About us.

We are The Very Group and we’re here to help families get more out of life. We know that our customers work hard for their families and have a lot to balance in their busy lives. That’s why we combine amazing brands and products with flexible payment options on Very.co.uk to help them say yes to the things they love. We’re just as passionate about helping our people get more out of life too; building careers with real growth, a sense of purpose, belonging and wellbeing.

About the role

Working with the Lead Architects in Data and Marketing, you will be responsible for implementing the policies and standards that guide technology delivery, possessing significant experience in modern, cloud-based technology standards and practices.

Solution Architects are involved in designing solutions that are appropriate and fit-for-purpose which align to both business, technology and data strategies with pragmatic solutions which deliver value for our customers and stakeholders.

As Solution Architect you are expected to help shape architectural design and technology roadmaps for complex applications supporting high volume, mission critical products and services.

The Solution Architect must both contribute towards strategic thinking as well as ensuring that appropriate technology standards are created and adhered to – including solution designs, strategic alignment, growing technology capabilities, introducing best practice and leading technology selection. The Solution Architect must be an integral part of the Solution Architecture team, working in collaboration with the Lead Architect within a Tribe.

Participation in, and contribution to, the Performance Unit and TVG-wide governance processes and forums is a key element of the role. You will be experienced in actively addressing the most complicated risks, issues and dependencies including managing dependencies where ownership exists outside of the team.

Solution Architects must have hand-on experience across a broad range of products and services, delivering and managing architecture change throughout the entire product life cycle.

Working with the Lead Architect, they are involved in the end-to-end technology landscape. As a practitioner in Agile and Lean practices, you\'ll know how to lead complex technology delivery in a fast-paced environment which is obsessed over continuously improving customer experiences.

You\'ll work hand in hand with our Product Managers, Delivery and Technical Leads in order to influence and define a technology and data roadmap to meet both our commercial and technology aims.

We want to be known as the best in class for this space, so here you can speak and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of the Very Group.

The role also has a focus on promotion and leadership of the architectural vision both inside the architecture team and across the wider technology and business teams.

Experience in a data domain is preferred.

Scope of Role

Data and Marketing Architecture Design.

Design and implement modern, cloud-based data architectures (e.g., data lakes, data warehouses, and real-time streaming platforms. CRM, Campaign Management, Customer Data Platform, Tag management and Ad Tech platforms).

Ensure data solutions designed for performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency. Define and enforce architectural standards, patterns, and best practices for data.

Data and Marketing Strategy and Vision.

Support and drive the organisation’s data and marketing strategy, ensuring alignment with business goals and long-term objectives. Develop and maintain a roadmap for data and marketing architecture, focusing on scalability, performance, and innovation. Advocate for a data-driven culture, enabling teams to leverage data as a strategic asset.

Bridge the gap between the technical and non-technical.

You can mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels.

Governance.

You can understand how technical governance works with wider governance - for example, budget. You can assure corporate services by understanding important risks and mitigating through assurance mechanisms.

Making and guiding decisions.

You can make and justify decisions characterised by high levels of risk, impact and complexity. You can build consensus between highly independent and diverse stakeholders.

Communication skills.

You can mediate between people with different viewpoints and communicate with stakeholders at all levels. You can manage stakeholder expectations and facilitate discussions about high risk and complexity even within constrained timescales. You can speak and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of the Very Group.

Commercial management.

You can identify areas of significance in relation to the technology solution, risks and implications.

Financial management.

You have experience in inputting into business cases that represent both the technology and business benefit associated with the proposed initiative.

Essential knowledge and skills

• Proven track record of delivery in both iterative and continuous delivery approaches.
• Expertise in designing high-quality, data-centric solutions at conceptual, logical, and physical levels.
• Experience in data analysis and modelling, including designing and maintaining data models at both enterprise and solution levels.
• Ability to operate in a complex stakeholder and technology environment.
• Significant experience of building, integrating, maintaining and managing complex data architectures (both build and bought), ideally across multi-cloud environments.
• Experience and knowledge of the Marketing domain and capabilities – Customer Journey management, digital marketing channel management, marketing campaign management and performance monitoring. Marketing funnel optimisation.
• Experience and knowledge of marketing platforms and data pipelines – CRM, marketing automation tools, Customer Data Platforms, analytic tools, tag management and AdTech platforms.
• Expert level solution design experience across the full technology stack, including on-prem, public and hybrid cloud.
• Expert level experience of building, integrating and migrating service / component- based architectures across modern and legacy platforms.
• Practical experience of successfully delivering change in a lean / agile / DevSecOps environment.
• Ability to lead collaboration and influence decision making with strong stakeholder and 3rd party management skills. · Computer Science degree or relevant experience (preferable)
• A background in a hands-on data engineering role is preferred
• Large AWS data implementations (S3, EMR, Glue, RDS, etc)
• Apache Iceberg or min Delta lake (DataLake / Lakehouse Architecture)
• Fivetran / CDC such as HVR / AWS Kafka (Data integration and ingestion pipelines)
• Teradata (DWH)
• Nice to have but not essential - Power BI / SAS - DI & EG / Alation / DBT

Some of our benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model
• Inclusive culture and environment, check out our Glassdoor reviews
• £6500 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
• 30 days holiday + bank holidays
• Udemy learning access
• Bonus potential (performance and business-related)
• Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk

• Matched pension up to 6%
• More benefits can be found on our career site

How to apply

Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.

What happens next?

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.

You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position:

1st stage - An informal 45-60 minute video call with the hiring team to discuss your skills and relevant experience. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the role and to ask any questions you may have.

2nd stage - A one-hour more formal technical focused interview.

3rd stage - Final Stage Interview with Head of Technology.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

If you would like to know more about our interviews, you can find out here.

Equal opportunities

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.