Lead Specialist, Solution Architect
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Job Summary
Job Title: Lead Specialist Solution Architect
Role: Solution Architect
Division: Assessment & Qualifications Delivery
Location: Bangalore or Chennai India (Hybrid)
About Pearson
Pearsons mission is to add life to a lifetime of learning. With more than 20000 employees worldwide we deliver high-quality digital-first educational experiences that empower learners and educators. Our teams are passionate about creating accessible sustainable solutions that drive real-world impact.
About UK Assessment & Qualifications
We are responsible for the delivery of nearly 4 million examination results per year across A-level GCSE BTEC and T-level qualifications in the UK and at international centres. Our in-house systems manage every learner from registration to marking and certification in a highly regulated environment. Today we operate a hybrid estate of predominantly bespoke systems and are undergoing a strategic transformation programme to migrate from on-premise platforms to cloud-based cost-effective scalable and resilient services.
Role Summary
As a Solution Architect (E30) you will design and deliver new services on Microsoft Azure aligned with Pearsons enterprise standards. Your remit includes the development of secure scalable solution architectures while ensuring integration across legacy on-premise and AWS components where needed. You will collaborate with product owners business analysts delivery teams (including technical architects and developers) and external partners to convert business requirements into effective technical solutions. This includes evaluating solution options estimating costs and ensuring that designs meet both functional and non-functional requirements (e.g. security performance availability scalability). Clear communication and stakeholder engagement are essential in this role.
Key Responsibilities
- Solution Architecture Design: Lead the design of end-to-end solutions on Azure (and advise on on-premise or AWS where needed) selecting optimal services and patterns to meet both functional and non-functional requirements. Produce architecture blueprints dataflows and interface specifications.
- Solution Option Analysis & Cost Estimation: Work with business analysts and product owners to evaluate multiple solution options ensuring the trade-offs are understood. Provide cost and effort estimations (including infrastructure licensing and operational considerations) and help recommend solutions that balance performance scalability and total cost of ownership.
- Technical Leadership & Governance: Serve as design authority throughout delivery. Provide guidance mentoring and quality assurance to delivery teams and third-party partners. Develop and refine architectural standards where gaps exist to ensure consistent best practices.
- Support Delivery Teams: Collaborate closely with delivery teamsincluding technical architects developers testers and DevOps engineersto interpret and implement architecture designs correctly. Assist with troubleshooting technical issues and ensure that Technical Architects and developers share a common understanding of architecture decisions and design patterns.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Engage with product owners business analysts subject matter experts and external partners to refine requirements. Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences ensuring alignment and shared understanding.
- Vendor Oversight: Work with third-party delivery teams reviewing their architectures holding them accountable to Pearsons standards and supporting them in meeting quality targets.
- Documentation & Planning: Produce system diagrams interface specifications and implementation roadmaps. Ensure design decisions are thoroughly documented and communicated.
- Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Monitor industry trends and evaluate new technologies (e.g. infrastructure automation AI data platforms) for relevance to Pearson. Propose enhancements that support robust modern and cost-effective solutions.
- Compliance & Security: Ensure all solutions comply with Pearsons security and data privacy standards. Participate in design reviews and governance forums to ensure compliance with enterprise architecture policies.
- Lifecycle Support: Support implementation teams from development through deployment addressing technical issues and ensuring solutions deliver the intended business value.
Essential Experience & Skills
- Extensive Solution Architecture Experience: Proven track record of designing and implementing complex enterprise solutions with a strong emphasis on Azure cloud services and cloud-native principles.
- Architecture & Design Expertise: Ability to produce architecture blueprints dataflows integration diagrams and detailed specifications.
- Cloud Proficiency: Deep understanding of Azure compute storage networking security and infrastructure-as-code (e.g. ARM Terraform). Familiarity with cybersecurity best practices.
- Technical Leadership & Collaboration: Experience overseeing design implementation defining architectural standards and providing technical guidance to teams and vendors.
- Solution Analysis & Cost Estimation: Ability to evaluate solution options and provide well-reasoned recommendations based on technical fit effort and cost.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Strong communication and interpersonal skills; able to articulate architecture rationale to technical and non-technical stakeholders and foster alignment.
- Problem Solving & Adaptability: Proven analytical skills and adaptability; comfortable working in dynamic environments and adjusting solutions as requirements evolve.
- Business Insight: Ability to balance technology decisions with business outcomes to ensure solutions deliver value.
- Education & Certification: Bachelors degree in Computer Science or related field; Masters degree and/or relevant certifications (e.g. BCS Intermediate Certificate in Enterprise Architecture Azure Solutions Architect Expert) are highly regarded.
Desirable Skills
- Knowledge of relational databases data modelling and data analytics solutions.
- Familiarity with DevOps practices CI/CD pipelines and containerisation (e.g. Docker Kubernetes).
- Experience with Agile methodologies TDD and other modern development practices.
- Programming/scripting for automation (PowerShell Python).
- Good understanding of AWS PaaS services (such as RDS/SQL SNS Aurora) to support integrated or legacy components.
- Understanding of business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
- Awareness of AI/ML and emerging technologies and their impact on architecture.
Job Location and Hours
The role is aligned to our Bangalore or Chennai offices in India working a 45 hour week 9am to 6pm IST. All our roles are hybrid working; our current policy requires our team to work from their base office 3 times per week.
For this role there is a requirement to provide occasional out of hours support during business critical periods.
Required Experience:
IC
Key Skills
About Company
Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gen ... View more
