Senior Solutions Architect - Retail Technology

About us

We’re the team behind digital retailer Very.

Our purpose, helping families get more out of life, powers everything we do.

And we want our people to get more out of life too! If you’re high-performing, ambitious and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. In return, you’ll enjoy heaps of flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning and take your career wherever you want it to go.

If you love making a difference, you’ll love making it sparkle for millions of Very customers.

About the Team

The Retail Tribe is at the heart of our digital transformation journey.

Responsible for the technology that supports our end-to-end retail operation, the team owns the design, development, integration and operation of solutions spanning:

• Sourcing and Supplier Management
• Planning and Forecasting
• Buying and Merchandising
• Pricing and Promotions
• Product Information and Publishing
• Retail Operations and Commercial Systems

Together, we're modernising legacy platforms, embracing cloud technologies and creating innovative solutions that support the next generation of retail capabilities.

About The Role

As a Senior Solution Architect, you'll provide architectural leadership across complex technology initiatives, ensuring solutions deliver business value while adhering to enterprise standards and best practice.

You will:

• Shape architecture roadmaps that align technology strategy with business objectives.
• Design scalable, secure and resilient solutions across a modern cloud-based ecosystem.
• Lead solution architecture for large-scale, business-critical programmes and products.
• Partner with Product, Engineering and Delivery teams to define technology direction and delivery approaches.
• Provide technical leadership on complex risks, dependencies and architectural challenges.
• Drive architectural governance, ensuring solutions align with standards, principles and target architecture.
• Evaluate technologies and recommend solutions that support future business growth.
• Influence stakeholders across Technology and the wider business, translating complex technical concepts into clear business outcomes.
• Support the evolution of our cloud-native architecture and engineering capabilities.
• Champion Agile and Lean delivery practices within multidisciplinary teams.

About You

We're seeking an experienced architect with a passion for technology, innovation and business transformation.

You'll bring:

• Proven experience designing and delivering complex enterprise-scale solutions.
• Strong architectural leadership skills, balancing strategic vision with pragmatic delivery.
• Experience defining technology roadmaps and influencing senior stakeholders.
• The ability to navigate ambiguity, solve complex problems and drive informed technical decisions.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical audiences alike.
• Experience working within Agile delivery environments and modern product organisations.
• A collaborative approach, coupled with the confidence to challenge constructively and influence outcomes.
• A track record of driving architectural best practice and continuous improvement.

We're particularly interested in candidates with experience across:

• Java
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Cloud-native architecture and distributed systems
• API-led integration and modern engineering practices

Experience in any of the following would be advantageous:

• Spring Boot
• Oracle Database
• Terraform
• React
• AWS API Gateway
• AWS RDS

Some of our benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model
• Inclusive culture and environment, check out our Glassdoor reviews

• £6500 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
• 30 days holiday + bank holidays
• LinkedIn Learning access
• Bonus potential (performance and business-related)
• Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk

• Matched pension up to 6%
• More benefits can be found on our career site

How to apply

Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.

What happens next?

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.

You can expect a two stage interview process for this position:

1st stage - A one hour face-to-face or Teams interview with a System Design technical exercise.

2nd stage - final stage behavioural interview - ideally face to face.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

If you'd like to know more about our interviews, you can find out here.

Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities

We’re building a culture of everyday inclusion, and welcome applications from anyone who believes they can do the job. We don’t discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply, interview, or perform a role, let us know via [email protected]. We’ll be happy to support you.

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer and have nine brilliant colleague networks - including DAWN (Disability Awareness at Very) and Think (Neurodiversity at Very) - that are helping us make Very an even more inclusive place to work.