Contract Applications Architect

• Outside IR35 - 650/day - 700/GBP/Day
• 6 months
• Hybrid - 2- -3 days per week onsite - City of London

The Contract Applications Architect will be responsible for assisting Walkers with the selection, design and delivery support of both commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) applications and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for use globally across the firm. This would involve working closely with technical leads and business units in assisting firm wide adoption and rollout. The Contract Applications Architect will also be responsible for ensuring the standards, patterns and principles are followed as part of design governance and overall architectural oversight. The Contract Applications Architect will be key in supporting the business in assessing new business solutions and opportunities which arise from an increased use of such applications. The role will look at the existing portfolio of applications and work with the Strategy & Architecture team and technical leads to assist in delivery of global applications and as such the role holder will be expected to have a deep understanding of how applications should be designed and deployed across a globally distributed user base. Knowledge of the Microsoft business applications eco-system including but not limited to as, M365 is essential as is in-depth knowledge of Microsoft Azure technologies. The Contract Applications Architect will be expected to have a full understanding and prior experience of operating within enterprise architecture as a discipline, and how it drives simplification and efficiencies within the business. The Contract Applications Architect will also be expected to have in-depth knowledge of commonly used enterprise systems across the Legal and Professional Services domains including but not limited to iManage Cloud, SAP Successfactors, InTapps suite of products, Literas Product sets and appropriate CRMs. In addition, the Contract Application Architect will be expected to have demonstrable experience in understanding and designing integrations across COTS applications and hybrid SaaS solutions.

The Contract Application Architect will report to the Lead Solutions Architect and be expected, along with all other architects to be consultative in the areas they are extremely competent in as well as having the aptitude to quickly understand new and emerging technologies. The role will also have a responsibility to assist Business in choosing vendor products and leading technical engagements with suppliers as part of project deliverables. The Contract Application Architect should have deep understanding of architecture governance processes with experience of creating and working with Enterprise Architecture artefacts.

Duties, Responsibilities & Person Specification

• Be seen as the clear technical lead in all new applications and cloud hosted SaaS projects Provide subject matter expertise to projects, suppliers and design governance boards.
• Own the governance, and design, of Walkers enterprise applications within their portfolio.
• Provide subject matter expertise to projects and design governance boards.
• Work alongside the rest of the Strategy & Architecture team to continually
• update the overall technology vision and strategy for the firm to plan and budget against.
• Help champion modern IT practices and ways of working to the wider IT department.
• Ensure that all strategy, architecture, standards, patterns, principles and roadmaps are kept current and fully understood by all relevant teams within the firm.
• Create and maintain architectural documentation as artefacts that relate to network topology, architectural designs, patterns, principles and standards and technology selection.
• Adhere to the firms standard non-functional requirements for all application and cloud technologies.
• Continual research on new software and working practices to remain abreast of developments in across the IT industry in multiple verticals and not just Legal and Professional Services.
• Advise and architect designs to ensure their smooth deployment and reliable operation for fulfilling business objectives and processes.

• Proven experience of working in organizations specializing in Law and/or Financial Professional services.
• Previous experience as an architect responsible for multiple disciplines in the Microsoft 365 stack such as Exchange and SharePoint.
• Proven experience of working with Microsoft Azure IaaS, SaaS and PaaS services.
• Proven experience of Legal/Professional Services applications and an to adapt and learn new legal orientated applications from traditional legal technology vendors such as InTapp, Litera, iManage and Aderant.
• Thorough knowledge of how business applications integrate and support wide areas of an enterprise.
• Experience in owning technical designs for global applications to be consumed by users that are geographically spread.
• Experience in designing and deploying COTS and Microsoft M365 applications especially focusing on hybrid services like Exchange-Online and SharePoint-Online
• Experience of supplier and product management including RFIs and RFPs.selection
• Good understanding of the organizations goals and objectives.
• Minimum 10 Years in IT, 3 Years in an Architectural role

• University degree in Computer Science or relevant discipline or 10 Years IT experience
• ToGAF 9 or higher certified.
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Microsoft 365 Fundamentals

• Ability and willingness to occasionally work outside normal working hours/days when requested.
• Decisive and confident in ones own ability and recommendations.
• An understanding that occasional international business travel will be necessary
• Strong written, oral and presentation communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to present ideas and proposals in user-friendly language
• Highly self-motivated and directed, with keen attention to detail.
• Trusted advisor with the ability to step in and help support teams in advice and consultancy when necessary.
• Able to effectively prioritize tasks in a high-pressure environment.
• Experience working in a geographically dispersed team-oriented, collaborative environment.