Solutions Architect - London or Coventry

FDM is a global business and technology consultancy seeking a Solutions Architect to work for our client within the retail sector. This is initially a 6 month contract with the potential to extend and will be a hybrid role that will be based in either London or Coventry.

Responsibilities:

• Design robust integration solutions across commercial, HR, and data platforms within a complex, multi-brand retail environment
• Lead architectural planning for the decommissioning of legacy systems, ensuring smooth transitions to modern, scalable services
• Define and document integration standards, including API strategies, event schemas, and interface contracts to enable decoupled, reusable services
• Implement event-driven architectures using Kafka to support real-time data exchange and responsive system interactions
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers, engineering teams, and platform leads to define scalable service boundaries and integration touchpoints
• Support the design and adoption of strategic data services, promoting data integrity, consistency, and standardisation across the enterprise
• Ensure integration consistency in areas such as data handling, authentication, error management, and versioning
• Lead design reviews for integration solutions, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture principles and governance frameworks
• Act as a trusted advisor, championing best practices in integration architecture and guiding teams on modern interoperability approaches

• 5+ years of experience in Solutions Architecture, preferably within retail or consumer-facing industries
• Proven expertise in enterprise system integration, including legacy system transformation and platform modernisation
• Hands-on experience with integration technologies, including Kafka (or similar event streaming platforms), Java-based backend systems, and service orchestration
• Strong proficiency in API design (REST/GraphQL), microservices architecture, and middleware solution
• Deep understanding of data flow, interface management, and end-to-end process mapping across complex ecosystems
• Skilled in producing architectural documentation, including HLDs, LLDs, sequence diagrams, and integration blueprints
• Comfortable operating in hybrid environments, spanning both cloud and on-premise infrastructure
• Effective communicator and collaborator, with experience engaging stakeholders and working across cross-functional delivery teams; familiarity with tools like Confluence, JIRA, and frameworks such as TOGAF or ArchiMate is a plus

• Career coaching, mentoring and access to upskilling throughout your entire FDM career
• Assignments with global companies and opportunities to work abroad
• Opportunity to re-skill and up-skill into new areas, develop non-linear career paths and build a skillset within your field
• Annual leave, work-place pension and BAYE share scheme