Solution Architect

Business Unit:  COO, Architecture & Design
Salary range: £47,200 - £59,000 per annum
Location:  UK Remote with occasional travel to a hub

Live to inspire change. Live a life more Virgin.

Our Team

We design critical solutions that ensure the Bank continues to operate smoothly, remains compliant with regulatory standards and has an innovative edge. We’ve a fantastic opportunity for someone who is passionate about solutions architecture and design. You’ll design strategic, innovative and cost effective solutions to meet a variety of business needs taking into account our 'Red Stack', industry direction and deliverability of solutions.  We want someone who is eager to learn, loves to share knowledge, enjoys responsibility and is self-motivating in accordance with our core values of "Heartfelt Service", "Insatiable Curiosity" and "Red Hot Relevance"!

What you’ll be doing:

• Working closely with Enterprise Architects in CTO to determine the future direction and deliver holistic designs that take us closer to our target state for the Payments, Fraud and Financial Crime estate.
• Providing hands-on solutions design and technical leadership on assigned projects.
• Working closely with Business and Technology colleagues to ensure that design options are effectively evaluated with robust recommendations.
• Ongoing governance of project delivery against agreed designs and assessment of the impact of change requests on the high-level design
• Running design forums and workshops with developer, operational and business colleagues.  Third party vendors will often be involved as well.
• Distributing designs for approval and presentation of said designs at formal clinics
• Peer review of designs produced by colleagues.
• Involvement in the technical communities of interest to support and enhance Virgin Money’s software development policies and standards.
• Provision of Solution Design estimates for input to Business Cases
• Involvement in internal improvement initiatives to develop the overall capability of the Solutions Design competency.
• Working alongside Lead Solution Architects and with other Architects within the Solutions Architecture competency to support the bank's business projects.

We need you to have:

• Experience of a range of technologies including, Messaging & Middleware, Microservices, Cloud and Data Streaming
• Significant experience and expertise in solution architecture.
• Experience of working in waterfall and agile environments during the Software Development Life Cycle
• A solid understanding and experience of design governance
• Experience of collaborating and influencing stakeholders to shape solutions to business problems
• The ability to manage and resolve design risks and issues
• Gravitas and a track record of influencing and challenging at a senior level to get the best outcome

It’s a bonus if you have but not essential

• Support planning - help drive the scope and delivery shape and schedule as well design
• Experience working effectively with other Change and Technology professionals
• Experience in any of the following: Payments, Fraud & Financial Crime; Debit & Credit Cards; ATM & POS; Payments (FPS, SWIFT, CHAPS, BACS); Core banking processing; Treasury Systems

B

Red Hot Rewards

• Generous holidays - 38.5 days annual leave (including bank holidays and prorated if part-time)​ plus the option to buy more.
• Up to five extra paid well-being days per year​. 
• 20 weeks paid, gender-neutral family leave (52 weeks in total) for expectant parents and those looking to adopt. 
• Market-leading pension.
• Free private medical cover, income protection and life assurance.
• Flexible benefits include Cycle to Work, wellness and health assessments, and critical illness. 

And there's no waiting around, you'll enjoy these benefits from day one.

Feeling insatiably curious about this role? If we’re lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early and would hate you to miss out.

We're all about helping you Live a Life More Virgin, so happy to talk flexible working with you.

Say hello to Virgin Money
We’re making great strides towards achieving our ambition of becoming the UK’s best digital bank.  As a full-service digital bank with a heritage stretching back over 180 years, we’re a workforce to be reckoned with, and we're putting the full power of our experience behind disruptive ideas that reinvent the role a bank plays in people's lives. We're customer-obsessed and work tirelessly to deliver on our purpose, ‘Making You Happier About Money.’ This means we're able to do banking differently, and by innovating and working together we can make a real difference by creating memorable moments and red-hot experiences for our millions of customers. Join us and Live a Life More Virgin that empowers you with choice and flexibility in how you work. 

Be yourself at Virgin Money
Our purpose is to make people happier about money, this means seeing and feeling the world as our customers do by creating a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of our customers and communities.  We’re committed to creating an inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe and inspired to contribute, speak up and be heard.  

As a Disability Confident Leader, we're committed to removing any obstacles to inclusion.  If you need any reasonable adjustments or support making your application, contact our Talent Acquisition team careers@virginmoney.com

It’s important to note that there may be occasions where it’s not possible to interview all candidates declaring a disability who meet the essential criteria for the job. In certain recruitment situations such as receiving a high-volume of applications, we may need to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled and non-disabled applicants. 

Now the legal bit
Living A Life More Virgin allows our colleagues to be based anywhere in the UK (if the role allows it), but we'll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK.

If you're successful in securing a role with us, there are some checks you need to complete before starting. These include credit and criminal record checks and three years' worth of satisfactory references. If the role is part of the Senior Manager Regime and Certification Regime, it requires enhanced pre-employment checks – we'll ask for six years of regulatory references, and once in the role, you'll be subject to periodic employment checks.