Principal Solution Architect (we have office locations in Cambridge, Leeds and London)
Genomics England · London, England, United Kingdom · hybrid
Genomics England is a global leader in enabling genomic medicine and research, focused on creating a world where everyone benefits from genomic healthcare. Building on the 100,000 Genomes Project, we support the NHS’s world-first national whole genome sequencing service and run the growing National Genomic Research Library, alongside delivering numerous major genomics initiatives. By connecting research and clinical care at national scale, we enable immediate healthcare benefits and advances for the future.
Our mission is to provide the evidence and digital systems so that by 2035 genomics could play a role in up to half of all healthcare interactions, whilst securing the UK’s position as the best place to discover, prove and benefit from genomic innovations.
We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing, and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody.
Behind the Healthcare and Research outcomes, Genomics England delivers through designing, developing and operating complex healthcare software systems.
We're on the cusp of big changes with the real prospect of genomics becoming the fabric of everyday healthcare through the lifetime - from birth to old age.
Principal Solution Architect, Research
Genomics England are hiring an accomplished Principal Solution Architect for Research to lead architecture across our Research tribe, including the Use Research Data and Generate Research Data services. You will manage the architects across the tribe and provide enterprise architecture leadership across both services. Working alongside other senior architecture and engineering leaders, you will help shape the technical direction for Research capabilities, ensure solutions align with enterprise direction, organisational priorities and service strategies, and support the development of coherent, scalable and secure platforms that enable research outcomes.
You will bring proven experience leading architecture across complex data, platform or research environments and supporting teams delivering products and services used to generate, manage and consume data. You will have experience setting direction across multiple teams or domains, applying enterprise architecture practices, evaluating architectural options and balancing strategic leadership with pragmatic delivery support.
You will have broad knowledge of solution architecture, data-intensive platforms, enterprise architecture practices and cloud platforms, preferably AWS. The complex nature of genomics research means we use a wide range of AWS services to support data ingestion, workflow execution, high-performance compute, high-speed storage, advanced security and specialist genomics workloads.
As Principal Solution Architect, you will work with solution architects, enterprise architects, principal engineers, product managers and other senior leaders, drawing on your expertise to shape architecture best practice for Research services, encourage consistency across the tribe, and improve interoperability, reuse, quality and long-term maintainability.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead architecture across the Research tribe, ensuring coherent end-to-end design across the Use Research Data and Generate Research Data services, working with architects and engineers across GEL to deliver solutions spanning research, platform and enterprise domains.
- Shape technical direction and guide the evolution of research capabilities and cloud platforms, aligning enterprise standards, strategic goals and delivery priorities while balancing immediate needs with longer-term direction.
- Provide enterprise architecture capability for the Research tribe and represent Research architecture in wider enterprise architecture discussions, aligning local priorities, constraints and opportunities with organisational direction.
- Partner with product, engineering, delivery and science stakeholders to shape roadmaps and inform architectural decisions.
- Provide architectural oversight and assurance for major research platform, data flow and service initiatives, ensuring appropriate governance, quality and technical coherence throughout the lifecycle.
- Drive consistency, reuse and interoperability across Research services, platforms and data domains.
- Develop, embed and improve architecture patterns, standards and ways of working for research and data-intensive services.
- Foster technical excellence, continuous improvement and cross-team collaboration across the Research tribe.
- Manage architecture resources across the Research tribe.
- Evaluate solution options and guide architectural decisions, balancing competing technical and delivery priorities.
Essential Skills and Experience
- Significant experience in solution or domain architecture across complex enterprise environments, including cloud platforms, preferably AWS.
- Knowledge of AWS services and patterns covering networking, security, compute, storage, data processing and automation.
- Experience leading architecture across multiple teams, services or initiatives, balancing strategic direction with pragmatic delivery support.
- Strong understanding of data-intensive and research-oriented platforms, including data ingestion, processing, storage, access and governance.
- Experience shaping architecture across complex service boundaries and aligning product, engineering, delivery and domain stakeholders.
- Strong understanding of enterprise architecture principles and experience representing services or domains in wider enterprise architecture discussions.
- Experience providing architectural governance and oversight for significant programmes, platforms and technology change initiatives, throughout the full lifecycle from inception to live services.
- Ability to develop, embed and improve architecture best practice, standards, patterns and ways of working.
- Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to influence engineering, product, delivery, scientific and senior leadership audiences, driving a single, unified technical vision.
- Strong understanding of complex technology platforms, including infrastructure, networking, security, compute, storage and integration.
- Ability to work across multidisciplinary teams, including study management and laboratory teams, aligning architects, engineers and delivery stakeholders.
- Experience managing and mentoring architects, setting direction, supporting their development, driving high standards of practice and delivering outcomes through the architectural team.
- Experience applying TOGAF methodologies or equivalent enterprise architecture practices.
Desirable Skills and Experience
- Experience with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure as code.
- Experience contributing to architecture governance forums, such as a Technical Design Authority, or improving their effectiveness.
- Experience in healthcare, genomics, research or other highly regulated, data-intensive domains.
- Knowledge of research workflows, data lifecycle management or platforms supporting scientific and analytical use cases.
- Knowledge of high-performance compute, high-speed storage, workflow orchestration or specialist cloud technologies.
- Experience managing suppliers to deliver architectural outcomes.
- Knowledge of enterprise architecture tools such as Abacus.
While we genuinely recognise the real value of relevant qualifications or certifications, we are primarily interested in your real-world experience:
- Degree, ideally in computer science or a STEM discipline.
- AWS certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect).
- TOGAF Certification or equivalent
Salary From: £103,500
Closing Date: Monday 9th November at 23:00 (UK time)
Being an integral part of such a meaningful missi