Solution Architect (Flexibility Market)

Join Elexon as an FMAR Solution Architect! Bring your experience across, application, integration, or software architecture and make a real impact.

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Solution Architect (Grade 11) to join a growing team at ELEXON responsible for the Flexibility Market Asset Registration system (FMAR).

This is a new system designed to streamline the registration process for flexible energy assets, making it easier for aggregators (those who group together smaller energy assets like solar panels, EV chargers, and home batteries) to participate in flexible energy markets.

FMAR is a key initiative by Ofgem to facilitate the growth of the flexible energy market in Great Britain.

As a Solution Architect, you will work closely with senior stakeholders and cross functional product teams to successfully execute a significant, high-profile digital initiative.

You will need to be familiar with working in a fast paced agile environment, and have experience working with system integrator teams, based across multiple geographies and in different organisations.

This role offers the opportunity to use a wide range of skills to deliver an advanced cloud based technical solution with modern architecture patterns and technologies. You will need to translate business requirements into technical solutions and effectively communicate with product teams on your design. A key part of your role will be leading engineering teams to ensure conformation to your design, and governance through a well formulated process.

The ideal candidate will combine excellent technical skills and communications expertise with a collaborative approach that will demonstrate the value of communications and stakeholder engagement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership in transforming requirements to solutions and technical designs, while working as a key member of cross functional product team(s); distributed across multiple geographies and organisations
• Review evolving requirements and work with stakeholders to make enhancements/changes to the architecture through a collaborative process with the product team(s)
• Ensure solutions are in-line with the target state, delivering incremental set of common capabilities, platform and services, with significant focus on non-functional aspects of the solution
• Drive recommendations for improvements across the functional and non-functional aspects of the solution, including business process re-engineering initiatives.
• Create and deliver architecture and design artefacts, while ensuring completeness of solution
• Promote the adoption of design patterns, industry standards, and best practices

Experience:

Architecture Expertise:

• Extensive experience as a solution architect, with recent years focused on designing and architecting solutions using Microsoft Azure and supporting technologies. Proven track record in various architectural roles, including Integration Architect, Application Architect, and Software Architect.
• Experience architecting cloud native solutions, leveraging containers, microservices, APIs, PaaS capabilities of Azure, variety of data storage technologies, identity & access management suites etc.
• Experience in architecting solutions in SaaS based CRM e.g. Salesforce, Dynamics 365, or similar
• Experience in architecting data storage solutions, including familiarisation of centralised v distributed design patterns
• Experience in technical governance, performing reviews of the architecture and design deliverables from technical teams and working collaboratively to help them fill in the identified gaps
• Experience in understanding impact of change at various level of details/complexity at various stages in the change initiative, being able to steer the direction of change to align with the target architecture landscape
• Experience working across all the various stages of the project / product lifecycle, right from inception into operationalisation, support and eventual decommissioning

Technical Expertise:

• Sufficient level of relevant technical background (i.e. developer and technical lead in early carrier) to provide highly-credible leadership to development teams and to be able to accurately and objectively evaluate complex project risks
• Strong experience with one or more programming languages, including but not limited to: C# on .NET Core/.NET, Java, Python, C++,or
• Good understanding of testing methodologies such as BDD, TDD etc.

Communication & Business Acumen:

• Experience working with stakeholders at all levels, being able to effectively communicate complex technical solutions and challenges to both semi-technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience and understanding of business change and how communications and engagement supports this

Working Environment & Practices:

• Experience working effectively and collaboratively in cross-functional product teams, with members from various organizations, spread across different geographies and time zones
• Prior experience with SCRUM/Agile/Scaled Agile methodologies and DevOps practices within enterprise-level application development projects

Qualification:

• A bachelor’s degree or higher, in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field of study, or equivalent experience

In return, Elexon provides:

• £100,000
• 28 days annual holiday + Bank Holidays
• Discretionary annual incentive scheme
• Life assurance
• Pension
• Private medical (Bupa)
• Private dental (Bupa)

At Elexon, our employee wellbeing is particularly important to us, which is why we are proud to provide:

• Hybrid working – 2 days per week at our London office
• BUPA health check
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Eye care voucher scheme
• Subsidised gym membership
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Buying & selling holiday scheme
• Computing scheme
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) days
• Season ticket loan

We believe a diverse and inclusive culture allows innovation and creativity to flourish. We are committed to continuously improving our culture for our colleagues and stakeholders. Through our hugely successful Diversity Forum, Mental Health First Aid network and regular programme of activities and events, we celebrate difference and recognise the value of employee wellbeing, which is a consistent outcome from annual employee surveys that we conduct. Likewise, as a community, we like to support each other, and all agree Elexon is a great place to work with a great workspace too!

At Elexon, we want to:

• Provide true equality of opportunity
• Attract and retain diverse talent
• Listen to all voices
• Be representative of the communities we work in
• Be a role model for Diversity and Inclusion in the industry
• Elexon together, embracing differences, listening to all voices