Solution Architect

About the job

Solution Architect – Corporate Services Engineering Role purpose Corporate Services Engineering (CSE) supports a diverse portfolio of enterprise applications, platforms and services underpinning LSEG's corporate business functions. We are seeking a technically strong, hands-on Solution Architect with a software engineering background and broad technology experience to help shape, simplify, integrate and modernise our technology landscape. The role goes beyond traditional solution architecture. We need an architect who combines strategic thinking with practical engineering capability; someone who is equally comfortable defining an end-to-end architecture, exploring unfamiliar technologies, writing code, building prototypes, troubleshooting integrations and working directly with engineering teams to solve problems. A key focus will be looking holistically across our technology estate, identifying opportunities to connect systems, simplify processes, establish reusable patterns, automate workflows and safely introduce AI-enabled capabilities. The successful candidate will be naturally curious, adaptable and willing to work across different technologies and business domains. They will be comfortable operating outside their immediate areas of expertise, quickly developing an understanding of unfamiliar systems and taking a pragmatic, delivery-focused approach to engineering challenges. Key responsibilities 1. Solution architecture and engineering

- Lead the design of secure, scalable, resilient and maintainable end-to-end solutions across CSE's diverse application and technology portfolio.

- Work closely with business stakeholders, Product Owners, Business Analysts, engineers and other architects to understand functional and non-functional requirements and translate these into practical technical solutions.

- Define solution architectures spanning applications, infrastructure, cloud platforms, SaaS, data, integrations, security and operational requirements.

- Apply strong software engineering principles to architectural decisions, ensuring solutions are technically sound, supportable and appropriate for their intended purpose.

- Remain actively involved throughout the delivery lifecycle, providing technical direction, resolving design challenges and supporting implementation.

- Take a hands-on approach where needed, including writing code, developing proof-of-concepts, evaluating APIs, testing integrations, troubleshooting technical issues and validating proposed solutions.

- Assess architectural trade-offs, balancing business outcomes, technical complexity, security, delivery timelines, cost and long-term maintainability.

- Work with delivery teams to estimate implementation effort, identify technical dependencies and determine the skills and resources required. 2. Enterprise integration, simplification and automation

- Develop a holistic understanding of CSE's application landscape, including how systems interact, exchange information and support end-to-end business processes.

- Proactively identify opportunities to integrate applications, reduce manual processes, eliminate duplication and simplify the overall technology estate.

- Design and implement integration solutions using appropriate approaches, including REST APIs, event-driven architectures, messaging, data pipelines, middleware and other integration technologies.

- Establish and promote reusable integration patterns, common services and engineering standards that improve consistency and accelerate delivery.

- Evaluate opportunities to consolidate or retire redundant applications and capabilities, reducing operational complexity and technology costs.

- Support the development of connected enterprise workflows that span multiple platforms and business functions.

- Collaborate with engineering teams to identify and implement automation opportunities, including scripting, workflow orchestration and system-to-system integration.

- Promote a build once, reuse where appropriate mindset, recognising that reuse may involve common design patterns, standards, components or technology. 3. AI enablement and emerging technologies

- Identify practical opportunities to embed AI, intelligent automation and agent-based capabilities into enterprise applications and business workflows.

- Support the design and engineering of AI-enabled solutions, including integration with existing applications, enterprise data sources, APIs and workflow platforms.

- Understand and evaluate AI integration approaches such as large language models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), tool calling, Model Context Protocol (MCP) and agent orchestration.

- Work with AI engineering, security, data and platform teams to ensure AI solutions are implemented safely, securely and in accordance with enterprise governance requirements.

- Consider data access, identity, permissions, privacy, auditability, human oversight and operational support when designing AI-enabled capabilities.

- Explore and validate emerging technologies through practical experimentation, proof-of-concepts and technical assessments.

- Ensure AI is applied to meaningful business problems rather than introduced as technology for its own sake. 4. Technology standards, architecture governance and security

- Ensure solutions align with Corporate Technology and enterprise architecture principles, policies, technology standards and strategic roadmaps.

- Collaborate with enterprise architects, security, privacy, infrastructure and other technology stakeholders to define and validate solutions.

- Identify architecture exceptions, technical risks and dependencies, recommending appropriate mitigations.

- Produce and maintain proportionate architecture documentation, including Solution Architecture Documents, system context diagrams, integration designs, data flows and deployment architectures.

- Present and defend architectural decisions at relevant governance forums, including Design Integrity Forums, Architecture Committees and Architecture Review Boards.

- Design solutions with security, resilience, performance, observability, disaster recovery, business continuity and operational supportability embedded from the outset.

- Promote standardised approaches and reusable engineering patterns while avoiding unnecessary complexity or governance overhead.

- Ensure solutions comply with the requirements of operating within a regulated financial services environment. 5. Engineering collaboration and technical problem-solving

- Work directly with engineering teams across CSE, providing practical technical guidance, design support and assistance with complex engineering challenges.

- Be prepared to move between different initiatives, technologies and problem domains according to business and engineering priorities.

- Demonstrate a willingness to get hands-on with unfamiliar systems, investigate technical issues and contribute directly to solutions.

- Participate in technical design reviews, code reviews and solution evaluations where appropriate.

- Help engineers adopt good practices in software design, integration, security, automation, testing and operational readiness.

- Challenge unnecessary complexity, identify better ways of working and drive continuous engineering improvement.

- Build strong relationships across engineering capabilities, encouraging knowledge sharing, collaboration and reuse of successful technical approaches.

- Maintain awareness of evolving technologies, tools and architectural practices and assess their practical relevance to CSE. Leadership responsibilities Individual Contributor – Senior Technical Leadership

- Act as a trusted technical authority and engineering partner across CSE.

- Provide architectural leadership and technical direction without requiring formal line-management responsibilities.

- Influence technical decisions across multiple teams, projects and technology domains.

- Mentor and support engineers through technical guidance, knowledge sharing and practical collaboration.

- Demonstrate ownership, initiative and accountability for the successful implementation of solutions, not solely their design. Critical deliverables End-to-end solution architecture Deliver solution designs appropriate to the scale and complexity of each initiative, including:

- Conceptual, logical and physical architecture.

- Application and system integration designs.

- Data flows and interface specifications.

- Security architecture, access controls and relevant configurations.

- Infrastructure, deployment and operational architecture.

- Non-functional requirements, including resilience, performance, monitoring, disaster recovery and business continuity.

- Technical risks, dependencies, architectural decisions and mitigations. The role holder is accountable for the overall solution architecture and will collaborate with relevant Subject Matter Experts for specialist areas. Practical engineering validation

- Proof-of-concepts, technical spikes or prototypes to validate architectural decisions where appropriate.

- Demonstrable assessment of integration feasibility, technical constraints and solution trade-offs.

- Practical technical support to engineering teams during implementation. Technology integration and simplification

- Identified and delivered opportunities for improved application integration, automation and technology simplification.

- Adoption of common architecture patterns and reusable engineering approaches.

- Contributions towards application rationalisation and reduction of unnecessary technology complexity. Architecture governance and delivery assurance

- Completion of required architecture reviews and approvals.

- Continued architectural involvement through implementation to ensure delivered solutions align with agreed designs and business outcomes.

- Effective transition into operational support, including consideration of service reliability and maintainability. Impact This role will influence the technical direction, integration and evolution of CSE's technology landscape. The role holder will contribute directly to the quality, security, maintainability and efficiency of solutions delivered across the portfolio, influencing delivery cost, timelines, technical risk and operational complexity. Beyond individual projects, the role will help establish a more connected, simplified and automated technology environment, enabling greater reuse, faster delivery and the safe adoption of emerging technologies, including AI. Key KPIs

- Solution delivery: Architecture and technical design deliverables completed to agreed timelines, supporting successful project implementation.

- Engineering quality: Solutions meet agreed security, reliability, maintainability and non-functional requirements, with minimal avoidable architectural rework.

- Integration and automation: Demonstrable improvements in system connectivity, workflow automation and reduction of manual processes.

- Technology simplification: Contribution to application rationalisation, reduction in duplicated capabilities and elimination of unnecessary technical complexity.

- Standards and reuse: Increased adoption of agreed architectural patterns, reusable components and engineering standards.

- AI enablement: Practical contribution to the safe evaluation, design and implementation of AI-enabled solutions delivering measurable business value.

- Technical collaboration: Effective engagement with engineering teams, stakeholders and governance functions to resolve technical challenges and enable delivery. Technical / job functional knowledge Essential – Software engineering background

- Proven professional experience in software development or software engineering is mandatory. Candidates must have personally designed, developed, tested and delivered software solutions.

- Strong coding and scripting capability, with practical experienc