Overview

Award-winning and bold innovation. Modern Tech-Stack. Impacting the future. Lead Solution Architect. £72,000 - £79,000 (+ Benefits). Department: Chief Operating Office. Contract: Permanent. Hours: Full time 35 hours per week. Location: Stratford, London. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office). Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship. Closing date: 15 October 2025 23:55. This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found; apply early. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk.

What will I be doing?

• Experienced Architect with extensive experience in at least one of the following architecture domains: business, enterprise, solution, infrastructure, data, security, platform, or service.
• Please note that candidates with an engineering background will not be considered for this Solution Architect role, as this position requires an Architecture skill set and experience.
• Partnering with Heads of Product Portfolios and Product Managers to support roadmap development and provide early triage.
• Providing architecture support, coaching, and solution assurance across Technology’s product portfolios.
• Addressing key design decisions, balancing risks, benefits, and outcomes for complex technical problems.
• Collaborating with Lead Engineers and other technology teams to ensure the documented current state is maintained for change assessment and operational support.
• Communicating and coordinating architecture development and technical change across portfolios and products (including those delivered by our partners).
• Contributing to and building an active Architecture community across capabilities and partners.
• Providing in-depth expertise within at least one specialised domain of architecture, from: business, enterprise, solution, infrastructure, data, security, platform, or service.

Leadership & Impact

• Building credible stakeholder relationships across the charity ensuring to value ideas, drive momentum, and challenge when required.
• Balancing short-term needs with long-term strategic goals
• Translating complex information and concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Driving the direction and output on day-to-day workload and priorities while navigating ambiguity and making clear and timely decisions in changing situations.
• Mentor and coach colleagues, fostering a culture of continuous learning and leading through others.

Resource Management

• Reducing costs by proactively challenging to enable the optimal cost of resource ownership and delivered architecture.
• Building inclusive environments and working with third parties.

What skills will I need?

• Experienced Architect with extensive experience in at least one of the following architecture domains: business, enterprise, solution, infrastructure, data, security, platform, or service.
• Please note that candidates with an engineering background will not be considered for this Solution Architect role, as this position requires an Architecture skill set and experience.
• Has delivered large-scale migrations and implemented new technologies within an integrated architecture in large, complex organisations.
• Solid understanding of modern software and platform architecture approaches (e.g., microservices and cloud etc).
• Experience delivering architecture through Agile Product teams.
• Knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman, etc.), industry-wide best practices, and emerging technologies.
• Modelling and documenting experience with the ability to create models and visualisations to enable others to understand the architecture.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Our organisation values are Bold, Credible, Human, Together. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and cultures, particularly those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are under-represented. If you need adjustments to apply or interview, contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or call 020 3469 8400.

What will I gain? We offer a supportive working environment, a generous benefits package, career and personal development opportunities, and tools to improve work-life balance. You can explore our benefits on our careers page.

Additional information: For more information about working with us please visit our website or recruitment@cancer.org.uk. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

We are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18.

Closing date and interview details: See above. Interview date: week commencing 20 October 2025. We will short list on a rolling basis.