Solutions Architect

About Us

The Guinness Partnership is one of the leading providers of affordable housing and care services in England. We build and manage homes and provide housing services for around 140,000 customers nationwide.

It’s an exciting time to work for Guinness in our IT and Business Change Team. We’ve recently reviewed our operating model to ensure we have the right skills and the people we need to deliver our ambitious plans. In turn we are out to market for an exciting number of new roles.

We’re looking for a Solutions Architect to join us on a permanent, full-time basis. This role is based in our Oldham office however Guinness is currently trialling a hybrid working model based on  2 days in the office and 3 days working from home.

About the role

You will be responsible for Leading and developing the Solution Architecture / System Design artifacts needed to effectively deliver the IT/IM Roadmap and change portfolio in line with the Guinness IT and business strategy including promoting the use of new technologies that deliver business benefit to Guinness.

As an organisation we are committed to investing in our people and in technology that will continue to support our strategic aims and enable continued business improvement through the implementation of our IT / IM Roadmap. Our Roadmap is exciting – it is based on the principle of Cloud first, establishing best practice processes and utilising out of the box functionality to deliver our digital transformation. Over the last 2 years our IT & Change teams have worked together to migrate our legacy CRM system to Dynamics 365 online, Finance system to Oracle cloud and implement Azure integration services. We now working on our technology roadmap for Asset Management & Repairs, as well as extending the use of the Oracle Platform for HR and L&D and continuing to extend our use of Microsoft Dynamics.

In this role you will:

• Manage the Solution Architecture team within the IT Services and Change function.
• Develop and govern Guinness’s IT/IM Roadmap and Enterprise Architecture (systems, applications, infrastructure, networks, security, and data) to ensure that it is aligned with the IT and Guinness business strategy.
• Lead the documentation of the solution architecture / design across projects to enable internal and external development teams to deliver cost effective, timely and quality outcomes on both IT BAU and Change initiatives.
• Manage Guinness wide architecture and design governance, ensuring that any significant deviations from Guinness’s architectural principles are formally agreed.
• Develop and maintain an enterprise architecture repository / tooling to inform the Solution Architecture / Design of IT BAU and change projects.
• Lead on best practice IT/IM architecture, innovation, reuse, delivery methodologies and new technologies that would benefit Guinness and its customers.
• Lead on the procurement of new technologies demonstrating due diligence, rigor, scrutiny, and commercial awareness.

About you

You’ll have previous proven experience of developing an IT/IM Roadmap the aligns with the business strategy of a medium to large organisation that includes customer facing digital applications, cloud, and complex legacy IT estate.

Other role requirements include:

• Proven experience of developing enterprise solution architectures and designs that are aligned with the business needs, budget and the IT/IM Roadmap.
• Experience of using Enterprise Architecture Frameworks (TOGAF, Zachman), architectural principles, design patterns, enterprise architecture tools and artifact repositories.
• Previous experience of leading enterprise / solution architecture & design teams to support effective IT development delivery.
• Broad experience of a solution architecture across a range of technology solutions including ERP, CRM, ESB, Azure, Cloud, AI, IoT, RPA, etc.
• Educated to level 6 (degree or equivalent) or higher in an IT/ STEM related degree discipline.
• TOGAF or Zachman Certification

If you’re interested in finding out more about this exciting opportunity apply now and we will be in touch to discuss your application further.

The Guinness Partnership is an equal opportunities employer.  We are committed to equality of opportunity for all colleagues, and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.