Solution Architect – Digital Workplace & Infrastructure
About the Role:
We are seeking an experienced and versatile Solution Architect to join a strategic digital transformation programme for our higher education client. This role will be embedded within a multidisciplinary architecture team responsible for shaping the client’s IT service landscape, ensuring solutions are scalable, future-ready, and aligned with institutional objectives.
The focus of the role is on designing and delivering solutions across end-user compute services and IT environments that support both academic and operational excellence. You’ll play a key role in defining architecture standards, guiding technical delivery, and ensuring service designs are robust, secure, and user-centric.
Key Responsibilities:
* Translate business needs and technology strategy into actionable, high-quality solution designs
* Produce and maintain High-Level Design (HLD) documentation, aligning with architecture governance processes
* Perform gap analyses and feasibility assessments against existing platforms and services
* Ensure architectural consistency across workstreams and integrations
* Define and design services supporting student and staff compute environments, including managed desktops, VDI, and remote access platforms
* Drive the creation of automated, on-demand environments for key IT systems using infrastructure-as-code and DevOps tooling
* Embed service design principles to ensure maintainable, scalable, and user-focused compute solutions
* Contribute to the delivery of secure and policy-compliant services including Privileged Access Management (PAM), data obfuscation, and environment provisioning
Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership
* Act as a trusted advisor and architectural lead, engaging with IT stakeholders, academic leaders, service owners, and delivery teams
* Facilitate collaborative workshops, influence design decisions, and resolve architectural trade-offs
* Support project delivery teams with technical leadership, mentoring, and quality assurance oversight
Qualifications:
* Proven experience as a Solution Architect in complex, integrated IT environments (preferably within higher education or public sector)
* Deep understanding of end-user computing platforms, digital workplace services, and virtualised environments
* Strong knowledge of tools and technologies for:
o Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) – e.g., Citrix, VMware Horizon, or Azure Virtual Desktop
o Desktop imaging, patching, and endpoint management – e.g., SCCM, Intune
o Remote access and software delivery models in academic settings
* Experience designing and implementing on-demand, automated environments using:
o Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform, ARM Templates)
o Configuration management (e.g., Ansible, Puppet)
o CI/CD pipelines and release automation (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins)
* Familiarity with Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions such as CyberArk or BeyondTrust
* Understanding of IT governance, architectural principles, and service design frameworks
* Experience producing architecture artefacts and leading design reviews
* Strong stakeholder engagement, communication, and presentation skills
* Background in higher education, research, or public sector IT services
* Knowledge of teaching & learning computing needs and digital delivery of academic services
* Familiarity with ITIL and service management best practices
* Exposure to data security, privacy, and obfuscation practices
* Agile delivery or dual-track agile experience
Key Attributes:
* Technically broad and strategically minded
* Comfortable working in complex, multi-vendor environments
* Strong communicator who can translate technical language for non-technical stakeholders
* Collaborative team player with a proactive and pragmatic mindset
* Passion for user-focused service delivery and long-term value creation
Seniority level
* Mid-Senior level
Employment type
* Full-time
Job function
* Engineering and Information Technology
Industries
* IT Services and IT Consulting
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