Lead Solution Architect

Award-winning and bold innovation. Modern Tech-Stack. Impacting the future.

Lead Solution Architect

£72,000 - £77,000 (+ Benefits)

Department: Chief Operating Office

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Closing date: 03 December 2025.

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: Two competency-based interviews with an exercise (potentially with an initial telephone interview, depending on the volume of applications)

Interview date: The week commencing 1st December 2025. We will be shortlisting on a rolling basis so please do not delay in applying

How do I apply? We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won't be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

Please note: While ChatGPT or other AI platforms can be useful when applying for jobs, we strongly encourage applicants to ensure their applications authentically reflect their own experience. If you choose to use AI for formatting or assistance, please take care to review and personalise your application accordingly.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That's why we're looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

Cancer Research UK has an ambitious Technology strategy and modern Tech Stack with a complex hybrid (on-premise & multi-cloud) infrastructure underpinning an extensive technical estate that underpins the charity's ability to both deliver a range of change initiatives and programmes and support our vision and strategy. Our Architecture team is at the forefront of technological innovation in the charity sector and plays an essential role in ensuring our technical architecture supports the charity's diverse needs and ambitions across a range of products and services used by 4,000+ staff, 600+ shops, and thousands of supporters who raised £463m towards our life-saving research in 2023/24.

As our Lead Solution Architect, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping the technological future of Cancer Research UK by collaborating closely with our product portfolios, providing technical leadership, and defining end-to-end solutions that enable our lifesaving work. Based on your experience and background, you will be the subject matter expert within a specific specialism of architecture (such as business, enterprise, solution, infrastructure, data, security, platform, service, etc). We can offer learning and development opportunities to broaden your knowledge and impact by rotating across a range of domains.

This is your chance to make a real difference while advancing your career in a supportive environment. If you are an experienced Solution Architect with in-depth knowledge in one of the above architecture domains who wants to leverage technology to accelerate change in a purpose-driven environment, we'd love for you to join our mission.

What will I be doing?

• Experienced Architect with extensive experience in at least one of the following architecture domains: business, enterprise, solution, infrastructure, data, security, platform, or service.

  • Please note that candidates with an engineering background will not be considered for this Solution Architect role, as this position requires an Architecture skill set and experience.

• Partnering with Heads of Product Portfolios and Product Managers to support roadmap development and provide early triage.
• Providing architecture support, coaching, and solution assurance across Technology's product portfolios.
• Addressing key design decisions, balancing risks, benefits, and outcomes for complex technical problems.
• Collaborating with Lead Engineers and other technology teams to ensure the documented current state is maintained for change assessment and operational support.
• Communicating and coordinating architecture development and technical change across portfolios and products (including those delivered by our partners).
• Contributing to and building an active Architecture community across capabilities and partners.
• Providing in-depth expertise within at least one specialised domain of architecture, from: business, enterprise, solution, infrastructure, data, security, platform, or service.

Leadership & Drive for Impact:

• Building credible stakeholder relationships across the charity ensuring to value ideas, drive momentum, and challenge when required.
• Balancing short-term needs with long-term strategic goals
• Translating complex information and concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Driving the direction and output on day-to-day workload and priorities while navigating ambiguity and making clear and timely decisions in changing situations
• Mentor and coach colleagues, fostering a culture of continuous learning and leading through others.

Resource Management:

• Reducing costs by proactively challenging to enable the optimal cost of resource ownership and delivered architecture.
• Building inclusive environments and working with third parties.

What skills will I need?

• Experienced Architect with extensive experience in at least one of the following architecture domains: business, enterprise, solution, infrastructure, data, security, platform, or service.

  • Please note that candidates with an engineering background will not be considered for this Solution Architect role, as this position requires an Architecture skill set and experience.

• Has delivered large-scale migrations and implemented new technologies within an integrated architecture in large, complex organisations.
• Solid understanding of modern software and platform architecture approaches (e.g., microservices and cloud etc).
• Experience delivering architecture through Agile Product teams.
• Knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g, (TOGAF, Zachman etc), industry-wide best practices, and emerging technologies.
• Modelling and documenting experience with the ability to create models and visualisations to enable others to understand the architecture.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism

Human: Act to have a positive impact on people

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We're looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you're interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we'd still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

Additional Information

For more information about working with us please visit our website or contact us.

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