Solutions Architect - Remote - Octopus by RTG

We are looking for a Solution Architect to own the technical shape of complex, multi-service platform solutions from vision through to delivery.

This role sits between business intent and engineering execution. You will translate requirements into a coherent architecture, make and defend the decisions that constrain how the system is built, and stay engaged through implementation to ensure what ships matches what was designed. The ideal candidate is a hands-on architect - comfortable in a client workshop in the morning and in a design review with engineers in the afternoon - who thinks in trade-offs rather than absolutes.

• Own the end-to-end solution architecture for assigned platforms and workstreams, across application, data, integration, security and deployment concerns.
• Translate business and regulatory requirements into architectural decisions, and make the trade-offs explicit.
• Produce and maintain formal architecture deliverables: architecture vision, high-level design, integration designs, and decision records.
• Define service boundaries, API contracts, data ownership and event models across a distributed system.
• Design integration with external and third-party systems, and define the adapter and anti-corruption patterns that keep the core insulated from them.
• Define the non-functional posture - scalability, availability, performance, resilience, observability - and ensure the design actually meets it.
• Embed security and compliance requirements into the architecture rather than bolting them on, working closely with security and risk stakeholders.
• Lead design reviews, guide engineering leads, and govern that implementation stays true to the agreed architecture.
• Evaluate technologies and vendors, and produce clear, evidence-based recommendations.
• Identify and articulate architectural risks, assumptions, dependencies and open decisions, and drive them to closure.
• Support estimation, technical scoping and delivery planning alongside product and delivery leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• 8+ years in software engineering, with at least 3 years in an architecture role on large, multi-service systems
• A background of building software yourself, with enough current depth to review code and design credibly.
• Strong command of distributed system design: microservices, service boundaries, API design and versioning, and event-driven architecture.
• Deep experience with a major backend ecosystem - Java and Spring Boot, or an equivalent enterprise platform.
• Strong data architecture skills: relational modelling, persistence strategy, transactional integrity and consistency trade-offs across services.
• Solid grasp of security architecture - identity and access management, OAuth2 / OpenID Connect, authorization models, encryption and secrets management.
• Experience designing for cloud-native or containerized deployment (Kubernetes or OpenShift) and CI/CD delivery.
• Proven ability to produce clear architecture documentation and diagrams that engineers can actually build from.
• Excellent stakeholder communication - able to hold a technical position under challenge and explain it in plain language to a non-technical audience.
• Excellent verbal and written English communication skills..