Finance Technology - Senior Architect Job Specification
Why Join Us
Joining Sainsbury’s Tech means becoming part of a leading, multi-channel, multi-brand retailer where technology is at the heart of delivering value to customers and colleagues. As a Finance Senior Architect, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Finance Technology, influencing both immediate delivery priorities and longer-term transformation initiatives.
This is a unique opportunity to help define the architectural direction for one of the most critical domains in the business. You will work across Finance, Technology, Engineering and Architecture communities to shape end-to-end solutions, influence strategic decisions, and help drive future Finance transformation initiatives. Whether the future landscape evolves through Oracle modernisation, SAP adoption, or broader Finance platform transformation, you will be instrumental in ensuring the right architectural foundations are in place. 1
What You'll Do
As a Finance Senior Architect, you will be responsible for defining and evolving the architecture roadmap across the Finance domain. You will work closely with Product Managers, Engineering Managers, Domain Architects, Engineers and business stakeholders to design scalable, resilient and future-ready solutions.
You will:
Lead the architecture for Finance technology initiatives across areas such as General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Financial Reporting, Planning and associated Finance capabilities.
Shape end-to-end solutions across business processes, applications, data and integrations rather than focusing solely on individual systems or technologies.
Develop and communicate technical roadmaps that support both immediate business priorities and longer-term Finance transformation objectives.
Provide architectural leadership for major change initiatives, including ERP modernisation, Finance transformation programmes, and platform evolution activities.
Work collaboratively across multiple technology domains to ensure Finance solutions integrate effectively with upstream and downstream business processes.
Create architecture artefacts including target state architectures, solution designs, integration patterns, decision records and roadmap plans.
Ensure solutions are designed with scalability, security, maintainability, operability and resilience in mind.
Influence stakeholders at all levels and provide clear guidance on architectural decisions, trade-offs and risks.
Identify blockers, drive decisions and proactively escalate issues where business or technology decisions are required to maintain delivery momentum.
Actively contribute to the wider Architecture Community of Practice, sharing knowledge, coaching others and helping shape architecture standards across Sainsbury’s Tech.
Who You Are
You are an experienced architect who combines strategic thinking with hands-on delivery experience. You understand how technology, business processes and organisational change come together to deliver successful transformation outcomes.
You are naturally curious and demonstrate strong end-to-end thinking. Rather than focusing solely on a single application or technology stack, you seek to understand how business capabilities, systems, data and integrations work together to deliver value. 1
You are someone who:
Has a proven track record of leading architecture on complex business transformation programmes.
Can balance strategic architecture thinking with practical delivery outcomes.
Demonstrates strong influencing, communication and stakeholder management skills.
Is comfortable challenging assumptions and driving constructive discussions to achieve the right outcomes.
Can identify when decisions are required and proactively engage stakeholders to unblock progress.
Brings energy, passion and tenacity to solving complex business and technology problems.
Uses real-world experience to guide decisions and can clearly articulate examples of previous transformation achievements.
Builds trusted relationships across business and technology teams.
Thrives in a collaborative environment and contributes positively to an inclusive culture.
Essential Skills & Experience
Experience working as a Senior Architect, Solution Architect or Enterprise Architect within large-scale organisations.
Experience designing and delivering end-to-end architecture across multiple business and technology domains.
Proven experience supporting transformation programmes or ERP-related initiatives.
Experience defining architecture roadmaps and target-state architectures.
Strong knowledge of integration patterns, APIs, event-driven architectures and modern engineering practices.
Experience working in Agile product delivery environments.
Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Demonstrable examples of driving architectural decisions through complex organisational environments.
Desirable Skills & Experience
Experience of SAP architecture especially around SAP integrations with applications and other ERPs.
Experience of Oracle Finance platforms and modernisation initiatives.
Experience working with Finance business capabilities including:
General Ledger
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Financial Reporting
Planning and Forecasting
Treasury
Retail industry experience.
Experience supporting large-scale ERP migration or transformation programmes.
Knowledge of Finance operating models and Finance process design.
