Head of Architecture and Delivery
Permanent position
UK based – Hybrid working
The Role:
At James Fisher, we see IT as central to unlocking the speed, agility, efficiency and differentiation needed for our organisation to compete and win in its core markets. To fully realise this ambition, we are modernising our foundations, unifying and digitising processes, and applying emerging technologies to transform how the business operates and performs.
James Fisher is part-way through a major IT Transformation programme that will deliver a federated IT operating model, a target enterprise architecture, an integrated IT investment process and a group-wide project governance framework.
The Head of Architecture and Projects will join at the point where design and early implementation are complete, and will take ownership of completing the implementation, building out the team, and transitioning the function into steady-state operation.
The Head of Architecture and Projects is a senior leadership role within the IT Function, accountable for enterprise architecture governance, integrated IT planning and group-wide IT project governance.
By ensuring architectural coherence, strategic alignment and responsive, proportionate governance, the Head of Architecture and Projects ensures that IT investments fit together, are scalable, reusable and extensible - and deliver long-term business value.
The scope of this role is global and group-wide, encompassing:
3 Divisions (Maritime Transport, Energy, Defence) plus Group Functions, 77 sites across UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia, with circa 2000 employees.
Key Duties and responsibilities:
Implementation and Team Build:
- Complete the transformation: Take ownership of the in-flight IT Architecture and Projects workstream from the IT Transformation team, completing the implementation of the operating model, governance framework and supporting tooling
- Build the team: Build the IT Architecture and Projects function, drawing from internal redeployment, and new external hires. Establish team ways of working across Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, the PMO and group-level Project Management
- Embed new ways of working: Embed the new architecture governance, demand management and project governance processes across Group and Divisions, working with Divisional Heads of IT and business stakeholders to ensure adoption and value realisation.
Architecture
- Enterprise architecture leadership: Ensure a complete, up-to-date and well-documented view of Enterprise Architecture (current, target and transition states) across platforms, applications, data and integrations. Own the transition-state architecture, dependency sequencing and roadmap of strategic work required to move from current to target states. Champion architecture principles and ensure solutions are secure, scalable and aligned to the organisation's strategic direction.
- Architecture review and approval process: Run the review, challenge and approval process for architecture decisions, ensuring compliance with architecture, security, data and technology standards, and ensuring those standards and guardrails remain current, practical and fit for purpose over time.Chair the Architecture Review Board (ARB) and equivalent forums.
- Quality, risk and compliance management: Ensure governance, risk controls and architectural guardrails are clearly defined and consistently applied across Group and divisions.
- Architecture-led simplification and rationalisation: Drive simplification, rationalisation and reuse across platforms, applications, data and integration landscapes - reducing duplication, managing technical debt, improving coherence and increasing reuse across the Group.
IT strategy, demand and project delivery:
- Integrated IT demand management: Run a unified process for capturing, assessing and prioritising IT demand across Group and Divisions, ensuring alignment and common purpose.
- Integrated IT strategy, planning and investment: Own and run a coherent, joined-up IT strategy and planning cycle, blending Group and Divisional priorities into a single, aligned investment roadmap, which adheres to agreed standards on change governance, benefits realisation, etc.
- Project governance framework: Own the group-wide IT project governance model with gated controls, approvals, assurance steps, artefacts (from ideation through to benefits realisation) and decision-making forums.
- Delivery assurance and intervention: Provide governance intervention, escalation and assurance for strategically important or at-risk IT initiatives, ensuring issues are surfaced early and corrective action is taken.
- Integration of project governance with SDLC: Ensure governance integrates seamlessly with the SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) defined by Enterprise Platforms & Data Enablement.
- IT project portfolio visibility and control: Maintain visibility, prioritisation, governance and control across the IT change project portfolio
Leadership and engagement:
- Functional leadership: Lead the IT Architecture and Projects function, including Enterprise and Solution Architecture, the PMO and group-level Project Management. Build and propagate best-practice skills and standards across the architecture and project delivery community group-wide, ensuring repeatable excellence and continuous improvement.
- Stakeholder alignment: Ensure the project portfolio and architecture are aligned with, and understandable and accessible to, key stakeholders across IT, the business and other functions (e.g.HR, Finance, Legal, Marketing).
- Continuous improvement: Develop and mature the IT Architecture and Projects function over time, evolving processes, tooling, capability and ways of working in response to changing business needs and emerging technology
This is an opportunity to take ownership of a newly established function with a fresh operating model, target architecture and governance framework.
The successful candidate will lead, mature and evolve a clean, well-defined function, with a seat on the IT Senior Leadership Team, partnership with the CIO on IT strategy, and group-wide influence on how technology supports James Fisher's ambitions in Maritime Transport, Energy, Defence and across Group functions.
Key skills, knowledge and experience:
- Significant experience in enterprise architecture, IT governance and IT transformation, with a track record of leading these disciplines at group or enterprise level.
- Experience working in federated or multi-division environments, balancing enterprise-wide standards with divisional autonomy.
- Experience leading IT functions or sub-functions through periods of change, maturation and continuous improvement.
- Significant experience in IT, including in a senior architecture, PMO or IT leadership role.
Ideally, sector experience in engineering, maritime, defence, energy or other industrial sectors.
Recognised architecture framework certification, such as TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) or equivalent.
Recognised portfolio/programme/project framework certification, such as P3O (Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices), MSP (Managing successful Programmes), PRINCE2 or equivalent.
Degree level qualification in a relevant discipline (Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or similar).
Architecture:
Strong technical grounding across application, data, integration and infrastructure domains.
Practical experience applying enterprise architecture concepts and frameworks, such as capability mapping, application and data architectures, integration patterns and cloud architectural models.
Broad application experience across COTS, SaaS, cloud-native and custom-built solutions, including lifecycle considerations and architectural implications.
Hands-on experience with integration patterns and technologies, such as API gateways, iPaaS, event-driven messaging and other interoperability mechanisms.
Experience reviewing and assessing architectural impacts of proposed change, including interoperability, security, scalability, resilience and lifecycle implications.
Experience simplifying fragmented or inconsistent application landscapes, modernising architectures, reducing duplication and improving coherence.
Experience running architecture governance forums, such as Architecture Review Boards (ARBs) or equivalent.
Projects and PMO:
Experience designing, embedding and running IT project governance. frameworks across waterfall, agile/iterative, hybrid and DevOps delivery approaches.
Experience leading or overseeing IT project delivery, with a clear practical understanding of what good looks like.
Experience collaborating with teams responsible for agile SDLC and delivery tooling, ensuring project governance, architecture review and change controls. integrate smoothly with build, test and deployment processes.
Experience running a PMO or portfolio management function, including portfolio reporting, demand management, resource planning and benefits tracking.
Why join us?
Competitive benefits tailored to the division.
Opportunities for career growth and visibility across the organisation.
A supportive, inclusive culture that values your ideas and contributions.
Work that truly makes a difference in safety, innovation, and global capability.
About Us:
James Fisher is a global engineering services company with over 50 years of experience delivering complex offshore energy projects in some of the world’s most challenging environments. We operate across Energy, Defence, and Maritime Transport, leveraging cutting-edge technology and deep expertise to support the full lifecycle of our customers’ assets.
In the Energy Division, we provide safe, efficient solutions across oil & gas and renewables - from well support and full-field decommissioning to integrated services for offshore wind and expert subsea inspection, repair, and maintenance. Our work helps operators extend asset life, reduce downtime, and respond rapidly to operational challenges, driving the global shift toward a cleaner, more sustainable future.
Visit our website at: www.james-fisher.com
JFD is the world leading underwater capability provider, serving the commercial and defence markets with innovative diving, submarine and hyperbaric rescue, technical solutions and services.
Operating worldwide, the company is the world’s leading provider of submarine rescue capability and an established provider of submarine escape training. The company is at the forefront of Hyperbaric Rescue, along with being the leading supplier of commercial and defence diving equipment and saturation diving systems to the commercial industry.
www.jfdglobal.com
Maritime Transport - With nearly two centuries of maritime shipping and innovation, James Fisher has an unrivalled reputation for quality, safety and reliability.
Our long-standing customer partnerships allow us to deliver the highest possible standard of maritime solutions. As a global specialist in ship-to-ship transfer and coastal shipping, James Fisher is a recognised market leader in the movement of the world’s critical resources.
Ensuring safety at sea and in port, and investing in the fleet of tomorrow, James Fisher is shaping the future of maritime.
If this sounds like the ideal next step in your career, then click ‘apply’ now!
Due to the volume of applications, we receive for our vacancies, on occasion applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to avoid disappointment.
James Fisher and Sons are committed to taking positive action on diversity and strongly encourage applications for candidates from all backgrounds. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and recognise that our success depends on our talented and diverse workforce.
