Thought Leader & Principal Solutions Architect

Job Title: Thought Leader & Principal Solutions Architect

Location: London  (Hybrid – UK Travel Required)

Department: Digital Strategy & Technology Architecture

About Orion Innovation

Orion Innovation is a premier global business and technology services firm. We deliver game-changing business transformation and product development rooted in digital strategy, experience design, and engineering. With thousands of thinkers and builders worldwide, our transformative business solutions empower clients to operate with agility at scale. Guided by our core values—GROW (Growth mindset, Respect for all, Out-of-the-box thinking, and World-class execution)—we serve as a trusted partner to UK and European enterprises, inspiring and accelerating digital innovation.

Job Overview

We are seeking a high-energy, forward-thinking Thought Leader / Principal Architect based in the UK to serve as the critical bridge between enterprise architectural vision and high-velocity digital delivery. In this role, you will act as a trusted advisor to C-suite executives and enterprise CTOs/CIOs across the UK market, driving digital transformation through immediate, hands-on execution. You will translate abstract technical innovation into concrete business value, creating long-term technology roadmaps while actively authoring whitepapers, industry articles, and representing Orion at key UK tech forums.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Architectural Vision: Plan, design, and structure scalable enterprise-grade solutions. Translate complex client requirements into precise blueprints, technical specifications, and system integration strategies for UK and European enterprises.
• Immediate Hands-On Delivery: Drive fast-paced client Proof-of-Concepts (PoCs), build reusable software frameworks, and actively guide local and offshore engineering teams to ensure world-class execution.
• Industry Thought Leadership: Research and test emerging market trends (e.g., GenAI, Cloud-Native Application Patterns, Agentic AI). Regularly author technical whitepapers and articles to scale Orion’s market voice across the UK tech ecosystem.
• Pre-Sales & Client Advisory: Lead technical discovery sessions and platform assessments during competitive UK enterprise RFPs. Evangelize modern architectural strategies to establish rapid trust with client stakeholders.
• UK/EU Governance & Risk Management: Evaluate technical risk, analyze complex infrastructure, and embed structural security and data compliance controls (ensuring strict alignment with UK GDPR, DORA, and relevant local industry regulatory frameworks).
• Mentorship & Culture: Champion Orion’s GROW values. Coach, mentor, and foster engineering excellence within cross-functional teams spanning local developers, data scientists, and global delivery units.

Core Competencies & Required Skills

• Entrepreneurial Mindset: High-energy, achievement-oriented individual with an aptitude for creative problem-solving and rapid adaptation.
• UK Enterprise Fluency: Exceptional written and oral communication skills with a proven track record of influencing UK-based C-level stakeholders and translating complex technical methodologies into business outcomes.
• Technical Breadth: Extensive experience with modern tech stacks, including but not limited to .NET Core/C#, Java/Spring Boot, Microservices, and Cloud-Native platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Next-Gen Tech Fluency: Solid understanding of modern architecture trends, such as Hexagonal Architecture, Serverless/Event-Driven environments, and foundational AI/GenAI integrations.
• Agile Leadership: Extensive experience navigating Agile development lifecycles in high-velocity delivery environments, managing both onshore and offshore delivery models.

Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline (or equivalent practical experience).
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 4+ years spent operating in a Principal Architect, Enterprise Architect, or Client Advisory capacity within the UK market.
• A portfolio of published technical writing, public presentations, or open-source ecosystem contributions is highly desirable.
• Must have the existing right to work in the UK .