Job Description

Contract Type: Permanent
Location: Alderley Park (Wilmslow)
Working Style: Hybrid - 50% from home / 50% office based

Right To Work: Only candidates who possess a valid right to work in the UK or Eligibility to work in Ireland will be able to undertake this role. Unfortunately, Royal London are unable to offer visa sponsorship

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Solution Architect (Digital) to join Royal London’s Group Technology & Operations Architecture Function, with a clear focus on our customer-facing Digital landscape.

As Royal London continues its transformation to a digital-first organisation, you’ll provide senior architecture leadership across the Digital portfolio and major transformation programmes. You’ll shape connected, secure and accessible customer experiences across web, mobile and assisted service channels, aligning business strategy, customer journeys, product outcomes, operating models and technology.

Reporting to a Principal Architect, you’ll help define the strategy, target architecture and roadmaps for Digital capabilities including web and mobile channels, identity, content, CRM, service, personalisation and fulfilment. You’ll lead architecture across large-scale initiatives and act as a trusted specialist for modern customer-facing platforms.

Previous Digital architecture experience is essential. You’ll bring a strong track record of shaping and delivering customer-facing digital products, platforms or journeys in a complex organisation. Alongside your own portfolio responsibilities, you’ll line manage, coach and assure other solution architects, helping build consistency, quality and confidence across the function in line with the Architecture Target Operating Model.

About the role

As Senior Solution Architect, you will:

• Shape, define and assure architecture across the Digital portfolio, major transformation programmes and strategic customer-facing initiatives.
• Translate customer needs, digital product strategy and end-to-end journeys into practical, scalable and deliverable architecture.
• Define target architectures, transition states, roadmaps and design guardrails for web, mobile, identity, content, CRM, service and fulfilment capabilities.

• Support the Principal Architect with portfolio strategy, roadmap development, governance preparation and architecture assurance.
• Lead architecture engagement with senior business stakeholders, delivery teams, technology partners and executive committees where required.
• Ensure architecture decisions are aligned to enterprise principles, strategic design guardrails, technology strategy and approved roadmaps.
• Provide assurance across your own designs and the designs of other solution architects.
• Balance innovation, resilience, security, cost, operational sustainability and total cost of ownership when shaping technology choices.
• Coach, mentor and line manage solution architects, helping to build capability, consistency and quality across the Architecture Function.
• Bring external insight and thought leadership to identify opportunities to improve architecture practices and increase the pace and quality of change.

What you’ll bring

We’re looking for an architecture leader with substantial previous experience in Digital environments and the ability to work confidently across product, customer experience, engineering, delivery and business teams.

• Significant previous experience as a solution, enterprise, portfolio or product architect within a customer-facing Digital environment, with a proven track record of shaping and delivering digital products, platforms or journeys.
• Experience defining target architectures, roadmaps, transition states and design guardrails for complex Digital portfolios or large-scale digital transformation programmes.

• Experience leading, coaching or managing solution architects.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end enterprise, solution, integration, data and cloud architecture principles.
• Strong knowledge of API-led integration, cloud-native architectures, resilience and security.
• Experience with Azure cloud technologies.

• Good understanding of modern digital platform ecosystems, including cloud, SaaS, APIs, commerce, content management, CRM and service technologies.
• Strong experience architecting customer-facing web and mobile channels and the supporting capabilities that enable seamless journeys, such as identity, content, CRM, service, personalisation and fulfilment.

• Experience incorporating AI capabilities into business or technology transformation.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills, including the ability to present to senior and executive-level committees.
• Commercial awareness, including an understanding of operating models, financial management, total cost of ownership and supplier considerations.
• Experience working with third parties and technology suppliers.
• Insurance, financial services or other regulated industry experience would be beneficial.

About you

You’ll be someone who can think strategically while still being able to get into the technical detail where needed. You’ll be confident working through ambiguity, constructively challenging others and influencing decisions across senior stakeholder groups.

You’ll also be:

• Proactive, positive and professional.
• Collaborative and comfortable building strong relationships across business and technology teams.
• Organised, commercially aware and able to manage competing priorities.
• Comfortable working in pressurised or uncertain environments.
• Keen to continuously improve your own performance and support the development of others.
• Motivated by finding better ways to use technology to deliver meaningful outcomes for customers and colleagues.

If you feel you’d be a great fit for Royal London but don’t meet every requirement, we’d still love to hear from you. Research shows some candidates are less likely to apply unless they meet 100% of the criteria — if you meet most of the requirements and are keen to learn, we encourage you to apply.

About Royal London

We’re the UK’s largest mutual life, pensions and investment company, offering protection, long-term savings and asset management products and services.

Our People Promise to our colleagues is that we will all work somewhere inclusive, responsible, enjoyable and fulfilling. This is underpinned by our Spirit of Royal London values; Empowered, Trustworthy, Collaborate, Achieve.

We've always been proud to reward employees by offering great workplace benefits such as 28 days annual leave in addition to bank holidays, an up to 14% employer matching pension scheme and private medical insurance.

Inclusion, diversity and belonging

We’re an inclusive employer. We celebrate and value different backgrounds and cultures across Royal London. Our diverse people and perspectives give us a range of skills which are recognised and respected – whatever their background.