About the Team:

Service Platforms Architecture team has 3 main responsibilities:

1. Translating Business Strategy into E2E Architecture evolution roadmaps or frameworks to be used by other teams and to enable alignment within CTO, with IT and with Business partners.
2. Provide architecture governance across CTO solutions.
3. Early shaping of sophisticated and multi-functional demand leading initiatives through the first project delivery phases and assessing all CTO Service Platforms demand to identify impacts to systems and potential complexity during annual, quarterly planning and prior to project start.

Stakeholder Management across CTO, CIO and Business Product owners is a key integral aspect of the team and all roles within it to support the adoption of the CTO Strategy into the wider Business.

About the role

The Senior Solution Architect is responsible for crafting ideas and developing network solutions that are both appropriate to the needs of Virgin Media O2 and consistent with defined CTO Strategy and Enterprise Architecture blueprints.

Key activities that this involves are close collaboration with Enterprise Architects to understand the current and future capability roadmap, working with business owners in CTO, CIO or Product Development teams to understand Customer Experience, and to drive the definition of an effective set of end to end solution options and architectures by engaging across the organisation and our suppliers.

The successful candidate is responsible for the management of virtual teams with partners across CTO, CIO and Business areas (Business & Wholesale, TV, Broadband and FMC, Mobile) to be able to deliver technical solutions and build the costs to advise the Business Case.

The Senior SA must lead Senior Stakeholders and Business Owners, and they will lead the relation with one of the Service Platforms Domains Portfolio Managers and the Head of that Service Platforms Design team (i.e. a very senior partner).

The candidate will be encouraged to work across multiple Ideas in the CTO domain (predominantly mobile network related but also TV entertainment network and Business to Business initiatives), with each assignment taking 4-8 weeks depending on complexity.

Key Responsibilities

1) The early shaping of technical and business ideas raised by Business Owners. This requires a high level of authority both directly and indirectly.

Develop a deep understanding of the relevant areas of the business and the products and services. Support the business in shaping new customer focused ideas.

• Lead shaping workshops with business stakeholders
• Change the dynamic from prescribed work to adding value, extending from What and When to How and Why
• Build and maintain the Body of Knowledge around our products and services, capturing relevant information relating to solution architectures, operating models etc. required to inform our stakeholders of the solutions we propose.
• Develop close relationships with key stakeholders in focused function – distilling requests into the idea or problem to be resolved and responding with clear options / choices.
• Support the writing of the Business Case through input of Product Design considerations e.g. Design recommendation, impacts and indicative costs/timescales.
• Work collaboratively with the Business Analyst to drive the fit of requirements into Business Capability and ensure continued assessment of the Business need and benefit being delivered.

2) Defining and assuring end to end solutions including the level Product and Service wrap. This requires senior stakeholder management where expectations often conflict and differ. The typical level of these relationships are with stakeholders with multimillion pound budgets.

Developing the view / process of the full E2E solution - Process / System / Reporting / Service.

• Produce the Solution Architecture Steer document ensuring it contains the information required to move to the project mobilisation phase: key areas are the architecture of the proposed solution and cost estimation.
• Provide input to requirements workshops for large initiatives (these will often be led by Business Analysts) or elicit business requirements for smaller initiatives.
• Create solution designs that satisfy the non functional requirements and include a full service wrap.
• Apply established Design Patterns and raise any architectural deviations to the Enterprise Architects and Domain Solution Architects and drive clarity in guidance.
• Ensure compliance of subsequent design documents (HLD) to the Solution Architecture Steer.
• Ensure that the delivery domain aligns to CTO and group architecture strategy - critical link with Business Architecture and Enterprise Architecture.

3) Engaging CTO Design Domains in the process responsible for the development of the solution components. This requires an indirect authority over functional areas who may often resist proposals, meaning a tenacious but pragmatic approach needed.

• Engage the relevant Networks domains from an early stage to:
• Ensure clarity on responsibilities between the Networks Engagement team and the domain
• Agree planning and resourcing including scheduling of resources throughout the Solution Architecture Steer.
• Engage with the networks domains throughout the project lifecycle to ensure successful collaboration, interfaces and hand-offs.

4) Engaging IT Architects in the process responsible for the development of the components. This requires an indirect authority over external functional areas, meaning an extremely wide breadth of responsibility is needed.

• Engage the relevant IT Architects &SMEs from IT blocks from an early stage to:
• Ensure clarity on responsibilities between the CIO Architecture team and CTO Engineering teams.
• Agree planning and resourcing including scheduling of resources throughout the project

5) Technically assess Service Platforms domains (mobile core network, TV entertainment network & CPE, B2B) for Demand planning activities and to align with IT demand. This requires an extremely wide breadth of technical responsibility.

6) Providing guidance and advice, which requires a high level of authority over technical peer groups.

• Provide design advice and guidance to Domains.
• Coach and support more junior architects and designers.

Essential Skills

Ability to elicit, understand and interpret early stage requirements and play them back, getting optimum balance between business expectation and technical

Complexity/direction.

Experience in technically crafting (defining architecture and design)/delivering projects/programmes in at least two of the following disciplines/areas:

• OSS
• Core networks (voice, packet, IP and VAS)
• Infrastructure (physical, virtual and cloud)
• IT BSS
• RAN

Experience in shaping/delivering projects/programmes involving:

• Application re-platforming
• Cross-stream impacts (spanning NW/OSS/BSS)
• Technology impacts, but also people/process impacts.
• Service Management

Experience in a role defining the scope, estimates and technical solution options for a new project or idea

Experience working in the telecommunications or ICT industry

Experience working with senior partners (up to Senior Management level)

Demonstrable ability to connect with technical credibility to negotiate the best technical solutions in line with architectural principles

Experience working in an end-to-end role on large and sophisticated projects

Working in poorly defined situations with minimal mentorship and input

Desirable Skills:

Familiarity with and experience in the application of one or more architecture frameworks and any associated architecture development methods, including at least one of the following: TOGAF