Portfolio Architect

Job Title: Portfolio Architect

Contract: Perm

Location: Nottingham

Recruitment Partner: Noaman Hussain

About the role

We're looking for a Portfolio Architect to lead and manage a team of Architects, both Boots Permanent, augmented and contractor resource. You will manage the pipeline of work into the portfolio architecture team and plan and schedule the workload of the portfolio Solution Architect team members.

Below are further responsibilities of the role:

• Forecast resource demand and request additional resource through our augmentation partners or permanent recruitment as required. Aid projects and programmes with prioritisation that require resource to flatten demand peaks and minimise troughs.
• Will set and review performance contracts and Personal Development Plans of team members, gathering feedback throughout the year. Deliver in the moment feedback and support to team members through personal 1-2-1 and team meetings.
• Identify any capability shortfalls in the team, and identify learning & development needs to meet the proposed project pipeline.
• Provide a project and business intake gateway to deliver high-level estimates and solution overview proposals to business request and problems.
• Provide estimate to other programmes for changes and scope that impacts the systems and solutions encompassing the portfolio.
• Runs the Portfolio Design Authority and Peer Review process. Ensures compliance to architectural governance for standards, patterns, and security. Ensures consistent quality of design artefacts and documents delivered by the team, and that all approval stage gates are followed.
• Represents the portfolio at the Enterprise Design Authority and Enterprise Architect Peer Review boards and ensures projects that fall outside the authorisation remit of the portfolio Design Authority are presented for approval.
• Represents the portfolio at the Enterprise Architect Technical Council. This body is responsible for the creation, maintenance, and approval of design patterns and methods used by Architects in the creation of solution designs and artifacts.
• Provides day to day SME support and solution advice to the team, other IT portfolios and the business.
• Engages in solution design/overviews/proposals creation, typically for the niche PoC projects and discovery initiatives, which come ahead of formal project initiation and scheduled project activity.
• Provides solution context content for project initiation and mandate documentation which may come ahead of assigning a formal Solution Architect from the team to the project.
• Contributes to and provides updates on the maintenance pipeline, working with the Lead Business Analysis to create a living demand, resource forecast, cost estimate and roadmap plan. Including the tracking of system change roadmap and mandatory changes with suppliers to comply with legislation and product roadmaps.
• Maintains the bridge between the EA community and the portfolio. Contributes to the EA 3-year plan and roadmap. Bring a level of reality grounding to the plan in the formulation of any solution proposal, migration and delivery plans, in particular in context to legacy systems.
• Business stakeholder engagement, communication, and management.

What you’ll need to have

• An experienced Architect with strong communication and planning skills to deliver the key aspects of the role as defined above, ideally with a history of Retail, Point of Sale, Payment systems, Stock Management and Supply Chain. Knowledge of Cloud technologies would be useful as the business undertakes migration from its legacy solutions to new technologies.
• Experience in line and team management.

It would be great if you also have

• Knowledge of Mobile Computing (Android) methods, which feature heavily in the current and future roadmap of the in store and warehouse systems.

Our benefits

• Retirement Savings Plan
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Generous employee discounts
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave pay and gift card for anyone expecting or adopting a child
• Flexible benefits scheme including holiday buying, discounted gym membership, life assurance, activity passes and more.
• Access to free, 24/7 counselling and support through TELUS Health, our Employee Assistance Programme.

We have a great range of benefits in addition to the above that offer flexibility to suit you - find out more at boots.jobs/rewards. Please note, any salary estimates given on third-party sites are not provided or endorsed by WBA and may not be accurate.

What's next

Where a role is advertised as full-time, we are open to discussing part-time and job share options during the application process. If you require additional support as part of the application and interview process, we are happy to provide reasonable adjustments to help you to be at your best.

You will complete a Pre-employment check after receiving an offer. Depending on your location you will be asked to submit either a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service), PVG (Protection of Vulnerable groups) or an Access NI Check.

We are a Ban the Box employer and will consider the suitability of applicants with criminal convictions on a case-by-case basis.

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