About The Role
FDM is a global business and technology consultancy seeking a Solutions Architect to work for our client within the retail sector. This is initially a 6 month contract with the potential to extend and will be a hybrid role that will be based in either London or Coventry.
Responsibilities:
* Design robust integration solutions across commercial, HR, and data platforms within a complex, multi-brand retail environment
* Lead architectural planning for the decommissioning of legacy systems, ensuring smooth transitions to modern, scalable services
* Define and document integration standards, including API strategies, event schemas, and interface contracts to enable decoupled, reusable services
* Implement event-driven architectures using Kafka to support real-time data exchange and responsive system interactions
* Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers, engineering teams, and platform leads to define scalable service boundaries and integration touchpoints
* Support the design and adoption of strategic data services, promoting data integrity, consistency, and standardisation across the enterprise
* Ensure integration consistency in areas such as data handling, authentication, error management, and versioning
* Lead design reviews for integration solutions, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture principles and governance frameworks
* Act as a trusted advisor, championing best practices in integration architecture and guiding teams on modern interoperability approaches
About You
Requirements:
* 5+ years of experience in Solutions Architecture, preferably within retail or consumer-facing industries
* Proven expertise in enterprise system integration, including legacy system transformation and platform modernisation
* Hands-on experience with integration technologies, including Kafka (or similar event streaming platforms), Java-based backend systems, and service orchestration
* Strong proficiency in API design (REST/GraphQL), microservices architecture, and middleware solution
* Deep understanding of data flow, interface management, and end-to-end process mapping across complex ecosystems
* Skilled in producing architectural documentation, including HLDs, LLDs, sequence diagrams, and integration blueprints
* Comfortable operating in hybrid environments, spanning both cloud and on-premise infrastructure
* Effective communicator and collaborator, with experience engaging stakeholders and working across cross-functional delivery teams; familiarity with tools like Confluence, JIRA, and frameworks such as TOGAF or ArchiMate is a plus
About Us
Why join us?
* Career coaching, mentoring and access to upskilling throughout your entire FDM career
* Assignments with global companies and opportunities to work abroad
* Opportunity to re-skill and up-skill into new areas, develop non-linear career paths and build a skillset within your field
* Annual leave, work-place pension and BAYE share scheme
About FDM
We are a business and technology consultancy and one of the UK's leading employers, recruiting the brightest talent to become the innovators of tomorrow. We have centres across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, and a global workforce of over 3,500 Consultants. FDM has shown exponential growth throughout the years, firmly establishing itself as an award-winning employer and is listed on the FTSE4Good Index.
Diversity and Inclusion
FDM Group is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other status protected by federal, provincial or local laws.
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