Principal Solutions Architect

Job description

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (Alpha) is a leading global consultancy to the financial services industry. Founded in 2003, we have worked for over 20 years to bring together specialist, sector-focused strategy, management consulting and technology expertise to support the entire client transformation lifecycle. Having partnered with more than 1,200 clients worldwide across the asset and wealth management, alternatives and insurance industries, Alpha is truly a trusted advisor for complex change programs. We now have over 1,180 consultants working with clients across North America, the UK, Europe, Middle East and APAC. In 2024, in recognition of our successful track record and strong growth prospects, Alpha was acquired by Bridgepoint, one of the world's leading quoted private asset growth investors. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. We are delighted that many of our team have built long and fulfilling careers with us, many staying over a decade. We believe this is because Alpha offers a genuinely rewarding place to work: a meritocratic environment where your career can flourish, and a welcoming culture where you can be yourself, connect with others and thrive. As we look to the future, we’re excited to be looking for new Alpha colleagues - individuals who are collaborative, innovative and ambitious. We hope you will join us and help shape the next chapter of our growth journey. *Why join Alpha?* - Why join Alpha? Established yet entrepreneurial – with over 20 years of success and a proven record on the London Stock Exchange, Alpha offers the stability of an established consultancy with the energy of a fast-growth business. - Backed by Bridgepoint – as part of one of the world’s leading growth investors, Alpha benefits from strategic investment that fuels innovation, expansion and new offerings – creating even more opportunity for our people. - Exposure to senior leadership – whether you are in an internal or a client facing role, you will have the opportunity to work with and learn from the best of the best – high performers at the top of their game. - Learning and growth opportunities – we run tailored training to help you be successful, provide you excellent mentorship, and offer up to 5 days paid training time per year. Perhaps the best training though is the experience on the job – as everyone at Alpha has high responsibility and autonomy, you can develop your skillsets quickly. - Performance-driven culture with real impact – advancement at Alpha is based on impact and capability, not tenure or quotas. You’ll have autonomy and see the tangible difference your ideas and decisions make. **Responsibilities** - Lead technical discovery and assessment activities, including current-state analysis, requirements gathering, target-state architecture, gap identification, and implementation roadmaps. - Design and own solution architectures spanning applications, data, cloud, integration, and enterprise technology. - Provide senior technical guidance on architecture decisions, technology selection, implementation approaches, scalability, security, cost, and risk. - Translate complex business requirements into practical, scalable technology solutions and clearly communicate recommendations to technical and executive stakeholders. - Support clients in defining future-state data architectures, data management strategies, integrations, and modern technology operating models. - Serve as a senior technical escalation point across active engagements, helping teams resolve complex architecture and implementation challenges. - Lead and mentor technical teams and work across engineering, data, product, and business functions to drive successful delivery. - Build proofs of concept and reference implementations when hands-on technical validation is required. - Evaluate emerging technologies, including AI and generative AI, where they can provide meaningful business value. - Contribute to solutioning and new business opportunities, including technical discovery, proposals, statements of work, estimates, and executive presentations. - Develop reusable architecture patterns, technical standards, and assets that can be applied across client engagements. **Qualifications** - Bachelor's degree in a related field, or a related technical or quantitative discipline; advanced degree a plus. - 10+ years of experience in solution architecture, enterprise architecture, software engineering, technology consulting, or a related technical discipline. - Significant experience working in a client-facing consulting, professional services, systems integration, or technology delivery environment. - Proven experience designing and delivering technology solutions within complex enterprise environments. - Strong understanding of solution and enterprise architecture principles, including application, data, cloud, integration, and technology operating models. - Experience with modern cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or GCP, with deep expertise in at least one. - Strong experience with data platforms, databases, data modelling, data integration, and data management. - Experience with modern software engineering and delivery practices, including APIs, CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, containerization, monitoring, and observability. - Exposure to AI, machine learning, generative AI, or other emerging technologies is preferred. - Proven ability to lead technical teams and provide senior-level guidance across complex engagements. - Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to engage effectively with senior and executive stakeholders. - Strong commercial awareness and an entrepreneurial approach to consulting and solution delivery. - Willingness to travel when required, up to 80%. **Compensation and Perks** As part of the Alpha team, you will be rewarded with the following: - Competitive salary with annual profit-sharing opportunity - 401k matching - 25 days of annual paid time off - Supplemented medical, dental and vision coverage - Reimbursement for commuting, mobile phone, and home internet expenses - North America team-wide training and retreats