span jurisdictions and regulatory domains.
Represent architecture in project steering, solution reviews, and design forums.
Skills & Experience Required
Technical Expertise
Strong experience designing distributed architectures, cloud-native solutions, and complex multi‑system integrations.
Expert understanding of API design, integration architectures, and data modelling.
Familiarity with enterprise technologies such as Azure, M365 ecosystem, identity systems, and database technologies.
Solid understanding of security, compliance, and regulatory considerations in financial services.
Soft Skills
Strong communication skills, capable of simplifying complex architectures for technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
Ability to influence across teams and drive alignment at pace.
Innovative mindset with the ability to challenge existing assumptions and introduce modern patterns.
Desirable Qualifications
TOGAF or other similar architecture certification.
Azure Architecture certifications (AZ‑305 or similar).
Experience in regulated environments (FCA, PSD2, GDPR) highly advantageous.
Business Knowledge / Technical Skills:
Previous experience of working within a regulated investment firm or strong equi