Enterprise Architect

We’re looking for people to join the Access family, who share our passion for believing in better, and who will help us continue to grow.

Love Work. Love Life. Be You. - is central to our success and how we give our customers the freedom to do more of what's important to them.

What does Access offer you?

We offer a blended approach to office working, encouraging you to collaborate and connect in one of our thriving offices. We deliver on what we say, taking the development of our people seriously. We’ll work with you to progress your success plan and provide opportunities to accelerate your career.

On top of a competitive salary, our wellbeing days taking you to 25 days leave a year and a health contribution, you’ll also be able to choose from a range of benefits to suit you. We’re an organisation that likes to give back, so you’ll also have three charity days allocated to support a cause that matters to you.

Access Group is seeking an experienced Senior Enterprise Architect to join the Global Technology Services (GTS) division. This is a senior individual contributor and advisory role responsible for defining and governing the enterprise and solution architecture across Access Group's global operations spanning 15+ countries.

The successful candidate will be the architectural anchor for complex, multi-platform transformation programmes, while also shaping the organization's approach to AI and emerging technology governance. Working closely with the VP Technology, global product owners, engineering leads, and executive stakeholders, you will ensure that technology decisions are coherent, compliant, and aligned to the GTS three-year strategic roadmap.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise & Solution Architecture

• Define and maintain the enterprise architecture blueprint globally, covering application, integration, data, infrastructure, and security domains.
• Lead solution architecture for major platform transformation and consolidation programmes, ensuring consistent architectural standards across all phases and geographies.
• Produce architecture artefacts — reference architectures, solution designs, decision records (ADRs), and technology roadmaps — to a standard consumable by both technical and executive audiences.
• Drive architecture governance: maintain the architecture review board cadence, ensure design standards are upheld, and manage technical debt strategically.
• Evaluate build vs buy vs integrate decisions, providing structured vendor assessment frameworks that incorporate compliance, total cost of ownership, and strategic fit.

AI & Emerging Technology Governance

• Establish and maintain an AI governance framework for GTS, covering model selection criteria (RAG vs fine-tuned vs foundation models), data classification, privacy impact, and responsible use guardrails aligned to applicable data protection regulations, ISO 27001, and relevant national cyber security legislation across Access Group's operating jurisdictions.
• Lead architectural evaluation of AI and automation tools proposed by vendors or internal teams, preventing ungoverned adoption (e.g., shadow AI tooling in meetings or pipelines).
• Identify and pilot AI use cases within GTS that improve operational capability, engineering productivity, or service quality — translating outcomes into repeatable patterns for the wider team.
• Stay current with the technology landscape and brief senior leadership on implications of emerging trends for Access Group's architecture and competitive positioning.

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

• Serve as a trusted architecture adviser to the VP Technology and GTS leadership team, translating complex technical trade-offs into clear strategic recommendations.
• Engage with business owners, product managers, and regional leads across 15+ countries to align architecture decisions with operational and commercial priorities.
• Manage strategic vendor relationships from an architectural standpoint: assess capability claims, negotiate technical scope, and hold vendors accountable to agreed integration standards.
• Represent GTS in cross-functional architecture forums with Group-level stakeholders, peer architects across regions, and external advisory bodies.
• Mentor and uplift the capability of mid-level engineers and solution designers within the GTS team, contributing to the broader technical excellence pillar of the GTS strategy.

Qualifications and Experience

Must have:

• 8–12 years of progressive experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or a closely related senior technical role.
• Demonstrated track record designing and governing architecture for large-scale, multi-country enterprise platforms — ideally in a shared services, SaaS, or global operations context.
• Strong proficiency across multiple architecture domains: application integration (APIs, event-driven architecture, ESB), cloud infrastructure (Azure, AWS, or GCP), data architecture, and identity/security.
• Hands-on experience leading complex platform consolidation or migration programmes — including stakeholder alignment, phased delivery planning, and risk management.
• Practical understanding of AI/ML architecture patterns: API-based LLM integration, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), data governance for AI, and responsible AI controls.
• Familiarity with global compliance and regulatory frameworks including ISO 27001, PCI DSS, GDPR, and equivalent regional data protection and cyber security legislation across multiple jurisdictions.
• Excellent communication skills — able to produce board-ready architecture presentations and detailed technical specifications with equal facility.

Good to have:

• TOGAF 9/10 certification or equivalent enterprise architecture framework qualification (Zachman, SABSA).
• Experience operating in a matrix organization with dotted-line or advisory influence across geographically distributed teams.
• Exposure to ERP or commercial software licensing platforms (Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Salesforce, or similar).
• Prior engagement with regulatory environments across multiple jurisdictions globally, including Australia, UK, Europe, Singapore, India, or other international markets.

What are we all about?

The Access Group is one of the largest UK-headquartered business management software providers. It provides solutions that empower more than 160,000 small and mid-sized organisations in commercial and non-profit sectors across Europe, USA and APAC, giving every employee the freedom to do more of what's important. Its innovative cloud solutions and integrated AI software experience across multiple Access products transform how business technology is used.

With over 9,300 talented individuals driving innovation and customer excellence, we’re shaping the future of work. And we want you to be part of it. At Access, people are at the heart of everything we do. We’re committed to creating an inclusive, high-performing culture where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. If you’re excited about this role - even if your experience doesn’t tick every box - you might be exactly who we’re looking for.

We believe in equality for all and the transformative power of diversity. So why not join our vibrant team, where you can love what you do, love how you live, and most importantly, be authentically you?

Let’s make a difference together.

Love Work. Love Life. Be You.