At AKQA, we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering immersive experiences for our clients. 

As a hands-on Technical Architect you will be responsible for technical design excellence, facilitating and ownership of strong architectural decisions and their implementation. The Technical Architect is a Tech leader who is inspired by best practice, state-of-the-art techniques and technological innovation across enterprise and consumer applications. Ensuring teams deliver high quality and innovative solutions, leading the way in technology best practices and standards. You will be the driving force behind technical architecture. The Technical Architect will inspire, teach, and coach others on the team through excellent communication skills. You will work closely with clients and product owners to validate their needs, understand their requirements, and ensure good collaboration across the team to deliver the most appropriate solution.

Based in London (Farringdon), whilst frequently collaborating with our global studios, you will enjoy working in a team of highly skilled people, with varying opinions about various technologies, frameworks and approaches to delivery. You will articulate your ideas to your colleagues effectively whilst also collaborating upon the ideas of others. You will thrive when faced with new challenges, view them as opportunities and constantly look to improve client deliverables. You will work in a progressive environment that fosters a meritocratic culture, collaborating with some of the brightest minds in their fields. 

ROLE REQUIREMENTS 

• Ability to design and implement first-class end-to-end Solutions Architecture.
• Ability to analyse, appraise and make recommendations based upon the existing client technology landscape and business ambitions, including key technologies, providers and solutions.
• Ability to convey recommendations clearly via documentation, diagrams, presentations and discussions.
• Ability to lead the development and implementation of technology roadmaps with senior clients and development teams.
• Practices and patterns such as Maintainable, Domain Driven Design and enterprise integration.
• Architectural experience with E-Commerce operations.
• Enterprise integration patterns.
• Experience with modern Data architecture.
• Mentoring, coaching, line management of developers of all levels of experience.
• Wider Technology Department Leadership activities. 
• Collaborate with creatives to formulate design to technology solution processes.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES & EXPERIENCE

• Extensive Experience of Web, Mobile Application, API, Platform and Digital Product Development, 
• Strong understanding of Web Content Delivery; CSR, SSR, SSG and Hybrid Applications, along with caching strategies.
• Strong understanding and hands-on experience of Microservice Architecture and distributed Systems.
• Extensive Experience utilising Cloud-native Serverless Technologies.
• Expansive knowledge of MACH and Headless SaaS Products and Integrations.
• Strong understanding of Omni-channel Content distribution and Digital Experience Platforms.
• Strong understanding and practical experience with DevOps practices, including CI/CD, process and automation. 
• Hands-on Cloud Infrastructure and Infra-as-Code; AWS, Azure or GCP.
• Hands-on Cloud SaaS hosting products; Vercel, Netlify, Amplify or similar.
• API Design, Database design and Middleware Architecture.
• Strong Opinion and Knowledge of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) landscape, Consumption of Off-the-shelf, tailored and Bespoke cloud-based solutions.
• Experience with modern Webstacks and JavaScript libraries; REACT, Angular or Vue, Next.js.
• Experience with build tools and Styles Framework (CSS, SASS, Tailwind etc).
• Design tools, Design Systems, and Design to Code as part of fully integrated Digital Experience platforms is advantageous.

QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS

• Be a champion for product excellence.
• 3-5 years experience working as a Technical Architect or hands-on Technical Lead designing Architecture.
• Experience working in a creative and/or agency environment is advantageous.
• Be a coach and motivator who can inspire colleagues and clients with best practices and state-of-the-art techniques.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Be inspired by emerging technologies to apply relevant learnings to our business and that of our work for clients.
• Acute attention to detail and drive for perfection.
• A practically-minded thought leader whose first priority is delivering excellent work and rich customer experience.

AKQA is an Equal Opportunities Employer, we believe that diversity is vital to AKQA’s ability to provide our clients with the best recommendations and are committed to fostering a varied and inclusive work environment. Your race, colour, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or veteran status have no bearing on our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.