Lead Solution Specialist - Power Platform & Automation

Lead Solution Specialist - Power Platform & Automation
£55,000 - £65,000 plus great benefits (Work Level
5)
Manchester city centre - in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home and our Manchester office as required for team days, meetings, and events (find out more about our hybrid working policy at )

We’re open to applications from people who may require flexible working arrangements. There’ll be an opportunity to discuss your flexible working requirements during the interview process, and at offer stage.

We’re reshaping our Digital, Technology and Data function for the future, creating new opportunities, strengthening our capability, and building clearer, more resilient ways of working so we can deliver even better services for our Co‑op, our colleagues, members and customers.

We're looking for a Lead Solution Specialist – Power Platform & Automation to join our Digital Workplace team and help us shape the future of Power Platform services across our Co‑op. In this role, you'll provide technical leadership across the Power Platform ecosystem, ensuring the solutions we build are secure, scalable and aligned to business needs. Working closely with colleagues across technology and the wider business, you'll combine hands‑on expertise, solution design and strategic thinking to drive the successful delivery of digital solutions that create value across the organisation.

This is an exciting opportunity to influence how Co‑op uses Power Platform and automation technologies to transform the way we work. You'll play a leading role in defining the technical direction of the platform, guiding best practice and helping teams solve complex business challenges through simple, sustainable solutions. As a recognised subject matter expert, you'll have the opportunity to shape strategy, mentor engineers and work on high‑impact initiatives that support colleagues, improve services and accelerate digital innovation across Co‑op.

• Provide technical leadership across Power Platform services, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable and aligned with business goals
• Design solution architectures using Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio and related Microsoft technologies
• Work with business and technical stakeholders to understand requirements and shape effective platform solutions
• Define and promote standards, governance, best practices and guardrails to support sustainable platform adoption
• Lead the design of integrations and APIs, ensuring solutions work effectively across cloud and hybrid environments
• Provide hands‑on support for complex development activities, architecture decisions and technical problem solving
• Coach and mentor engineers, helping to develop technical capability across the team
• Contribute to the strategic direction of Power Platform services, identifying opportunities to improve capabilities and deliver greater business value

We’re committed to making our roles as accessible as possible, so we only ask for the minimum criteria. To thrive here, you’ll need to bring:

• Proven hands‑on experience across Microsoft Power Platform, including Power Apps, Power Automate, and Copilot Studio
• Strong solution architecture and technical design skills, with experience delivering solutions in cloud and hybrid environments
• Knowledge of API management, integration patterns and modern application design principles
• Proven ability to translate complex business challenges into practical, supportable technical solutions
• Experience working with both business and technical stakeholders to define requirements and influence outcomes
  
  Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex concepts clearly to a range of audiences
• Experience mentoring and coaching engineers, supporting technical decision‑making and capability development

We know some people may hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. At Co‑op, we’re committed to building diverse and inclusive teams, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly, we still encourage you to apply.

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