Solution Architect

N Brown – who we are and why work for us?

At N Brown, we’re committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment that values equality for all. Our vision is that by ‘championing inclusion, we’ll become the most loved and trusted fashion retailer’. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging are, therefore, at the heart of our culture.

We’re a forward-thinking digital retailer with a financial services proposition to be proud of. We’re customer-obsessed, serving them through three core brands: JD Williams, Simply Be, and Jacamo. We’re experienced, with over 160 years of trading under our belt. We’re inclusive, as we believe in fashion without boundaries; and we’re sustainable, striving to make as little impact on the planet as possible.

The role

We are looking for a Solution Architect to join us! You will be joining the Digital Operations Architecture team who are responsible for defining and designing the architectures that underpin our digital ecosystems, aligning technology strategy with business goals for the delivery of high-quality, governed solution designs and artefacts within the Customer, Marketing and business capability areas.

You will work in close collaboration with the different product teams. This involves having a deep understanding of business outcomes, capabilities, value streams and processes, and linking them to the portfolio of solutions (including projects, products, services and other systems). You will be the authority and trusted advisor for all solutions in the Customer Digital area, ensuring any proposed changes to the estate are aligned with the wider enterprise technology direction and concepts. In addition, you will be responsible for the application of necessary solution governance and quality assurance, including proactive contribution to both our Technology Design Authority and Architecture community of practice

As the Solution Architect, you will play a key role in the successful delivery of the technology strategy and digital transformation roadmap. There are a number of upcoming key priorities where you will play a pivotal role in supporting the design and implementation of a unified digital platform, integrating various customer engagement interfaces. You will support the convergence of logged-in and public user experiences, ensuring a smooth transition and enhanced user engagement. You will evaluate and implement solutions, including post purchase communications / tracking, and real-time integration of systems to identify and exploit new customer marketing opportunities.

What’s in it for you?

• Hybrid working
• 24 days holiday (+ 8 bank holidays) with the option to buy an additional 10 days
• Annual bonus scheme
• Enhanced maternity and adoption leave
• Access to Apricity, a self-funding IVF benefit at a reduced rate
• Company pension with up to 8% N Brown contribution
• Mental Health support both internally and externally, including access to our wellbeing champions and counselling services
• A range of financial wellbeing support
• Colleague discount across all N Brown brands
• Onsite café with subsidised rates and local restaurant discounts!
• Life Assurance and Private Medical Insurance
• Paid volunteer time – all our colleagues can take a full day paid to volunteer for a charity of their choice

As Solution Architect, you will:

• Develop and articulate current state physical and logical architectures.
• Work alongside engineering technical leads and System Integrators, you will be accountable for architecting and governing cost-efficient, scalable solutions for this domain.
• Govern system designs to ensure that appropriate patterns and standards are applied effectively.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure the seamless integration of various systems
• Evangelise the adoption of future state technology architectures becoming the authority in this space.
• Work with the Product teams to coordinate the assessment of modern technologies and how they can be effectively introduced to the enterprise.
• Work closely with stakeholders across functions, becoming a strong partner to the business and influencing outcomes from ideation through to implementation.
• Cultivate relationships with all levels of technical stakeholder to ensure architectural governance is applied in a uniform fashion.
• Influence technology direction and strategy.
• Question the status-quo to drive better outcomes across the enterprise.
• Work with the rest of the Architecture community and business stakeholders to build transformation roadmaps.
• Participate in the creation of RFI/RFP documentation and assessment of bid responses from external technology vendors.
• Represent the wider Architecture Chapter.
• Work with IT stakeholders and contribute the evolution and delivery of our IT strategy.

What you will need to succeed:

• Proven experience in an architecture role Retail/Ecommerce and/or Financial Services environment
• Experience of working with Product or Agile teams at the same time, effectively governing architectural designs to enable continuous delivery.
• Develop solution proposals to meet customer’s requirements with good understanding of the integration standards and patterns to align the enterprise wide digital architecture
• Deep understanding of the microservices, headless and event driven and Integration architecture.
• Experience in designing and deploying solutions in cloud-native enterprise applications in public, private and hybrid cloud models (AWS, Azure, GCP etc.), including containerisation
• Practical experience of governing solutions in an architecture function.
• Excellent communication skills and a proven ability to influence outcomes – strong interpersonal skills are essential.
• Flexibility and a desire to learn.
• Awareness of IT industry trends and being vendor and technology neutral to enable best-fit solutions to be found.
• The ability to plan and rationalise project goals working from limited information and ending in a holistic design.
• Decisiveness – be capable of presenting proposed solutions with confidence, providing clear guidance for outcomes.

Desirable:

• Experience with AWS, preferably holding or working towards AWS Certified Solution Architect certification.
• Knowledge of architecture frameworks, TOGAF or Zachman and how to apply these in a fast-paced digital commerce organisation.
• Experience with performing a Solution Architecture role during large scale transformation programmes.
• Experience with customer master data, logistics and marketing platforms
• Experience with integration and eventing platform technologies and capabilities
• Experience of business activity around areas such as financial, commercial, procurement, security, and service management.

Ways of Working

We offer hybrid working which varies across the business depending on the role you’re in. For this role, the expectation would be 1 day per week. Our Head Office is located in the Northern Quarter in Manchester City Centre. So if you are travelling by train, tram or bus we’re perfectly located, plus we’re surrounded by cool cafes, trendy bars and the best places to eat!

Our working hours are 36.17 per week and our core working hours are between 10am - 4pm. Given we don’t have strict working hours you can find the working pattern that’s right for you.

Our promise to you:

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

What happens when you apply to a role at N Brown?

As soon as we receive your application, we’ll send you an email to let you know. We always aim to come back to you as soon as possible with an update and we really appreciate you taking the time to apply for a role with us. Good luck!