Solutions Architect at Great British Energy, Warrington, £65-£75 per hour

Originally named, Great British Nuclear, Great British Energy Nuclear is an arm’s length body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, dedicated to supporting the development and deployment of new nuclear technologies in Great Britain. We play a crucial role in advancing nuclear new build, ensuring the UK’s energy security and achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Great British Energy – Nuclear focuses on fostering innovation, facilitating investment, and coordinating efforts across the nuclear industry to build a resilient and sustainable energy future.

Great British Energy – Nuclear’s first step was to start the technology selection process for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in 2023. SMRs can potentially be quicker to deploy and less expensive to build than traditional nuclear power plants because they are smaller, have factory-based modular manufacturing and more flexible deployment options. In June 2025, Great British Energy – Nuclear announced that Rolls-Royce SMR had been selected as the preferred bidder to build the UK’s first SMRs, following a technology selection process that began in 2023.

Great British Energy – Nuclear is aiming to deliver fast, based on a supportive and collaborative culture which values equality and diversity and creates an inclusive workplace. We draw on deep nuclear expertise – our Executive Committee has over 100 years of nuclear experience at home and abroad. GBE-N will unlock billions of pounds of private and public investment from design to operation, helping to get sites ready for development, and working to grow manufacturing capacity and skills capability.

Our activities will be driven by our values, which are:

Trust – We prioritise safety, we act responsibly and with integrity.

Collaboration – We work as a team; we value diversity and expertise.

Challenge – We are curious and courageous in the way we think and act.

Care – We are thoughtful, inclusive and respectful of others.

Drive – We get things done and we make a difference.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at recruitment@greatbritishnuclear.uk and we will talk to you about how we can assist.

Job Profile:

The Solution Architect will be responsible for analysing, designing, and assuring the organisation’s information systems landscape based upon the identified needs of the business, and future goals and objectives. Your work will support the organisation’s strategic goal to be a world-leading intelligent client of major nuclear infrastructure projects, ensuring the value of data and information can be maximised to support our mission.

Reporting to the Lead Solution Architect, you will work collaboratively with project teams, partner organisations, and other stakeholders to ensure the progression of documented digital solution architecture designs as part of an enterprise architecture approach for a suite of advanced project digital capabilities. This involves turning business requirements into justified, pragmatic solution designs, supporting option appraisal and business case development and defining work packages required to deliver solutions in line with architectural principles, standards and enterprise strategy.

The role requires expertise in enterprise architecture, business architecture and solution architecture, aligned with a TOGAF approach. The successful candidate will work closely with specialist architects across technical, infrastructure, security, integration and data domains to ensure coherent end-to-end solution designs. Broader awareness of information systems deployment and integration, information and data management, business analysis and IT service management is required. The appropriate candidate should be experienced within major infrastructure projects for contextual awareness; ideally with a background from within the delivery disciplines of those projects, such as engineering, project controls, site delivery, etc., and from either another developed or established relevant industry client organisation, consultant or main contractor.

You will form part of a team that ensures successful delivery of a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) UK SMR Project. Whilst this is a fast-paced and exciting challenge, you will need to be comfortable with uncertainty, ambiguity and change.

We are looking for digital and technology professionals who are passionate about unlocking the value of data and technology to support our Project. We will consider skilled candidates from diverse professional backgrounds who may be able to challenge our existing delivery requirements or methods. Candidates should not be afraid to bring new ideas about how their skills knowledge and experience may help our mission and support our values.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to innovation forums, to assess the suitability of initial business requirements and ideas for improvement, to triage them for further work to investigate.
• Analyse business requirements prepared by Business Analysts and give feedback including to business stakeholders on the feasibility, appropriateness, and typical solutions that exist.
• Lead solution optioneering and support business case development, considering benefits, risks, technical feasibility, procurement considerations, implementation complexity and total cost of ownership.
• Prepare the logical design and supporting narrative behind an implementable information systems and technology solution within a Solution Design Document.
• Prepare and maintain enterprise architecture models and solution designs using agreed architecture methods and tooling.
• Collaborate with technical, infrastructure, security, integration and data architects to develop and assure coherent end-to-end solution designs. Present and defend your solution design to review panels and other working groups, or other stakeholders.
• Support downstream processes to prepare the packages of work required to deliver the solution.
• Act as the solution design authority throughout delivery, reviewing and assuring supplier and internal detailed designs to ensure alignment with approved solution architecture, business requirements, architectural principles and standards. Promote a standards-based approach to architecture and contribute to the development of enterprise architecture standards, patterns, reference architectures and governance processes.
• Prepare ‘as-realised’ updated enterprise architecture models based upon the implemented solution.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience required:

• Knowledge of reference information systems architecture applicable for engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operations, including what typical solutions are both required, and what the current or future technology landscape would enable.
• Demonstrated ability to work across cross-disciplinary teams, understanding business requirements and aligning technical solutions with enterprise-level strategy.
• Excellent problem-solving and critical thinking skills, with the ability to make informed decisions under pressure.
• Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders effectively.
• A collaborative mindset and the ability to build capability in others, while working independently at pace in a multi-party environment.
• TOGAF knowledge or certification and an understanding of enterprise architecture frameworks, including their application in large-scale systems integration.
• Experience in complex major projects, ideally within highly regulated or safety-critical sectors

Desirable skills and experience:

• Knowledge of nuclear industry standards, regulations, and wider industrial context.
• Experience with AI and machine learning use cases in engineering or operational contexts.
• Familiarity with configuration management processes and standards (e.g. ISO 10007).
• Familiarity with Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) and other related field productivity and interface management solutions.
• Familiarity with Digital Rehearsal and other advanced technologies used to model, simulate, or predict future outcomes within our Project context.

Qualifications:

• Degree in Computer Science, or a related technical field (or equivalent professional experience), relevant to professional disciplines required in major infrastructure projects.
• Considerable experience in enterprise architecture, information systems and technology architecture, and/or information systems deployment and integration.
• TOGAF certified practitioner (desirable).
• Proven track record of designing and implementing digital information systems.