Manager Solution Design & Architecture

What you’ll do

• Responsible for the design and architecture of Digital Network solutions that address business demands within Network Product Engineering, leading a team
• Will work closely with the Digital Management Office, Digital Product & Platform Engineering and senior stakeholders, to analyse and design cutting edge solutions, using the latest and most applicable technologies, that meet and exceed the need of our Network customers
• Providing solutions for internal Networks teams across the entire organisation that go beyond Vodafone’s Tech2025 ambition
• Will be designing Vodafone’s next generation Network Digital solutions in conjunction with designers and architects across Vodafone
• Engage with stakeholders, product managers, Cyber Security and Privacy and others, to create a consistent design with common standards
• Strategic Ownership for solution design and architecture to ensure scalable and operational efficient innovative digital solutions built to maximize value for the company
• Working closely with development teams and stakeholders to ensure the same
• Co-owning make or buy decision for solutions, or components of solutions, in a hybrid modular approach, requiring a profound understanding of communication networks and corresponding tools and processes
• Ensure that solutions are architected and built in the most elegant way to optimize the cost benefit matrix. At times challenging the status quo of cloud vs on-prem designs
• Involvement with the prototyping of new functionality to enable an efficient validation of business hypotheses by delivering MVPs to secure stakeholder engagement and foster investment decisions
• Collaborate closely with cross-domain and cross-functional teams, including stakeholders, product management, platform engineering, and FinOps to understand business requirements and ensure product alignment with business objectives and operational processes
• Provide leadership in guiding and mentoring the team, onboarding junior team members in the design and architecture of products. Ensure alignment with the company's roadmap, industry standards and best practices
• Close collaboration with platform and cloud architecture functions to ensure that the platform architecture and ecosystem meets the needs of the new product design when relevant
• Lead Design and Architecture activities for Digital Product development and ensure that corresponding processes, tools follow Vodafone policies and guardrails
• Foster the company’s implementation of the SAFe framework and communicate effectively with stakeholders, executives, and cross functional teams, about the products’ progress and performance
• Ensure all products and processes comply with relevant regulations and ethical guidelines
• Act as an authority on the E2E architectural integrity of digital products and solutions being developed within Vodafone networks collaborating closely with the various engineering teams to ensure solution design meets requirements
• Support wider functions on critical solution decisions that support the organisations modernisation and operate as a digitally native company
• Designing and implementing modern, scalable architectures, focusing on leveraging cloud services 
• Assessing and recommending the best of breed technology solutions to address business need. Critical for the understanding of build vs buy decisions
• Leading and mentoring a team designing enterprise-wide dynamically scalable, highly available, fault tolerant, secure and reliable solutions
• Responsible for analysing and translating business, information and technical requirements into architectural blueprints
• Safeguarding overall Digital Product solutions and ensuring the adherence to the architectural standards and principles

Who you are

• Degree in computer science or related field;
• Architect with extensive experience in large scale integration projects (5 years’ min) and defining solution architecture standards and guidelines in the Telco domain;
• Deep, hands-on designing solution Architecture including capabilities like: e2e lineage, data quality, reference and master data management;
• Experiencing in assessing a broad range of solutions and products;
• 5+ years’ experience in working in multi-project and multi-programme environment;
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to influence senior stakeholders;
• GCP/AWS Cloud Professional certification;
• TOGAF and/or Archimate2 certification;
• In-depth knowledge of product engineering processes and components, as well as architectural trade-offs to balance performance and operational costs;
• Proven experience in designing large distributed, secure, robust, and scalable architecture solutions;
• Deep knowledge of architectural methodologies and design patterns, as well as security standards and best practices in engineering secure products;
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to express complex concepts in digestible terms.

Not a perfect fit?

Worried that you don’t meet all the desired criteria exactly? At Vodafone we are passionate about Inclusion for All and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, whatever their personal or professional background. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align exactly with every part of the job description, we encourage you to apply as you may be the right candidate for this role or another role, and our recruitment team can help you see how your skills fit in.

What's in it for you

We want you to feel happy and fulfilled at work, without compromising the other things in life that matter to you. There are lots of ways we support this, including hybrid working and generous parental leave. You'll also get four Spirit Days a year to focus on your personal development and wellbeing, plus a host of other great benefits too.

Who we are

You may have already heard of Vodafone - We're a leading Telecommunications company in Europe and Africa. But what you might not know is that we are continuously investing in new technologies to improve the lives of millions of customers, businesses and people around the world, creating a better future for everyone.

As part of our global family, whether that's Vodafone, Vodacom or _VOIS, you'll feel a sense of pride and purpose as you contribute to our culture of innovation. We pursue equality of opportunity and inclusion for all candidates through our employment policies and practices. We recognise and celebrate the importance of diversity and inclusivity in our workspace and we do not tolerate any form of discrimination especially related to but not limited to race, colour, age, veteran status, gender identification, sexual orientation, pregnancy, ethnicity, disability, religion, political affiliation, trade union membership, nationality, indigenous status, medical condition, HIV status, social origin, cultural background, social, or marital status.

Together we can.