Posted: 16 June
The role
Renaissance® is a global leader in education technology. We help schools and school groups in the UK and around the world with educational assessments, practice and intervention solutions, and data analytics. Renaissance now incorporates GL Assessment (known internationally as GL Education), too – a leading provider of educational assessments.
Together, our assessments offer the ideal starting point to help teachers understand their students’ strengths and pinpoint areas of need. Our teaching and learning tools then provide effective next steps, with online literacy and maths solutions that meet students exactly where we are.
Worldwide, we support over 18 million students, operating in over 100 countries.
We’re evolving toward an AI‑enabled, platform‑centric operating model and need a Principal Architect to provide technical leadership across our Global Technology function.
You’ll shape our technical direction, establish governance, and ensure architectural alignment across platforms, products, and services—without being pulled into day‑to‑day delivery. You’ll be a facilitator and technical leader, bringing together experts across disciplines to define standards, evaluate solutions, and drive sound technical decisions.
What you’ll be getting up to with us
Define architecture principles, standards, and governance that enable (not block) delivery
Establish architecture review forums and decision‑making processes
Drive consistency in technical approaches, tooling, and platform standards
Maintain visibility and accountability for significant technical decisions
Technical Strategy & Roadmap
Own and maintain the technical roadmap aligned with business and product strategy
Identify opportunities, technical debt, platform risks, and modernisation priorities
Support platform scalability and AI enablement initiatives
Evaluate emerging technologies and guide adoption decisions
Cross‑Functional Leadership
Bring together SMEs across Engineering, Infrastructure, Security, Data, QA, and Product
Provide architectural guidance, design reviews, and solution assurance
Encourage reuse, standardisation, and platform thinking
Stakeholder & Global Collaboration
Act as technical liaison with global teams, including US‑based functions
Represent regional requirements in global platform discussions
Communicate architectural direction and technical trade‑offs clearly to all audiences
Build strong relationships across technical and business teams
Promote engineering excellence and technical quality
Support AI‑enabled development and innovation
Mentor engineers and technical leaders
Experience we’d love to see includes
Significant experience in senior architecture or technical leadership roles within SaaS or product‑led organisations
Experience in EdTech or SaaS environments
Strong background in software engineering, distributed systems, APIs, and cloud‑native architectures
Proven ability to establish architecture governance and technical standards across multiple teams
Experience influencing technical direction without direct line management authority
Ability to work effectively across Engineering, Infrastructure, Security, Data, QA, and Product functions
Track record defining technical roadmaps and aligning technology strategy with business objectives
Experience in complex, multi‑team, or internationally distributed organisations
Excellent communication skills—explaining technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences
Strong facilitation skills to drive discussions to conclusions and establish accountability
Ability to balance strategic vision with practical delivery realities
Benefits
25 days holiday a year plus Bank Holidays (3 to be used for our Christmas shutdown)
A day off for your birthday to celebrate in style!
5 volunteering days a year to use for the causes of your choice
Access to a benefits and discount platform with discounts at retailers, leisure attractions and restaurants
BUPA Healthcare, life assurance, permanent health insurance
Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution – up to 8%
Season ticket loan and EAP
This is a hybrid role based out of our Houghton Le Spring office – the team come together a couple of times a week. There may be travel to other offices on occasion.
Unfortunately we are unable to offer sponsorship for this position.
We have an ongoing commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and have taken strides to become a more welcoming and inclusive workplace, including the introduction of our DEI Matters Network which is owned and driven by our staff.
We are an equal opportunities employer. We encourage and welcome applications from all under‑represented groups, as we believe and strive for community representation within our organisation.
If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend any interview, please contact us and we will talk this through with you.
All your information will be kept confidential according to GDPR guidelines. Please note that we can only consider applicants who already hold a full work permit.
This role is subject to DBS and background checks.
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