Job Title: IT Solution Architect
Location(s): UK (Nationwide Responsibility) Hybrid or Remote working available

Summary of Role:
The solutions architect proactively and holistically leads and supports EA activities that guide the development and management of a portfolio of solutions. Solutions include projects, products, systems (including applications, technologies, processes, and information), shared infrastructure services and shared application services.

The successful candidate will be able to develop a deep understanding of business requirements, goals, objectives, capabilities, value-streams, and processes. The solutions architect provides the necessary leadership, analysis and design tasks related to support the development of technology solutions to ensure that solutions meet business needs and align with architectural governance and standards.

Main Duties:
The Solutions Architect will demonstrate competencies across four key areas:
Translates Business Strategy and Requirements into Solutions Architecture

• Understands business drivers and business capabilities (future and current state) and determines corresponding enterprise system designs and change requirements.
• Understands emerging technology trends and disruptions and the practical application of existing, new, and emerging technologies to enable new and evolving business and operating models.
• Translates business and technical requirements into an architectural blueprint to achieve business objectives and documents all solution architecture design and analysis work.
• Analyses the technology industry, competitors, market trends, and determines any potential impact on the enterprise.
• Provides deliverables such as standard definitions, reference models and architecture designs to help the architecture review board (ARB) assess the impact of new and ongoing technology investment on the business and IT estate.
• Acts as a consultant on a broad range of technologies, platforms, and vendor offerings to drive targeted business outcomes.

Leads Solutions Design and Analysis

• Leads evaluation, design and analysis for the implementation of a solutions architecture across a group of specific business applications or technologies based on enterprise business strategy, business capabilities, value-streams, business requirements and enterprise standards.
• Creates high level architectural designs to guide and contextualise solution development across products, services, projects and systems (including applications, technologies, processes and information).
• Creates reference architectures focused on detailed design principles, decision points, detailed APIs, major systems and dependencies between business and IT.
• Manages and develops the architecture for a broader scope of projects or products, working closely with application architects that manage and design architecture for a single project or product or initiative.
• Analyses the business-IT environment (run, grow and transform the business) to detect critical deficiencies, legacy and technical debt, and recommends solutions for improvement (systems of record, differentiation and innovation).

Orchestrates Solutions Delivery

• Designs and directs the governance activities associated with ensuring solutions architecture assurance and compliance.
• Defines the principles, guidelines, standards and solution patterns to ensure solution decisions are aligned with the enterprise's future-state architecture vision.
• Facilitates the evaluation and selection of software product standards and services, as well as the design of standard and custom software configurations.
• Supports product managers in EOL (end of life) product decisions to maintain, refresh or retire products, services or systems (including applications, technologies, processes and information).
• Develops a roadmap for the evolution of the enterprise application portfolio from future to current state (as defined by the solutions architecture).
• Monitors the current-state solution portfolio to identify deficiencies through aging of the technologies used by the application, or misalignment with business requirements.
• Identifies the organisational impact (for example, on skills, processes, structures or culture) and financial impact of the solutions architecture.

Facilitates and Collaborates to Deliver Business Outcomes

• Works closely with the program management office (PMO) or project management office to ensure the execution of plans corresponds with what is being promised throughout the project or product lifecycle.
• Works closely with the product owners and product managers to ensure a robust architectural runway that can support future business requirements throughout the product lifecycle.
• Provides consulting support to application and programme architects within agile teams to ensure the project or product is aligned with the overall enterprise architecture.
• Consults with application and infrastructure development projects and products to fit systems or infrastructure to architecture and identify when it is necessary to modify projects to accommodate the solutions architecture.
• Supports a community of practice (CoP), guiding and helping agile teams, product owners, and application architects to align with the overall enterprise architecture governance and assurance.

Candidate Requirements:

Essential:

• Skilled at influencing, guiding and facilitating stakeholders and peers with decision making.
• Ability to articulate new ideas and concepts to technical and nontechnical audiences and understand the long-term ("big picture") and short-term perspectives of situations
• Ability to translate future-state business capabilities and requirements into solution architecture requirements
• Ability to propose and estimate the financial impact of solution architecture alternatives
• Ability to work creatively and analytically to solve business problems and propose solutions
• Trusted and respected as a thought leader who can influence and persuade others
• Technology neutral: remains unbiased toward any specific technology or vendor choice, and is more interested in results than personal preferences
• Displays intellectual curiosity and integrity
• Motivated and driven by achieving long-term business outcomes
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and lead cross-functional teams
• Ability to gain SC clearance

Knowledge/Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills in areas such as teamwork, facilitation, and negotiation
• Strong leadership skills
• Excellent planning, organisational, analytical and technical skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of financial models and budgeting
• Experience in 2 of the following architecture disciplines; application, infrastructure business
• Understanding and knowledge of system development life cycle methodologies (such as waterfall, spiral, agile software development, rapid prototyping, incremental, synchronise and stabilise, and DevOps)
• Understanding and knowledge of IT service management (ITSM) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
• Knowledge and understanding of different modelling languages (such as UML and ArchiMate)

Desirable:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information-technology, engineering, system analysis or a related study, or equivalent experience
• Extensive experience in at least two IT solution development disciplines, including technical or infrastructure architecture, network management, application development, middleware, database management or cloud development
• Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies, platforms and processing environments
• Understanding of network and security architecture
• Good understanding of strategic and new and emerging technology trends, and the practical application of existing, new and emerging technologies to new and evolving business and operating models
• Good understanding of product management, agile principles and development methodologies and capability of supporting agile teams by providing advice and guidance on opportunities, impact and risks, taking account of technical and architectural debt
• Experience working in a relevant industry is helpful, but not required.
• Experience developing architecture blueprints, strategies and roadmaps
• Experience delivering presentations to senior-level executives and technical audiences.

About Raytheon UK

With facilities in Broughton, Waddington, Glenrothes, Harlow, Gloucester, Manchester with presence across other customer sites also. Raytheon UK is invested in the British workforce and the development of UK technology. Across the country Raytheon UK employs 1,700 people and supports 8,000 jobs. As a prime contractor and major supplier to the U.K. Ministry of Defence, Raytheon continues to invest in research and development, supporting innovation and technological advances across its core mission areas Weapons & Sensors, and Cyber, Space & Training.

Raytheon UK is a landed company, part of the Raytheon Technologies organisation and sits within the Raytheon Intelligence & Space business

About Raytheon Technologies

Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an aerospace and defence company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. It comprises four industry-leading businesses - Collins Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defence. Its 195,000 employees enable the company to operate at the edge of known science as they imagine and deliver solutions that push the boundaries in quantum physics, electric propulsion, directed energy, hypersonics, avionics and cyber security. The company, formed in 2020 through the combination of Raytheon Company and the United Technologies Corporation aerospace businesses, is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Standard Benefits:

• 25 days holiday + statutory public holidays
• Private Medical Insurance
• Car Allowance
• Contributory Pension Scheme (up to 10.5% company contribution)
• 6 times salary 'Life Assurance'
• Flexible Benefits scheme with extensive salary sacrifice scheme's.
• Enhanced sick pay scheme
• Enhanced Family Friendly Policies, including enhanced Maternity & Shared Parental leave.
• 37hr working week, with an early finish Friday (hours may vary depending on role, job requirement or site specifics arrangements).
• Flexible working arrangements can be considered wherever we can (depending on the role) so please enquire or highlight any request to our Recruitment team to explore flexible working possibilities.

Raytheon Career Development:

Raytheon has a wealth of resources available to help you develop your career from the moment you join. Activities range from on-line learning modules, to external training and support for taking professional qualifications relevant to your role.

Diversity:

Diversity is a core business imperative at Raytheon. We are an equal opportunity employer that promotes inclusiveness and always employs the best professionals for the job. Having a diverse workforce allows Raytheon to draw upon a range of different ideas and experiences which supports growing our business and creates an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity for success. Raytheon UK pro-actively encourages diversity of ideas, thoughts, and networking opportunities and has created Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) including Raytheon Women's Network, YesNet (Young Employees Success Network), Raytheon Reservist Network (RaRe), Raytheon Alliance for Diverse Abilities (RADA), RayPride and all work together with our Diversity & Inclusion council, and all Raytheon employees are welcome to participate regardless of their background.

As a proud contributor to the HM Armed Forces, Raytheon UK signed the HM Armed Forces covenant in 2014. Due to the varied activities and support to our Armed Forces & Reservists,
Raytheon UK has since been awarded the prestigious Covenant 'Gold Award' Employee Recognition.

Raytheon UK recognise that our people are the critical factor in our success, and we strive to provide a challenging and rewarding careers.