Technical Lead / Lead Architect - London or Coventry

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Technical Lead / Lead Architect - London or Coventry

About The Role

FDM is a global business and technology consultancy seeking a Lead 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 London or Coventry.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end solution architecture across platforms, focusing on integration between legacy and modern systems
Define the target architecture and guide engineering teams in implementing modular, reusable, and API-first services
Lead the design of integration flows across internal systems, services, and third-party platforms (e.g. fraud, pricing engines)
Translate high-level business goals into technical blueprints, HLDs/LLDs, and sequencing strategies
Champion the use of event-driven architectures (Kafka) and standardised data services for system communication
Collaborate with analysts and engineers to scope and sequence complex workstreams, ensuring technical feasibility and performance
Identify architectural risks and drive resolution, balancing short-term needs with long-term maintainability
Set architectural governance for partner consultants and internal engineers, driving consistent standards
Provide senior technical leadership and coaching within a growing architecture team

About You

Proven experience as a Senior or Lead Solutions Architect, ideally within retail or consumer-facing environments.
Expertise in system integration patterns, including event-driven architecture, RESTful APIs, microservices, and messaging systems.
Strong architectural knowledge of Java-based platforms, particularly with Spring Boot and service orchestration.
Hands-on experience with integration technologies, including Kafka, internal APIs, and shared enterprise data platforms.
Track record of modernising legacy systems, with experience transitioning to cloud-native architectures (AWS preferred).
Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to influence and align cross-functional teams across technology, product, and business.
Pragmatic approach to architecture, balancing long-term vision with fast-paced delivery in evolving environments.
Experience working in multidisciplinary teams, and familiarity with architectural tooling such as Visio, Lucidchart, ArchiMate, and Confluence.

Current Tech Stack:

Core Stack: Java Spring Boot, AWS, Kafka, REST APIs
Architecture Focus: Legacy platform replacement, service consolidation, system decoupling
Tools: JIRA, Confluence, Visio, collaboration with analysts and delivery leads
Use Cases: Integrations with fraud systems, customer profiles, pricing logic, and promotion engines

About Us

Why join us

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

About FDM
We are a business and technology consultancy and one of the UK's leading employers, recruiting the brightest talent to become the innovators of tomorrow. We have centres across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, and a global workforce of over 3,500 Consultants. FDM has shown exponential growth throughout the years, firmly establishing itself as an award-winning employer and is listed on the FTSE4Good Index.

Diversity and Inclusion
FDM Group is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other status protected by federal, provincial or local laws.