Network Solution Architect

The Solution Architects operate within the CTO function and take primary responsibility for the design and end to end solution for projects and programmes delivered through the Tribes, aligned to the business strategy, enterprise principles, roadmaps and technology vision. Championing technology standards, standard patterns and best practices the solution architects feed their depth of knowledge and expertise into each solution design and the enterprise roadmap.  They also for a key part in governance forums and ensure the ongoing conformity to the enterprise roadmaps and technology standards.

Reporting to the Head of Solution Architecture, the Network Solution Architect will provide the Tribes and large programmes with technology consultancy and design support grounded in both subject matter expertise and experience. He/she will participate in governance and consultancy for each delivery, will champion quality and work with the Senior Engineers, Staff Engineers and Heads of Tech to ensure roadmap alignment, act as the bridge between the tribes and architecture, and ensure optimal use of enterprise assets including conformity to technology standards.

Department Vision

Admiral IT has a long history of supporting business innovation and successfully bringing new products to market. As an example, the IT department completed a refresh of the core policy administration systems, a platform that delivers over £2 billion of revenue. In 2021 the IT department did the same for Admiral’s core Claims platform, with a design that facilitated continued innovation within an increasingly digital marketplace.

The department continues to build and improve on these foundations innovating through technical excellence including Cloud adoption/migration, Big Data, machine learning and data analytics technologies as well as furthering our digital offerings with a focus on digital customer engagement.

What are we looking for?

We take on many different roles within IT, but we consistently look for people who are: 

• Proactive and keen to take the initiative; gain an understanding of what needs to be done and forge ahead.
• Focussed on delivering business value above technology or architectural purity.
• Passionate about what they do and  doing it well.
• A continual learner (inquisitive with a desire for self-improvement).
• Comfortable with speaking up / making their voice heard.
• Self-motivated, creative, and highly disciplined.
• Positive / ‘can do’ attitude
• A collaborative team player.
• Able to work with all levels of seniority across IT and the wider business.

Requirements /Technologies

• You will have worked with many technologies across all aspects of IT with extensive demonstrable experience of:

• LAN technologies such as CISCO ACI, DNA, SDA, ISE, etc.
• WAN technologies and vendors providing point-to-point, MPLS, and SD WAN services, plus BGP/OSPF routing.
• LAN/WAN Integration with Secure Access Service Edge applications and services.
• Application Delivery Controllers, including F5 BIG-IP, and Palo Alto next generation firewalls.

• You will have a track record of solving complex problems and challenges
• It is expected you will be a network technology expert with 10 + years of experience.
• You will be expected to maintain your expertise staying current in relevant technologies through research and other means.
• You will have produced numerous technology documents including High Level Solution Designs and Solution Architecture documents.
• You will have experience leading the network design for major projects / programs of work.
• You will be comfortable producing a range of artifacts to effectively communicate with senior stakeholders within the organisation.
• You will champion and oversee the design, adoption, and implementation of best practices.
• You will continuously identify and promote innovative ways of using technology to maximise business value.

Responsibilities

• To act as a lead in the development of fit for purpose network solutions with end-to-end responsibility including solution alignment to business requirements, technology selection, user experience, solution maintainability and ensuring the solution meets non-functional requirements (scale, performance, security).
• Ensure that security is at the heart of every solution.
• To work in tandem with the Enterprise and Domain Architects to understand the business goals and vision, and to contribute to the Enterprise Roadmaps.
• Work closely with the Tribe / Projects leads supporting them as required.
• Actively participating in the Technology governance process, as required.
• Producing documentation (HLD’s, concept presentations, exec summaries etc) of a high-quality and to a detailed level.
  • Ensuring all Decision Points, Building Blocks, Design Principles, Design Rationale, and all interdependencies are understood, documented, and communicated across IT, where appropriate.
• Support the engineering teams in the production of Low Level Designs.
  • Proactively manage and address project risks and issues, escalating high priority issues to management with suggested solutions.
• Identifying technical debt, single points of failure and other weaknesses within the environment and escalating or recording them, as appropriate.
• Documenting technical debt.
• Provide consultancy services to internal customers by offering technical guidance, and ensuring architecture principles, design standards and operational requirements are met.
• Provide consultancy services and advice to senior developers, Tech Leads and Head of Tech.
• Ensuring delivery of projects on time and to budget, by adopting delivery-focussed Admiral working practices and methodologies.
• Maintain and comply with best standards and practices regarding both solution architecture deliverables and relevant governance frameworks. 
• Chair and actively promote the Technical Design Authority forums and act as an escalation point for wider technical governance.
• Keep the Head of Solution Architecture and the Chief Architect informed and updated as appropriate.
• Contribute to the architecture repository, using approved modelling tools and language.

Our Commitment to You

At Admiral, we are committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace. Admiral is proud to be an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other legally protected status.

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment.

Salary, Benefits, and Work-Life Balance

We do not have a set salary for this position, as it will be dependent on the successful candidate’s experience. We are happy to see CVs from all candidates who meet the requirements and will be happy to discuss the remuneration package.

At Admiral, we are proud to be a diverse business where we put our people and customers first. We have great benefits to ensure employees have a great work-life balance; it's one of the reasons we’re consistently voted one of the Sunday Times Best Big Companies to work for in the UK. We want you to have an element of freedom to define a working lifestyle that supports this, so accommodate flexible hours wherever possible.

All colleagues will receive 33 days holiday (including banks holidays) when they join us, and this will increase with length of service, up to a maximum of 38 days (including banks holidays). You also have the option to buy or sell up to five days of annual leave in addition to your allocation.

You can also view some of our other key benefits here.

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