Senior Solution Designer

Business Unit: Chief Operating Office
Salary range: GBP68,000 - GBP90,000 per annum DOE + red-hot benefits
Location: Remote - work from anywhere within the UK
Contract Type: Permanent

Live to inspire change. Live a life more Virgin.

Our Team
The BizApps Centre of Excellence (COE) is a key enabling function within the bank, promoting, accelerating, and governing the adoption and delivery of the Microsoft Business Applications platform. We are at the heart of our digital strategy, working with the latest technology offerings and with our COE services highly in demand, it makes this an incredibly exciting time to join the team.

We are looking for an experienced Power Platform Senior Solution Designer to lead our COE design advisory and assurance services, guiding colleagues and project teams/squads on Power Platform best practice, design/development standards and alignment to strategic architecture. You will evaluate and approve design proposals, facilitate COE assurance review forums, and represent the COE in formal design boards.

You will work closely with our Microsoft fast-track advisors, 3rd party partners, enterprise architecture and solution design community to determine and shape best practices and design standards. Your work will be varied and high pace, but more importantly, interesting and fun! Sound good? Then read on and apply

What you'll be doing
• Working directly with our Enterprise Architecture leads to inform strategic architecture for the Power Platform and translate this into design patterns for Solution Designers across our tribes/projects.
• Working collaboratively with SMEs from Microsoft, our 3rd party partners and from within the business to shape solution ideas and determine approved patterns for the adoption and implementation of Power Platform solutions and services.
• Reviewing and impact assessing all Power Platform design submissions to ratify compliance with reference architecture and COE approved design patterns, with decision making authority on approval to proceed to build.
• Working with colleagues and projects/squads to provide SME advice during project initiation and ideation, guiding them on best practice, standards and what to consider as part of the design assurance process.
• Represent COE in technical governance forums, providing advice, feedback and decisions in relation to adoption and implementation of Power Platform components and services.
• Acting as a gatekeeper and safety-net for our Power Platform service, supporting COE leadership by proactively identifying risks and issues and intervening to prevent problems before they happen.
• Working with the COE team to document standards and best practices for adoption and implementation of Power Platform components and services, ensuring all documentation is accurate, consistent and up-to-date and in line with latest features and best-practice guidance from Microsoft.
• Leading and mentoring COE colleagues to support their development and to advance collective skills and capabilities within the COE.

We need you to have
• Extensive experience (5+ years) in designing, developing, and deploying solutions using the Microsoft Power Platform, including Dynamics 365 (Customer Service, Sales and Customer Insights), Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents and Power BI, preferably in a Solution Architect or Solution Designer role.
• Knowledge and experience in applying best practices and standards for developing and maintaining secure, scalable, and performant solutions on the Microsoft Power Platform.
• Extensive knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the Microsoft Power Platform and how to leverage them to meet business requirements.
• Knowledge and experience implementing the many integration options and methods for connecting the Microsoft Power Platform with other Microsoft and 3rd party services and data sources, including Microsoft 365 and Azure services.
• Knowledge of the licensing and governance models for the Microsoft Power Platform and how to optimize the usage and cost of the platform.
• Ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders, demonstrate the value proposition of the Microsoft Power Platform and provide guidance and support for adoption and change management.

It's a bonus if you have but not essential
• Experience performing in a Centre Of Excellence role, ideally in a Microsoft Power Platform capacity.
• Knowledge and experience of Azure Power Platform integrations and services such as Azure Application Insights, Azure Service Bus, Functions, Logic Apps and Synapse link. It would also be beneficial to have experience in Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform and Open AI.
• Microsoft certification: PL-600 (Power Platform Solution Architect), AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals)

Red Hot Rewards
• Generous holidays - 38.5 days annual leave (including bank holidays and prorated if part-time) plus the option to buy more
• Up to five extra paid well-being days per year
• 20 weeks paid, gender-neutral family leave (52 weeks in total) for expectant parents and those looking to adopt
• Market-leading pension
• Free private medical cover, income protection and life assurance
• Flexible benefits include Cycle to Work, wellness and health assessments, and critical illness
• Ability to work anywhere in the UK (where the role allows)

And there's no waiting around, you'll enjoy these benefits from day one.

Feeling insatiably curious about this role? Apply as soon as you can. If we're lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early and would hate you to miss out.

We're all about helping you Live a Life More Virgin, so happy to talk flexible working with you.

Say hello to Virgin Money
We're making great strides towards achieving our ambition of becoming the UK's best digital bank. As a full-service digital bank with a heritage stretching back over 180 years, we re a workforce to be reckoned with. We're putting the full power of our experience behind disruptive ideas that reinvent the role a bank plays in people's lives. We strive to create positive experiences for our millions of customers and our purpose, 'Making You Happier About Money', underpins everything we do. We believe in doing banking differently, innovating and working together to make a real difference. Join us and Live a Life More Virgin that empowers you with choice and flexibility in how you work.

Be yourself at Virgin Money
Our purpose is to make people happier about money, this means seeing and feeling the world as our customers do by creating a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of our customers and communities. We're committed to creating an inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe and inspired to contribute, speak up and be heard.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we're committed to removing any obstacles to inclusion. If you need any reasonable adjustments or support making your application, contact our Talent Acquisition team

Now the legal bit
Living A Life More Virgin allows our colleagues to be based anywhere in the UK (if the role allows it), but we'll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK.

If you're successful in securing a role with us, there are some checks you need to complete before starting. These include credit and criminal record checks and three years' worth of satisfactory references. If the role is part of the Senior Manager Regime and Certification Regime, it requires enhanced pre-employment checks - we'll ask for six years of regulatory references, and once in the role, you'll be subject to periodic employment checks.