About Us
Solirius Reply, part of the Reply Group, is a technology consultancy and digital transformation partner that helps organisations solve complex challenges through strategy, design, engineering, and delivery.
We work closely with our clients to deliver secure, accessible, user-focused services that evolve with their needs. By combining deep technical expertise with people-centred design, we create solutions that deliver meaningful, lasting impact.
Our consultants partner directly with client teams, embedding into organisations to understand their goals, challenges, and users. This collaborative approach enables us to deliver tailored solutions that drive measurable outcomes across public and private sectors.
Past and present clients include the Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, UEFA, International Olympic Committee, and Mercedes-Benz. Our services span the full digital delivery life cycle, including architecture, engineering, delivery management, user-centred design, business analysis, data, DevOps, and AI.
About You
You are a motivated and adaptable professional with a strong analytical mindset and a passion for using technology to solve real-world problems. You enjoy working in collaborative, agile teams and take pride in delivering high-quality solutions that make a tangible impact. With strong communication skills and a consultative approach, you're comfortable engaging with clients, understanding their needs, and translating them into effective outcomes.
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced, SC Cleared Technical Architect to lead the architecture, design, and technical oversight for a critical national data collection platform transition.
This role involves defining the target state architecture for a hybrid operational model that combines internal field operations with third-party delivery services. The ideal candidate will design a robust, scalable cloud infrastructure and mobile solution capable of offline data collection, automated validation, and secure cross-organizational data exchange.
You will act as the principal architectural authority, translating high-level operational requirements into formal Statements of Requirements, designing modern API/data exchange standards, and ensuring compliance with strict public sector cloud and security guidelines.
Key Responsibilities
Architectural Leadership & Design
Target State Architecture: Define and document the "To-Be" architecture for both the cloud-based Collection Management System and the Mobile Field Collection App in alignment with public sector digital standards.
As-Is Review & Gap Analysis: Evaluate existing Legacy mechanisms (eg, flat-file data transfers) and propose modern alternatives (APIs, secure data pipelines, cloud-native integration).
Requirements Definition: Author comprehensive technical Statements of Requirements to support market engagement and competitive tender processes for build and implementation phases.
Design Oversight & Quality Assurance: Provide architectural oversight across the project life cycle from discovery through to implementation and testing, ensuring third-party vendor builds adhere to approved designs.
Core Solution Scope
Cloud Platform Management: Architect a resilient Google Cloud Platform (GCP) ecosystem to manage sampling distribution, workload assignment, data validation rules, analytical reporting, and target generation.
Mobile & Offline Services: Architect an iOS mobile application architecture capable of offline data capture, handheld local data validation, image metadata capture (eg, product photo attachments/barcodes), and reliable background synchronization upon reconnecting.
Identity & Security: Implement secure multi-tenant identity and access management (IAM) strategies supporting both internal enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) and third-party partner access.
Technical Stack & Mandatory Constraints
Candidates must possess hands-on architecture experience within the following technological ecosystem:
Key Deliverables
Discovery & Scoping Architecture Document: Detailed review of the current technical landscape and proposed target design recommendations.
Technical Statement of Requirements (SoR): Formal technical specifications to form the baseline of third-party procurement and implementation tenders.
Data Exchange & API Specification: Modernized data ingestion/export standards replacing Legacy flat-file mechanisms, including media metadata capture specs (image/GTIN handling).
Architectural Blueprints: End-to-end system topology, data flow diagrams, security posture documents, and integration diagrams (produced via standard tooling such as Visio, Draw.io, or EA Sparx).
Essential Experience & Qualifications
Active Security Clearance: Must hold valid, active UK SC Clearance .
Cloud Architecture: Proven track record designing enterprise-scale solutions natively on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using Terraform.
Mobile & Edge Computing: Experience designing hybrid online/offline mobile applications (specifically iOS) with local caching, edge validation, and secure cloud synchronization.
Public Sector Standards: Deep understanding of UK Public Sector/Government Digital Service (GDS) principles, security classifications, and architectural governance frameworks.
Integration & API Modernization: Strong background in replacing Legacy data batch processes with modern microservices, RESTful APIs, or event-driven data integration patterns.
Vendor & Stakeholder Engagement: Experience managing multi-vendor landscapes, defining procurement technical specifications, and working alongside agile delivery teams (using Jira/Confluence).
Desirable Skills
Experience with field-force operational tooling or workforce management integrations.
Knowledge of statistical data collection processes, complex automated validation rules, or survey data ingestion pipelines.
Familiarity with enterprise architecture tools such as EA Sparx or similar modelling software.