Hybrid Solution Architect

at Apply Digital

• Job title: Solution Architect
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Mid level, Senior
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: No Education Requirement
• Tech skills: AWS, Azure, Cloud, Google Cloud Platform
• Location requirements: Hybrid, London, United Kingdom

About the role

• Key technical leader at Apply Digital translating ambitions into achievable solutions. Engaging with clients to produce robust architectural blueprints for complex projects.

Responsibilities

• Leading Technical Discovery: Partner with Product Managers and client stakeholders to lead discovery workshops and technical feasibility studies across new and ongoing initiatives. You'll be the primary force in decomposing large, ambiguous business problems into clear, buildable technical roadmaps and requirements.
• Owning Technical Blueprints: Author and own the core technical blueprints for your projects. This includes creating client-facing deliverables like reference architectures, integration strategies, migration plans, and governance models.
• Evaluating and Selecting Technology: Lead the evaluation and selection of technologies, frameworks, patterns, and platforms for each solution. You'll balance innovation with pragmatism, ensuring your choices are a perfect fit for the client's goals and long-term maintainability.
• Guiding Build Phases: Act as the primary steward for the architectural vision during the build phase on active delivery projects. You'll partner seamlessly with Staff Engineers and delivery teams, attending key ceremonies to provide clarity, answer questions, and ensure the code being written adheres to the agreed-upon patterns.
• Communicating Value and Trade-offs: Serve as the lead technical voice. You will clearly articulate complex technical decisions and their trade-offs to both executive-level clients and internal engineering teams, ensuring everyone is aligned on the "How" and "Why."
• Managing Architectural Risk: Own the identification, documentation (in ADRs), and mitigation of all long-term architectural risks, including scalability, security, platform choice, and technical debt.

Requirements

• A Foundation in Delivery: You’ve earned your scars shipping complex, multi-system projects. You've likely been a Staff Engineer or a similar senior technical leader, and that hands-on experience forms the foundation of your architectural pragmatism.
• Systems-Level Thinking: You have the ability to see the entire "forest," not just the "trees." You can design and reason about complex, interconnected systems and their long-term behavior.
• Consulting-Grade Communication: This is a core competency, not a secondary skill. You possess a rare combination of technical authority and high emotional intelligence. You can build consensus with senior clients, navigate complex stakeholder politics, and articulate the business value of your technical decisions with clarity and confidence.
• Deep Technical Breadth: You have a wide "T-base" with strong knowledge of modern architectural patterns, cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), data modeling, security, and integration strategies.
• Architectural Vision: You don't just solve the problem at hand. You design solutions that are elegant, forward-thinking, and built to last.
• Cloud-Certified Excellence: You likely hold a current, senior-level certification on a major cloud platform (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, GCP Professional Cloud Architect, Azure Solutions Architect Expert).
• Pragmatism: You know when to pursue architectural purity and when the most pragmatic, deliverable solution is the right answer. You master the art of balancing ideals with the real-world constraints of a client's budget and timeline.

Benefits

• Great projects: Broaden your skills on a range of engaging projects with international brands that have a global impact.
• An inclusive and safe environment: We’re truly committed to building a culture where you are celebrated and everyone feels welcome and safe.
• Learning opportunities: We offer generous training budgets, including partner tech certifications, custom learning plans, workshops, mentorship, and peer support.
• Vacation policy: We value work–life balance, so you’ll enjoy 24 days of vacation plus 8 bank holidays to rest, recharge, and focus on what matters most.
• Benefits: We use Vitality benefits designed to enhance your health, well-being, and work–life balance.
• Flexible work arrangements: We work in a variety of ways, from remote, to in-office, to a blend of both.