As a Solution Designer, you will operate at a senior level within a Tier 1 consulting environment, delivering complex technology solutions for a highly regulated Financial Services organisation. You will be responsible for shaping and producing robust High-Level Designs (HLDs) that align enterprise architecture strategy, regulatory obligations, security controls, and business objectives.
You will work across multi-disciplinary teams, balancing client expectations, consultancy governance standards, and Financial Services regulatory requirements.
Key Responsibilities
* Review, interpret and challenge detailed business requirements, user stories and functional specifications to ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, risk appetite and regulatory obligations.
* Engage with client SMEs, Enterprise Architects, Security, Risk, Compliance and Engineering teams to shape solution options and produce High-Level Designs (HLDs).
* Develop solution options with clear cost, risk, security and operational impact assessments to support informed decision-making.
* Define end-to-end technology solutions across infrastructure, applications, data and security domains, including impacts to operating model, service management and processes.
* Design and support initiatives from inception through functional analysis, business case approval, delivery execution and operational handover.
* Ensure solutions meet Financial Services regulatory requirements (e.g. resilience, data protection, auditability, encryption standards).
* Drive designs through formal governance gates including Architecture Review Boards (ARB), Security Design Forums, Risk & Control review, and Change Advisory Boards.
* Produce and maintain all required artefacts including HLDs, solution blueprints, integration diagrams, risk assessments and design decision logs.
* Provide design oversight during delivery to ensure adherence to approved architecture and consultancy quality standards.
Technical Skills & Competencies
* Extensive Solution Design experience across hybrid environments (Public Cloud, Private Cloud, On-Premises, SaaS).
* Strong understanding of Financial Services security and compliance frameworks.
* Security-first design approach aligned to industry standards (e.g. ISO 27001, NIST, CIS, FCA/PRA guidance where applicable).
* Experience designing secure cryptographic solutions, including key management and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), where relevant to payment systems, identity, or data protection.
* Proven experience designing resilient, highly available and recoverable systems in line with regulatory expectations (e.g. operational resilience, RTO/RPO requirements).
* Strong knowledge of infrastructure best practices including network segmentation, IAM, encryption, logging, monitoring and secure integration patterns.
* Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear business language for senior stakeholders.
* Experience producing high-quality architecture artefacts using industry-standard tooling (e.g. ArchiMate, C4 model, UML, cloud-native design patterns).
* Strong stakeholder management skills across client executives, engineering teams, risk & compliance functions and third-party vendors.
This is an inside IR35 contract role working via Umbrella Company so please only apply if you are able to work on this basis and resident in the UK.