Principal Solutions Architect

DataArt is seeking an experienced, hands-on Principal Solution Architect to support a strategic technology modernization program for a major UK digital platform - encompassing platform modernization, cloud infrastructure and the adoption of AI-enabled software engineering practices.

The initial focus will be on Web Platform Modernization, but the engagement is expected to extend across multiple architectural domains, including AWS infrastructure, APIs, search, commerce, identity and other core platform services.

We are looking for a technically credible, commercially aware architect who can operate across these domains, assess complex existing environments and translate modernization opportunities into pragmatic, executable delivery plans. The successful candidate will act as DataArt’s senior technical representative, working closely with the client’s architecture, engineering and transformation leadership while providing technical direction to DataArt’s distributed engineering teams.

This is not a traditional enterprise architecture or governance role. We need someone who combines broad architectural expertise with hands-on technical experience and a strong track record of delivering complex modernization programs.

This project focuses on assessing a complex existing technology landscape and defining pragmatic modernisation plans for business critical platform components. You will help shape target state architecture, delivery roadmaps, and implementation strategies across multiple architectural domains.

• Lead architecture discovery across the technology landscape with an initial focus on the web platform.
• Assess existing applications, platform services, cloud infrastructure, and integration patterns.
• Evaluate technical debt, scalability constraints, resilience, performance, and operational challenges.
• Review AWS architecture and identify opportunities for cloud native modernisation, optimisation, and simplification.
• Define pragmatic target state architectures aligned with the broader technology strategy.
• Develop modernisation approaches covering application replatforming, refactoring, cloud migration, and incremental replacement.
• Design scalable, resilient, and secure solutions using AWS and modern cloud native technologies.
• Assess integration patterns, API architecture, distributed systems, and service boundaries.
• Identify architectural dependencies and risks related to modernising business-critical components.
• Translate architecture assessments into prioritised delivery work packages.
• Develop technical roadmaps, implementation strategies, and migration plans.
• Support engineering estimation, resource planning, and commercial scoping.
• Provide technical direction to distributed engineering teams.
• Lead technical workshops, architecture reviews, and solution design discussions.
• Communicate architectural options, trade-offs, and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences.

• 12+ years’ experience in software engineering and solution architecture, with significant experience in senior architecture leadership roles.
• Proven track record delivering complex application and platform modernisation programmes.
• Strong hands-on AWS architecture experience, including cloud-native application design and infrastructure considerations.
• Broad technical experience across web platforms, APIs, microservices and distributed systems.
• Experience architecting high-volume, business-critical, customer-facing platforms.
• Strong understanding of modern application architectures, integration patterns and service-oriented design.
• Experience assessing complex legacy environments and defining incremental modernisation strategies; building a holistic understanding of the technical landscape with its interdependencies, caveats and historical variety of approaches
• Ability to translate architectural recommendations into executable engineering work packages.
• Experience leading technical discovery and solution design in environments where requirements are initially ambiguous.
• Experience providing architectural leadership to distributed engineering teams.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including experience engaging with CTOs and senior engineering leaders.
• Commercial awareness, including experience supporting technical estimation and delivery planning.

• Experience in travel, transportation, e-commerce or other high-volume transactional environments.
• Experience with search-intensive platforms, including distributed search architectures.
• Familiarity with AWS services supporting compute, containers, networking, databases, messaging, and observability.
• Experience with infrastructure as code, CI/CD and modern DevOps practices.
• Experience with CMS modernisation and headless web architectures.
• Knowledge of commerce, identity, payment and fulfilment architectures.
• Experience with event-driven systems and real-time data processing.
• AWS Solutions Architect Professional certification or equivalent demonstrable experience.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted software development and emerging agentic engineering practices.
• Experience working in technology consulting or professional services environments.