Solution Architect

Job content

About RM

RM is the leading supplier of technology and resources to the education sector, supporting schools, teachers and learners, enabling the improvement of educational outcomes worldwide. We work across the industry from pre-school to higher education and professional qualification, our customers include schools, examination boards, central governments and other professional institutions. We have a clear purpose to enrich the lives of learners worldwide.

Join us and Learn What’s Possible for you in your career

What We Can Offer You

• Competitive salary depending on experience
• 25 Days Annual Leave (with an option to buy an extra 5 days)
• Performance related bonus scheme
  

What’s the purpose of the role?

Working with local authorities, government ministries, exam boards and professional awarding bodies around the world, the teams in RM are experts in providing software-oriented products and services within education. We provide innovative and creative solutions. We pride ourselves on the long-term relationships that we build with clients that enable us to work in partnership on large high-profile projects, and on regular day-to-day activities.

We require Solution Architects to lead the definition of customer solutions. Roles report to a Senior Development Manager within the team. Solution Architects combine their professional experience and knowledge to solve a range of customer or market problems that may be very specific or of considerable breadth. Roles are likely to be extremely flexible and operate within a matrix structure depending on the demands facing the business. Ultimately Solution Architects should have skills that are transferable to any part of the RM organisation.

This Solution Architect role relates to our high-stakes assessment solutions. RM offers a range of services to our assessment customers from providing services to customers adopting on-screen marking of paper-based exams to genuine end-to-end on-screen authoring, testing and marking. We offer services such as customisation and support for our in-house developed assessment platforms and integration with third-party and client systems. Each year, our software is used globally to carry out hundreds of thousands of on-screen tests and to mark millions of paper-based scripts. For over a decade we have been partnering with the world’s leading awarding bodies to deliver intuitive, secure and reliable e-marking solutions. Every year more than a million people around the world get the marks they deserve thanks to RM.

The RM vision is to grow from our current strong position as the leading provider of high stakes e-marking solutions into an organisation that is a major force in the e-Assessment arena, and that is recognised as a thought leader in the market, bringing ideas such as artificial intelligence and adaptive testing into the e-Assessment ecosystem in new, valuable and innovative ways.

What does the job entail?

As Solution Lead For Customer Projects, Solution Architects Will

• Create requirement specifications by interpreting customers’ requirements
• Define high level solutions to meet customers’ requirements
• Ensure solution boundaries are defined and that interfaces across boundaries (either between customer or RM systems or applications) are specified
• Articulate solutions to all stakeholders and adopt a position as the solution authority
• Work closely with the delivery team throughout the delivery lifecycle providing guidance and steering to ensure a successful delivery
• Work directly with and assist the customer during acceptance phases
• Position solutions in RM’s best interests while recognising and compromising with customers where necessary.
  

Facts & Figures

• Solution Lead for 1 or more projects up to £1m in value, either as part of multi-million pound contracts or on their own lasting anything between 3 months and 2 years.
• Lead the solution team of typically between 1 and 5 people.
  

Decision Making

The Customer-facing Solution Architect needs to be able to work autonomously within the project team with the ability to take crucial decisions regarding the development of the solution and implementation of the customer project. It is critical that the Solution Architect is aware of the impact of their work on the commercial aspects of the project, but also customer focussed with excellent organisational skills and the ability to communicate and influence both internally and externally with senior business stakeholders up to and including CEO level.

Impact & Influence

Working with our Account Directors and customer management teams to manage and build existing customer relationships whilst also effectively responding to new business requirements. Impact & Influence

Working closely with other individuals working on projects, including off-shore product development teams.

Working closely with commercial product and proposition teams to influence product and service roadmaps and our overall customer propositions.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for Solution Architects with a range of experience.

It is critical that the Customer-facing Solution Architect has a good understanding of the full RM e-Assessment product portfolio and can influence the customer such that change is minimised, and expectations set appropriately. We recognise, however, that someone joining RM will not have prior knowledge of our products and propositions and so will be supported to develop this knowledge through working on different projects and with a range of customers.

Candidates should have strong communication skills and will be supported to further enhance their skills and to communicate and influence both internally and externally with key stakeholders.

A technical background would be advantageous given the technical nature of our solutions, but this could be in a range of different areas, for example, as a software developer, business analyst or operations or support engineer.

In Addition, Candidates May Have

• Experience as development or delivery lead of a cross-functional software implementation project
• Experience of working in an Agile software development environment
• Knowledge and experience of working in the full Software Delivery Lifecycle
• Experience of working with decision makers within customer organisations
• Strong communication skills to effectively communicate requirements to internal and external stakeholders with the ability to translate business requirements into development user stories and acceptance criteria
• The ability to influence internal and external stakeholders of all levels, using flexibility of approach
• Demonstrable ability to motivate teams to work together in the most efficient manner
• Flexibility and adaptability.
  

Key Relationships

Other Key Relationships May Include

As a Customer-facing Solution Architect you will work with a large and diverse stakeholder group in the UK, India and Australia including other Solution Architects, Developers, Business Analysts, Technical Architects, Project Managers, Customer Relationship Managers.

• International Examination awarding bodies – for example, International Baccalaureate, AQA, Cambridge Assessment, OUP
• Professional Certification awarding bodies, for example the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
• International Government Educational Departments
• RM Management team
  

What’s in it for you?

As well as a competitive salary, you could earn a performance related bonus and you would receive our core benefits package which includes private medical healthcare, life assurance and a Group Personal Pension Plan with higher contribution levels available.

There is lots of voluntary benefits too. You could buy additional annual leave, join our dental plan, sign for a health assessment or take part in our cycle to work scheme. You could even earn yourself an extra bonus for successfully recommending a friend or family member for a position within RM.

At RM we are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve, and to creating an inclusive and flexible workplace where all our colleagues can be themselves and succeed on merit.

RM is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all permanent and temporary staff to share this commitment. This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and all successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks along with other relevant employment checks.

At RM we recently introduced My Work Blend @RM which provides office based colleagues with multi location and hybrid working. As well as your office base you can spend a proportion of your time working at other locations that suit your role and your life, including home, other offices, customer sites, distribution centres or on the move. We encourage you to discuss arrangements for this role with your potential line manager during the recruitment process. We expect how we make best use of hybrid working may continue to adapt as we adjust to our new ways of working.

Growth, both personal and organisational, is at the heart of RM’s strategy. We encourage our employees to continue to learn and develop and have been awarded LinkedIn’s Talent Award for Best Culture of Learning Award 2021 - Story One | RM Careers