As the Principal Software Solutions Architect, you’ll be the technical authority responsible for defining, governing & evolving the end-to-end architecture of our "AI First" platform, ensuring architectural consistency, secure-by-design principles & long-term scalability across all engineering squads. Working closely with the Engineering Manager, Cloud & Platform Engineering Lead & Product leadership, this role shapes our architectural strategy, drives technical excellence & provides deep guidance to multiple autonomous squads as we scale towards high-performing, cloud-native teams. The Architect balances hands-on solution design, strategic planning, technical oversight & stakeholder collaboration to keep the platform robust, secure & ready for future growth.
Why this role matters
This role defines the architectural backbone that enables the entire engineering organisation to scale effectively. As we transition to multiple autonomous squads, you will ensure our systems remain leading edge, secure, resilient & consistent enabling rapid product delivery while maintaining high standards of engineering excellence.
You will leave an enduring impact on the platform’s foundations, influencing everything from service boundaries to reliability strategies & cloud platform design.
This is a full time, permanent role working on a hybrid basis with 3 days per week in Manchester.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Scaling
*Define and maintain the technical architecture vision & roadmap across all squads
*Ensure alignment of architecture with business goals, engineering strategy & long-term scalability
*Drive system-wide architectural decisions, providing clear technical direction for squads
*Evaluate emerging technologies & propose solutions that improve scalability, performance & developer productivity
*Mentor senior engineers
Secure-by-Design & Compliance
*Embed secure-by-design principles into architectural decisions
*Ensure threat modelling is performed for new features & major changes
*Champion secure coding standards & integration of security testing into the delivery pipeline
*Collaborate with security & compliance stakeholders to ensure solutions meet regulatory & governance requirements
*Promote design patterns that minimise risk across distributed systems
Solution Design & Governance
*Own the end-to-end architectural design for major platform components & new product capabilities, with a focus on AI First
*Work closely with Engineering Manager & Engineering Team Leads to ensure solutions are consistent, secure & scalable
*Lead architecture reviews & ensure adherence to design standards, technical patterns & best practices
*Produce solution blueprints, reference architectures & technical documentation
Cloud, Infrastructure & Platform Architecture
*Define scalable service-based architectures leveraging cloud-native patterns
*Work with the Cloud & Platform Engineering Lead to ensure architectural designs account for:
*Observability (metrics, logs, tracing)
*Reliability (SLIs, SLOs, failover)
*CI/CD automation
*Infrastructure as code & environment design
*Drive optimisation of compute, storage & network resources across cloud platforms (Azure/AWS).
Engineering Collaboration & Technical Enablement
*Partner with Engineering Manager to ensure squads have clear architectural guidance
*Support teams in breaking down complex technical problems into executable, scalable solutions
*Provide architectural input into backlog refinement, release planning & prioritisation
*Act as the primary facilitator for cross-team architectural decision-making
Continuous Improvement & Technology Standards
*Define & maintain engineering standards, reusable patterns & architectural principles
*Champion continuous improvement across code quality, security, performance & operational readiness
Skills & experience

Essential
*Proven experience as a Principal Architect, Solutions Architect, or Senior Engineer leading architectural decisions in complex systems
*Strong understanding of AI technologies such as agents & models for both accelerated design & delivery as well as delivery of product capabilities
*Strong background in cloud-native architectures (microservices, event-driven, distributed systems)
*Deep understanding of secure-by-design principles, threat modelling, cryptography basics & modern security practices
*Experience with API design, integration patterns & domain-driven design (DDD) & Event Driven Design
*Ability to influence without authority & collaborate effectively across engineering, SRE, product & leadership teams
*Extensive experience with modern programming platforms & frameworks (e.g., Node.js, C# .NET, React)
*Strong grounding in cloud platforms (AWS/Azure), including networking, identity, observability & cost optimisation
Desirable
*Experience designing solutions in regulated or compliance-driven industries
*Background in DevOps, platform engineering, or SRE practices
*Experience scaling architectures to support high-growth environments
*Certification in cloud or architecture frameworks (AWS SA Pro, Azure Architect Expert, TOGAF, etc.)
Benefits & culture

Part of the Zellis Group, Moorepay is a team of over 500 friendly professionals across four offices in Swinton, Sheffield, Birmingham & Kochi. We’re passionate about making Moorepay a fantastic place to work for every single one of our colleagues. The average length of service at Moorepay is 12 years, which speaks for itself!
To help make Moorepay such a great place to work, we focus on 3 things in our company culture: mental health support, maintaining a healthy work/life balance & equal opportunities and inclusion for all.
*A career packed with opportunity, in a stable & growing company
*A comprehensive programme of learning & development
*25 days annual leave, with the opportunity to buy more. You’ll even get your birthday off as well!
*Private medical insurance
*Life assurance 4x salary
*Enhanced pension with up to 8.5% employer contributions
*A huge range of additional flexible benefits across financial & personal wellbeing, lifestyle & leisure