Salary Up to £80,000
Location Leeds/Hybrid
Shift Pattern Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
Contract Type Fixed Term
Duration 18 months
Hours of Work per Week 35
Closing Date 09/06/2026
Ref No 2389
Are you a Solution Architect with a passion for designing modern, scalable, cloud‑native business services?
Are you excited by the opportunity to shape a brand‑new digital landscape and play a pivotal role in a multi‑year transformation?
Do you have the architectural expertise to help StepChange modernise its technology estate, strengthen governance, and deliver high‑quality solutions that support our clients and colleagues?
We are embarking on a major digital transformation as part of our new 5‑year strategy, redesigning our technology landscape and building modern, integrated services that will power the charity’s future.
This newly created role will be central to maturing our architecture discipline and ensuring that our digital advice journey and wider business capabilities are built on strong, well‑governed foundations.
You will work cross‑functionally with senior stakeholders, programme teams, vendors, and technical specialists, while collaborating closely with colleagues across Digital and Change Services to ensure architectural integrity, governance, and alignment with organisational strategy.
What will you be doing?
In this role, you will take ownership of designing critical business services and producing the architectural artefacts that underpin our new digital advice journey. You will lead the development and maintenance of our Charity Design Catalogue (CDC), ensuring strong design governance and supporting downstream solution, integration, and testing activities. As a key architectural authority, you will guide programme‑level decisions, support RFP processes, and ensure solutions are grounded in well‑considered architectural viewpoints.
Your experience of implementing CRM solutions and integrating with wider business systems will be tremendously valuable as the charity embarks on this major feature of our digital transformation.
You will help shape and govern the charity’s architectural landscape by producing detailed designs, maintaining standards, and contributing to governance forums and design assurance meetings. Collaboration will be central to your work, as you build strong relationships across Digital and Change Services and work with cloud partners and vendors to influence and oversee solution designs. You will also author and maintain architectural principles, policies, standards, and rules, while supporting the ongoing maintenance of the Application Portfolio.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives in transformation environments and is passionate about the value of architecture in delivering high‑quality, sustainable solutions. You will bring strong foundational knowledge of enterprise IT and cloud‑native operating models, experience across modern technology stacks and integration patterns, and the ability to balance cost, quality, and timeliness in design decisions.
As a self‑starter with excellent communication skills, you’ll be able to translate complex concepts, mentor others, and design with both people and technology in mind.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Belonging is central to who we are. We’re committed to building a workforce that reflects the clients we support, and a culture where everyone feels valued and able to be themselves.
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and life experiences. If you need a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process so you can perform at your best, just let us know — we’re here to support you.
