Enterprise Architect

Taylor & Francis Group an Informa Business

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s largest publishers of high-quality, peer reviewed scholarly journals, books, e-books and reference works. We empower learners, thinkers and doers with trusted knowledge that advances research and enriches lives. We bring together diverse people, ideas and opinions to validate and publish the experts, theories and truths that matter. And we’ve been doing this in an unbroken arc since 1798.

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge. We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that’s the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we’d love to hear from you.

As a member of the Enterprise Architecture team, this role enables change through effective communication and collaboration.

An Enterprise Architect is part of the team whose goal is to articulate the longer-term future vision and course of action for technology aligned to our business strategy.

This role is responsible for defining our Enterprise Architecture, the set of business capabilities, systems, data and technology required to meet our strategic goals.

This role works closely and collaboratively with other business, technology and strategy leaders to understand our business goals, produce blueprints and drive change into the business.

Key Accountabilities

• Collaborate with product owners, business leaders and other stakeholders to ensure the Enterprise Architecture is aligned and driven by the business needs and strategy
• Be an active part of the team that drives our technical roadmap for long-term growth in business capability and capacity
• Produce architecture blueprints which guide the strategic technical direction
• Provide trusted consultancy to technical leadership and solution architects to maintain alignment with the Enterprise Architecture and the overall corporate goals and objectives
• Manage or facilitate analysis of current systems, problem identification, and resolution Identify technical risks and communicate trade-offs for mitigation
• Agree principles across business and technology leaders to help decision making
• Define policies and standards that guide our technology direction and support our business objectives
• Understand the enterprise portfolio to identify areas for future investment
• Distinguish capabilities which are differential to those more commoditised
• Recommend improvement to the portfolio that align to long-term technical and business strategy
• Work closely with business, product and technology leaders to identify areas of investment with a high likely return
• Help define the scope of new initiatives to deliver towards the Enterprise Architecture
• Maintain a broad understanding of the business environment, strategy and drivers
• Maintain knowledge of key personas and their relationship with the products and services offered within their role and the wider industry landscape
• Maintain currency with the latest technology trends and digital best practices

Qualifications

• Hands on experience in at least four IT solution development disciplines, including technical architecture, application development, middleware, database management, etc
• Knowledge and experience working within Academic Publishing or elsewhere in the Academic industry is preferred
• Working experience of managing stakeholder relationships across multiple teams and disciplines, both business and technology typically to VP and as far as C-suite level
• Experience of representing company interests within industry-wide initiatives, advisory or standards boards is an advantage
• Working experience in global companies, working across multiple geographies and time zones, working virtually with both in and out-sourced teams, vendors and suppliers
• Can articulate the value of Enterprise Architecture and the role played in technology investment decisions
• Awareness of EA frameworks and tools and their various strengths and weaknesses.
• Understands the various roles different architects play and how they are distinguished
• Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies and processing environments. Particular experience with AWS and SalesForce is preferred
• Working knowledge of web-based technologies, e.g. Angular, RESTful service architectures, NoSQL databases, event-based architectures and their associated cloud deployment options
• Understanding of agile methods and processes, and capability of supporting agile project teams by providing advice and guidance on opportunities, impact and risks, taking account of technical and architectural debt

Skills and Behaviours Required

• Exceptional communication skills and ability to influence senior business and technology leaders, peers, and other senior stakeholders to consensus decisions. Ability to build confidence in stakeholders to the point of being a trusted advisor
• Understands technology alternatives, their trade-offs and when to apply them
• Embraces modern architectural paradigms to maximise architectural agility
• Ability to convert an abstract business strategy into more specific options regarding the desired IT investment portfolio
• Can identify and communicate specific initiatives to delivery towards the long-term technology strategy
• Understands the financial implications for technology investment decisions. Can appreciate the total cost of ownership and likely return on investment. Good working knowledge of financial planning and the trade-offs between capital investment and operating expense. Establishes metrics to measure improvements
• Ability to see beyond the current problem statement and consider implications wider than those currently articulated. Can challenge the status quo in order to achieve long-term goals
• Remains unbiased toward any specific technology or vendor choice, and is more interested in results than personal preferences, whether buy, build or borrow
• Motivated and driven by achieving long-term business outcomes
• Skilled in remote working practises. Able to convey complex topics simply and succinctly using video conference and remote sharing technology

What we offer in return:

At Taylor & Francis we care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. You will be joining a thriving business, working alongside an exceptional group of people. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about.

• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture.
• 25 days annual leave per year
• 3 additional discretionary days for Christmas each year
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well-being support
• Bonus and commission (if applicable)
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares.
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care.

At Taylor & Francis we care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about.

You must have the right to work and live in the UK
We would like to thank all applicants in advance and regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.