Job Description
This senior architecture role leads the technology strategy, governance, and delivery oversight across the Protection & Equity Release value stream.
You will act as the architecture leader for a major business domain, ensuring that architectural decisions enable business outcomes, support large-scale transformation programmes, and drive consistent execution across multiple teams and initiatives.
The position is based in Glasgow with hybrid working and initially offered on a six-month contract with a view to becoming permanent.
Responsibilities
- Own and evolve the architectural strategy for the Protection & Equity Release value stream, ensuring it clearly supports business goals and regulatory expectations.
- Define the future-state architecture and technology roadmaps for the domain, setting direction for platforms, applications, and integration patterns.
- Ensure technology decisions align with broader business objectives, enterprise architecture standards, and long-term strategic plans.
- Influence investment decisions and long-term planning by providing clear architectural insight, options, and recommendations.
- Provide architectural leadership across the entire portfolio of change, covering multiple programmes and initiatives within Protection & Equity Release.
- Lead architecture for the Aegon Migration Programme, including large-scale policy migration, target architecture definition, migration strategy, and roadmap execution.
- Oversee risk and dependency management for major programmes, ensuring architectural risks are identified, assessed, and mitigated effectively.
- Drive delivery assurance and governance activities, ensuring programmes adhere to agreed architecture principles and standards.
- Support solution design, technical decision-making, and implementation planning, working closely with engineering and delivery teams.
- Collaborate with product, engineering, delivery, and business stakeholders to remove blockers, resolve issues, and maintain delivery momentum.
- Provide architectural leadership across strategic initiatives such as AI underwriting, proposition and product development, business integration, and risk profiling capabilities.
- Lead evaluation and architecture support for key RFPs and strategic technology investments, ensuring solutions are fit for purpose and aligned to the target architecture.
- Establish and maintain strong architectural governance, including frameworks, processes, and forums for decision-making.
- Provide oversight of architectural risks, decisions, standards, and controls, and ensure appropriate reporting, analysis, assurance, and compliance.
- Ensure delivery remains aligned to strategic architecture throughout the lifecycle of programmes and projects.
- Lead and develop a team of approximately seven architects, providing clear direction, guidance, and support.
- Coach and mentor architecture team members to maximise their capability, performance, and professional growth.
- Ensure appropriate allocation and prioritisation of architectural resources across the portfolio, balancing strategic and tactical demands.
- Create an environment that enables architects to succeed and deliver effectively, fostering collaboration and high performance.
- Engage effectively with senior business and technology stakeholders, building strong relationships and influencing outcomes.
- Act as a key point of accountability for architecture within the domain, ensuring clear ownership across strategy, execution, governance, and people leadership.
Essential Skills
- Proven experience operating as a senior Domain Architect, Principal Architect, Head of Architecture, or Architecture Lead within a major business area.
- Demonstrable experience leading architecture for large transformation programmes, including complex migrations and multi-year change portfolios.
- Strong delivery focus with a clear track record of translating architectural strategy into successful execution and measurable business outcomes.
- experience managing and developing architecture teams, including responsibility for coaching, mentoring, and performance management.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage and influence senior business and technology leaders.
- Robust governance experience, including establishing and operating architectural standards, controls, and assurance mechanisms.
- Strong skills in delivery oversight, ensuring programmes and projects remain aligned with target architecture and strategic priorities.
- experience working within regulated financial services environments, with an understanding of the impact of regulation on architecture and delivery.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- Background in leading architecture for business domains related to protection, equity release, or similar financial services propositions.
- experience with large-scale policy migration initiatives and associated data, integration, and platform considerations.
- Exposure to AI-driven underwriting solutions and modern risk profiling capabilities.
- experience supporting RFP processes and assessing strategic technology investments from an architectural perspective.
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery leadership in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
- Comfortable acting as the de facto Head of Architecture for a business domain, even where formal titles have differed.
Why Work Here?
You will join a well-funded organisation that invests heavily in its people and long-term technology strategy.
The role offers a generous benefits package, including a highly competitive pension contribution and performance-related bonus, reflecting the importance of the work you will lead.
You will work in a culture that values strategic thinking, delivery excellence, and collaborative leadership, with the opportunity to shape major transformation programmes and influence key investment decisions.
Hybrid working arrangements support a balanced approach to office and home-based work, enabling you to combine meaningful stakeholder engagement with flexibility and autonomy.
Work Environment
The role is based in Glasgow with a hybrid working model, combining time in the office with remote working to support collaboration and flexibility.
You will operate within a regulated financial services environment, working closely with product, engineering, delivery, and business stakeholders on large-scale programmes and strategic initiatives.
The work involves oversight of multiple change portfolios, regular engagement in governance forums, and participation in strategic planning and investment discussions.
The environment is professional and outcomes-focused, with a strong emphasis on architectural standards, risk management, and delivery assurance, while supporting a collaborative and supportive culture for the architecture team.