Solutions Architect

Solutions Architect – Belfast (Hybrid) At a Glance

• Belfast-based, hybrid: two days a week in the office, usually Tuesday and Thursday
• Shape the architecture for a major insurance modernisation programme across several engineering teams
• AWS-focused role covering integration, data and AI-enabled platforms
• Bonus, 8% pension, 36 days' holiday and private health, dental and life insurance
• Must be based in Northern Ireland with existing right to work (no sponsorship available) About the Company This is a leading global insurance organisation with a fast-growing technology presence in Northern Ireland. They're investing heavily in modernising how insurance products are created, managed and supported, and in using AI responsibly at enterprise scale. Their Belfast teams are building the platforms and practices behind it, and are part of one of the company's most important technology programmes. Role Overview As Solutions Architect, you'll set and own the architecture for a complex, evolving programme spanning data processing, system integrations and user-facing workflows. You'll work alongside engineers, product owners and enterprise architects, sitting inside sprints rather than governing from upstream. You'll turn business complexity into clear designs, challenge trade-offs, and explain architectural direction to senior stakeholders. Key Responsibilities
• Define and own the solution architecture across multiple engineering teams, from data pipelines and integrations through to user-facing workflows
• Translate architectural direction into actionable designs, in line with enterprise architecture standards and domain roadmaps
• Produce and maintain solution architecture descriptions, ADRs, non-functional requirements specifications and Well-Architected Review assessments
• Own the API contract model between platform and experience layers, with clean boundaries and disciplined versioning
• Lead Well-Architected Reviews covering security, reliability, performance, cost and operational pillars
• Identify and escalate architectural risk early, especially around integration contracts, data consistency, scale and regulatory compliance
• Support agile delivery in real time, joining sprint ceremonies and architecture syncs without becoming a bottleneck
• Work closely with security and observability colleagues so designs are secure by default, traceable and supportable
• Keep pace with AI and cloud developments and find responsible ways to apply them to the platform What You'll Need Essential
• 5+ years as a Solutions Architect or in a senior technical design role, with direct accountability for architecture decisions on complex, multi-system programmes
• Proven delivery of cloud-native solutions on AWS (microservices, event-driven design, API gateway patterns, serverless, managed data services), with a strong record of architectural artefacts such as ADRs and NFR specifications
• Experience designing integrations across modern and legacy systems, with solid data architecture grounding and embedded stakeholder management in agile teams Desirable
• Experience in insurance or financial services, such as claims, policy administration or regulatory compliance systems
• Exposure to AI/ML platform integration, large-scale modernisation programmes or graph databases (Neptune, Neo4j)
• AWS certification at Professional or Specialty level Benefits & Package
• Salary dependent on experience, plus a bonus
• 36 days' holiday
• 8% pension contribution
• £90 per month stipend towards gym, parking and similar costs
• Private health, dental and life insurance
• Hybrid working: two days a week in the Belfast office, usually Tuesday and Thursday
• A high-profile programme with real influence over the architecture Interested? Get in touch with Colin directly at colin@ochopeople.com