Senior Functional Architect
Summary
Designs and aligns enterprise systems with business strategy, ensuring functionality meets user needs and regulatory requirements in a financial services context.
JOB DETAILS / ROLE PURPOSE
We are looking for a Functional Architect to join our Organisational Management team. This role focuses on designing and defining the functionality and structure of systems & software to ensure they meet the needs of the business and its users, aligned to strategy.
The role involves understanding business needs, identifying the right solutions and laying out how the different components of our systems should interact so that the system's functionality aligns with the overall business objectives and user needs.
The Functional Architect is also responsible for developing and maintaining business capabilities of the enterprise systems aligned to the business and IT strategy as well as providing oversight, direction, and guidance on functional solution designs.
The successful candidate will be business focused, highly strategic, have an aptitude to understand and influence key business strategies & initiatives and demonstrate how these can be realised by IT and business.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Key responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, the following:
Work in collaboration with business leaders to create functional solution proposals to known business problems & opportunities.
Pro-actively identify capability gaps that may inhibit achieving business strategy & offer solutions.
Conduct feasibility assessments and high-level IT cost estimation for new business initiatives.
Perform & maintain business capability assessments.
Provide leadership on direction needed to support strategic business needs into the future.
Validate project proposals are aligned to overall roadmap and vision for the business.
Scope Definition, high level requirements definition, Functional Design & IT estimation for complex strategic projects.
Support IT delivery teams on project ensuring alignment to the overall high solution design and achievement of business goals.
Identifying key design decisions within the scope of the functional roadmap, providing design solution options and initiation of design workshops resulting in a recommendation for appropriate business design authority groups.
Close engagement with key business stakeholders, primarily responsible for product advocacy and advancement of functional architecture supporting the business.
Monitoring the IT solutions market, developing expert opinions on the best / most appropriate solutions.
Ensure adequate architecture governance processes and reviews in place, ensuring adherence to appropriate IT standards and strategy.
Business travel: to be confirmed — frequency not yet specified.
KEY REQUIREMENTS
Essential
3+ years of proven experience as a Functional Architect or related discipline.
Educated to degree level.
8-10 years of experience within IT projects, waterfall & Agile methodologies.
Track record of leading in a team that has delivered large scale digital transformation.
Experience within the financial services industry, with a working understanding of the regulatory and compliance landscape of a regulated environment.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Ability to work effectively within a team environment.
A strong and motivational leader, fostering relationships and coaching/mentoring.
Demonstrable ability to think “outside of the box” and innovate.
Proven ability to drive and manage change.
Comfortable challenging the ideas of others.
Strong influencing skills, particularly with senior executives.
Capable of working across borders and cross organizational boundaries.
Commercial acumen.
Desirable
Insurance sector experience specifically, in addition to the broader financial services background above.
AI-First Mindset: Ability to operate effectively in an AI-first delivery environment, leveraging AI tools to enhance architecture activities and applying knowledge of AI architectures, agentic workflows, governance frameworks, and responsible AI principles when shaping future business and technology solutions.
TOGAF certified.