Lead Architect

It's hard to imagine that the first Entertainer store only opened back in 1981. Today The Entertainer is the U.K.’s Largest Independent Toy Retailer. We have over 170 UK stores stretched across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the islands and we are still growing! We are also partnering with a growing number of retailers to showcase our brand selling our toys in their retail space, and we sell toys online via our website www.TheToyShop.com and other partner channels!

As a business, we own the Early Learning Centre, and Totally Toys brands as well as our own brand Addo Play. Outside of the UK we own the Poly Juguetes toy shops in Spain plus numerous Entertainer and Early Learning Centre international franchise partnerships.

We offer a standard 39.5 hour contract as well as a supportive Blended Working Policy which includes homeworking.

Your rewards will include:

- Birthday Leave plus 33 days holiday (including Bank Holidays)

- Generous Toy Discount

- High Street & Leisure Discounts

- Payroll Giving

- Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Pay

- Cycle to Work scheme

- Profit Related Bonus

- Life Cover

- Pension

Working in our busy IT function, you will be working within Project Delivery and Architecture team. You will evaluate, design and analyse and be responsible for ensuring the solutions meet the business needs and the architectural standards are set and maintained.

This role will require a bright and enthusiastic individual who has a proven track record of solution design across all areas of business. Candidates will need retail experience and at least 5 years IT architecture experience within a business environment. Strong communication is key for this role as you will be required to work with all levels of staff and across all departments within the business. The role may require management of a small team; experience of team leadership is preferred. You may be required to travel to and from sites and to partner offices.

Responsibilities

• Lead brainstorming sessions to develop potential solutions for business needs or problems.
• Identify opportunities for process improvements.
• Prepare and document testing requirements.
• Identify areas where IT can support business needs and goals.
• Work with business units to develop IT strategies and to improve current IT implementations.
• Work with product and delivery teams to develop scalable solutions and products.
• Building and integrating information systems to meet the company’s needs.
• Assessing the business impact that certain technical choices have.
• Resolving technical problems as they arise.
• Informing various stakeholders about any problems with the current technical solutions being implemented.
• Continually researching current and emerging technologies and proposing changes where needed.

Skills & Experience

1. 5 years’ experience working with IT architecture frameworks.
2. At least 3 years’ experience with enterprise architecture.
3. Develop and implement architecture policies, protocols and procedures.
4. Understanding of IT security, infrastructure, and governance.
5. At least 3 years’ experience working in a retail environment.
6. Excellent customer service skills and experience of working in a service orientated environment.
7. Ability to effectively prioritise and execute tasks under pressure. Able to identify the business impact of issues and to prioritise and escalate as appropriate.