Senior Solution Architect

nPower Business Solutions (nBS) is the E.ON Industrial and Commercial (I&C) area of EON and a market leader in the energy retail sector. I&C is a £7 billion revenue business serving c30,000 customers and approximately 250,000 meter points with a view to becoming the number one B2B energy supplier in the UK. The Digital Technology & Change organisation leverage innovative technology to shape and deliver nBS strategy, providing a best in market digital customer and colleague experience. Digital Technology and Change comprise Portfolio Management, Innovation and Architecture, Product Deliver Engineering and Service Management. These functions work closely with and across all the nBS segments, the E.ON UK pillars, UK Digital Technology and group Digital Technology in wider Europe to drive digital transformation and deliver IT services to the new E.ON I&C business. The Senior Solution Architect will be part of the Digital Data & Technology function that reports to the Digital Data & Technology Manager within nBS Digital Technology & Change. Accountable for maintaining the integrity of the I&C system landscape and ensuring it remains aligned to E.ON I&C business strategy, objectives & outcomes. Provides direction and thought leadership to ensure that I&C IT strategy is correctly aligned with the I&C business mission, strategic objectives, and processes of the organisation. Ensuring the IT technology and architectural strategy and standards across the E.ON I&C pillar are consistent (where possible) with the principles of E.ON UK. Assuring the architectural needs of I&C are met in an efficient, sustainable and adaptable manner. Working with the DT&C leadership team to deliver relative reduction in Total Cost of Ownership in I&C. The role holder will provide critical expertise to I&C, holding authority for architectural design and assurance. All I&C change impacting upon the I&C architecture will require approval from the Senior Solution Architect.

• Overall responsibility for the end to end functional landscapes and solutions design, including the functional integration points.

• Own the IT solution design for the I&C business, driving the I&C IT solution roadmap.

• Responsible for IT architectural governance for I&C.

• Translate business requirements into IT system application or process designs, covering both functional and non-functional aspects.

• Collaborate with the I&C business teams and Change Management to ensure that the right IT solutions are designed and deployed.

• Provide architectural direction to implementation teams and third parties during solution design.

• Work as the intermediary where required across various delivery teams and with different architecture capabilities to ensure overall alignment to the IT roadmap is achieved.

• Independently advise on regulatory and critical IT projects and programmes.

• Act as a centre of expertise, staying abreast of developments in IT and continually upgrading functional knowledge; sharing this knowledge with key business and DT&C stakeholders as required.

• Identifying continual service improvements to I&C IT architecture.

• Working with E.ON & UK Digital Technology Architecture teams to maintain I&C architectural delivery roadmaps.

• Maintaining a complete view of the overall I&C systems landscape and the roadmap required to ensure sustainability.

• Alignment with E.ON Group to maximise synergies in terms of Shared Services.

• Actively participating in architectural governance activities within I&C.

Essential:

• Significant experience providing architectural governance in a predominantly outsourced environment, including assuring third-party solution proposals.

• Demonstrable experience leading and maintaining architectural integrity across complex IT environments.

• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture guidelines, architectural modelling techniques and key technologies.

• Proven experience leading IT architecture across complex, multi-application and multi-project landscapes.

• Ability to translate business requirements into effective IT solution options, balancing functional, technical and financial considerations.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience applying architecture policies, governance and continuous improvement.

• Sound understanding of IT service integration, business services, project lifecycles and delivery methodologies.

• Proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence senior business and IT stakeholders.

• Excellent communication, planning and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and sensitive situations.

• Customer-focused, detail-oriented and able to make pragmatic decisions by balancing risk and reward.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the UK Energy industry and its impact on enterprise architecture.

• Experience with recognised architecture frameworks such as TOGAF, Zachman, FEA or similar.

npower Business Solutions (nBS) is the E.ON UK Industrial and Commercial (I&C) pillar and a market leader in the B2B energy retail sector. I&C is a £6 billion revenue business serving c60,000 customers and around 300,000 meter points with a view to becoming the number one B2B energy supplier in the UK.

Digital Technology & Change (DT&C) drives the delivery of the nBS strategy through innovative technology, creating market-leading digital experiences for customers and colleagues. Working across nBS, E.ON UK, and Group Digital Technology, DT&C plays a key role in delivering digital transformation and IT services for the E.ON I&C business.

The Senior Solution Architect, reporting to the Digital Data & Technology Manager, is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the I&C technology landscape and ensuring it aligns with business strategy and E.ON UK architectural guidelines. As the architectural authority for I&C, the role provides strategic direction, oversees architectural governance and assurance, and ensures technology solutions are efficient, sustainable, and adaptable while supporting the reduction of Total Cost of Ownership across the I&C estate.

• Take overall responsibility for the end-to-end I&C functional landscape and solution design, including all functional integration points.

• Own the IT solution design for the I&C business, driving the I&C IT solution roadmap.

• Lead IT architectural governance across I&C, ensuring architectural decisions align with business strategy and technology standards.

• Translate business requirements into IT system, application and process designs, covering both functional and non-functional requirements.

• Collaborate with I&C business teams and Change Management to ensure the right IT solutions are designed, delivered and deployed.

• Provide architectural direction and guidance to implementation teams and third-party suppliers throughout the solution design process.

• Act as the key intermediary across delivery teams and architecture functions to ensure alignment with the overall IT roadmap.

• Provide independent architectural advice and expertise on regulatory and business-critical IT projects and progra