About the Role
As a Partner within our Technology & Change operating model, your primary focus is collaborating to drive tangible value for both our customers and our business. The Architecture function acts as our strategic compass—identifying the technical capabilities required for the Partnership to successfully operate, adapt, and transform. Reporting to the Enterprise Architect PL5 for Shared Capability, you will benefit from a structured handover and be fully empowered to take ownership of the John Lewis Financial Services (JLFS) technology strategy. You will navigate the Partnership's federated matrix and vendor ecosystem as a visible leader within the JLFS Technology Management community.
Responsibilities
- Architect, design, and support the implementation of sustainable, highly effective technology solutions.
- Define architectural intent and technical guardrails (covering vendor, environmental, security, data, and technology considerations) aligned with the broader enterprise strategy.
- Act as a trusted technology advisor to validate investments, ensure a sound ROI, and own the capability maturity roadmaps for the Technology Reference Model.
- Effectively balance short-term, in-year benefits (like MVPs and test-and-learns) against long-term strategic capabilities.
- Champion Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles by continuously refining enterprise domain models.
- Work closely with Product and business teams to ensure technical boundaries accurately reflect the evolving business landscape, while designing reusable implementation patterns to accelerate delivery pace.
- Optimise technology design governance to balance Partnership and relevant Regulatory decisions processes while supporting pace of change and team autonomy.
- Pragmatically balance technology and information risk while continuously driving a measurable reduction in technical debt.
- Guide technology outcomes within cross-functional teams, working seamlessly alongside internal engineering colleagues, third-party SMEs, Product, and Business Partners to bridge the gap between architectural vision and pragmatic delivery.
- Embrace agile working principles to empower teams to make autonomous decisions at-pace.
- Actively coach, develop, and support an empowered architecture community, optimizing resource allocation and supporting recruitment workflows when required.
- Actively leverage internal and external networks to stay ahead of customer requirements, market conditions, and emerging technological advancements, feeding these insights directly into the enterprise's strategic thinking.
Requirements
- Direct experience or deep familiarity with the financial services technology domain (JLFS), including navigating strict regulatory decision processes and compliance frameworks.
- Experience fostering a culture of mutual respect and psychological safety when navigating complex integrations, shifting team workflows, or managing external SME relationships.
- A background in coaching, developing, and supporting engineering or architecture communities, promoting technical best practices, and participating in resource planning or talent recruitment.
- Proven ability to translate business strategies into technical capabilities, draw clear domain boundaries, map business domains to system architectures, and design reusable integration patterns.
- Strong financial awareness to evaluate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) against tangible customer value, with a track record of validating the ROI on large technology investments and forecasting vendor demand.
- Advanced proficiency in building and maintaining capability maturity roadmaps, demonstrating the ability to expertly balance short-term MVP delivery with long-term, multi-year strategic enterprise goals.
- A proven ability to lead through influence rather than just authority, build consensus among diverse stakeholders, empower engineering teams, and collaborate effectively with third-party SMEs.
- Strong capability to define and enforce technology guardrails (spanning security, data, environments, and vendors) while actively managing technical debt and improving operational resilience.
- Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with comfort navigating fast-paced, ambiguous environments and maintaining architectural documentation accuracy.
- A demonstrated habit of leveraging external professional networks to benchmark emerging technological advancements and successfully applying those trends to line-of-business strategies.
Skills
- Financial Services Tech Experience
- Active Empathy & Culture Building
- Team Coaching & Community Growth
- Domain-Driven Design (DDD) & Systems Thinking
- Commercial Acumen & FinOps
- Agile Roadmapping & Capability Planning
- Influence & Collaborative Leadership
- Risk, Resiliency & Governance Management
- Analytical Capability & Adaptability
- Future-Focused Horizon Scanning
Location
- London head office
- London Central Office, 1 Drummond Gate, London, , SW1V 2QQ
Work Type
- Hybrid working
- Permanent
- Full-time
Experience Level
- Partnership Level 6
Salary/Compensations
- £62,900 to £115,000
- £62,900.00 - £115,000.00
Benefits
- Flexible working
About the Company
- We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose.
- We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world.
- As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.
- We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail.
- We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify.
- Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.
- As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards.
- We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.
- We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong.
- Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE.
- Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.
- As Partners, we make all the difference.
- And, we all own it.
- At the John Lewis Partnership we’re not just employees; we’re co-owners, and that’s why we’re called Partners.
- Being a Partner means not only do we all collectively share the responsibilities of being the UK’s largest employee-owned business, but we also share in its rewards and successes.
- It’s this ownership model that makes the Partnership a very unique place to work.
Equal Opportunity
- It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates).
- If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays.
- Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.
- We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.
- We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working.
- This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible.
- Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.
