Solutions Architect - Retail

About us

We’re the team behind digital retailer Very. Our purpose is to help families get more out of life, powering everything we do. We want our people to get more out of life too, so if you’re high performing, ambitious, and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. You’ll enjoy flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning, and take your career wherever you want it to go.

The Retail Tribe transforms current retail tools and infrastructure into a contemporary tech stack in retail. The tribe owns the design, build, integration, and operation of technology across all retail products and functions, transforming Retail capabilities spanning Sourcing, Planning, Forecasting, Buying, Merchandising and Pricing, as well as the Product journey from setup to publish.

Working with the Lead Architect, you will be responsible for implementing the policies and standards that guide technology delivery, possessing significant experience in modern, cloud‑based technology standards and practices. You will address risks, issues and dependencies, manage dependencies owned outside the team, identify innovative ways to unblock issues, and evolve architecture towards a defined target. As a Senior Solution Architect you will contribute to strategic thinking, ensure technology standards are created and adhered to, lead solution designs, strategic alignment, technology capability growth, best practice introduction, and technology selection.

You will be an integral part of the Solution Architecture team, collaborating with the Lead Architect within a Tribe. As a practitioner in Agile and Lean practices, you will lead complex technology delivery in a fast‑paced environment focused on continuously improving customer experiences. Your role will shape architectural design and technology roadmaps for complex applications supporting high‑volume, mission‑critical products and services, influencing and defining a technology roadmap with Product Managers, Delivery and Technical Leads to meet commercial and technology aims.

You will mediate between people, explain complex technical concepts to non‑technical audiences, and facilitate discussions about high risk and complexity under constrained timescales.

• Implement policies and standards that guide technology delivery.
• Address complex risks, issues and dependencies, including those owned outside the team.
• Identify innovative ways to unblock issues and evolve architecture to a defined target.
• Contribute to strategic thinking, ensuring technology standards are created and adhered to.
• Lead solution designs, strategic alignment, growing technology capabilities, introducing best practice and leading technology selection.
• Collaborate with the Lead Architect within a Tribe.
• Lead complex technology delivery using Agile and Lean practices.
• Shape architectural design and technology roadmaps for high‑volume, mission‑critical products.
• Influence and define technology roadmaps with Product Managers, Delivery and Technical Leads.
• Mediate between people and explain complex technical concepts to non‑technical audiences.
• Facilitate discussions about high risk and complexity within constrained timescales.

• Demonstrable experience in designing complex solutions balancing strategic direction and business delivery.
• Experience in defining roadmaps and influencing, communicating and guiding stakeholders.
• Conceptual and strategic thinker.
• Technical expert.
• Team member with good interpersonal skills but able to work independently.
• Thought leadership and critical thinking in the technical space, with ability to apply business context.
• Experience with Java and Amazon AWS.
• Bonus: knowledge of Spring Boot, Oracle DB, Terraform, React, and AWS specifics such as API Gateway and RDS.

• Flexible, hybrid working model.
• Inclusive culture and environment.
• £6500 flexible benefits allowance.
• 30 days holiday + bank holidays.
• Udemy learning access.
• Up to 25% discount on
• Matched pension up to 6%.
• More benefits can be found on our career site.

We do not discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply, interview or perform a role, let us know. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer and have colleague networks – including DAWN (Disability Awareness at Very) and Think (Neurodiversity at Very) – that support inclusion.