Chief Architect

The Storio Group is seeking an experienced and inspirational Chief Architect to join our senior technology leadership team. As the most senior individual contributor in the technology function, you will be accountable for defining the future state of our platform (personalised photo based ecommerce) and the processes that will enable us to collectively achieve it. You will be the driving force behind defining an architecture that enables building or buying platform capabilities that enable growth in a scalable, performant, and where appropriate innovative way. This role reports directly to the CTO, will be part of the Tech Leadership Team and will collaborate closely with all levels of the organisation from the engineering, product, and executive teams.

Platform Vision & Strategy:

- Develop and champion a compelling vision for the future state of our platform, encompassing technology, platforms, and data architecture.

- Translate business strategy and objectives into a robust and actionable technology roadmap that balances value creation and debt payback.

Analyse industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitive landscapes to inform platform strategy.

Architectural Design & Implementation:

- Lead the design and evolution of our platform architecture, ensuring it meets business requirements, scalability needs, and industry best practices.

- Drive the implementation of architectural changes, providing technical guidance and oversight to engineering teams.

- Ensure alignment between architecture and implementation, promoting consistency and maintainability across the platform.

Decision Making Systems & Governance:

- Design and implement decision-making systems and processes that enable data-driven decisions across the organisation, particularly in areas related to platform architecture and technology selection.

- Establish and enforce architectural principles, standards, and guidelines to ensure consistency, maintainability, and scalability across the platform.

- Develop and maintain an architectural governance framework to ensure alignment with business objectives and risk mitigation.

Technology Leadership & Influence:

- Create and drive the processes that evaluate and recommend new technologies and tools to enhance platform capabilities, improve performance, and drive innovation.

- Support processes for buying new capabilities.

- Provide thought leadership and influence technology decisions across the organisation.

- Represent the company's technology vision and strategy to internal and external stakeholders.

- Modernising our engineering practices across the team, increasing developer productivity, and enabling high levels of agility.

- Modernising platform architecture across the group and coaching teams on new architectural approaches using the latest technologies.

- Individual Contributor (no direct line management).

Mentorship & Collaboration:

- Act as a Subject Matter Expert Provide technical leadership and mentorship to principal engineers, engineering teams, fostering their growth and development.

- Collaborate effectively with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders to align technology solutions with business objectives.

- Build strong relationships with key vendors and technology partners.

What You Bring to the Party

• Significant experience in software engineering and architecture, with a strong focus on e-commerce platforms.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing scalable, high-performance, and secure systems.
• Proven track record of working in a leading role, by influencing and enriching teams, and without dependencies on direct reports. 
• Deep understanding of modern architectural patterns, including microservices, cloud-native architectures, and event-driven systems.
• Expertise in various technologies relevant to e-commerce, such as cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), databases (SQL and NoSQL), and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex business requirements into technical solutions.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership.
• Passion for technology and a strong desire to stay ahead of the curve.
• Demonstrated ability to influence business decisions and drive technology strategy.

About us

We are Storio group, a place where life’s stories are made, crafted and shared. A place where we create new ways to pass memories and stories between people and generations. And where, together, we make joy unforgettable. We bring our customers’ stories to life through a range of high-quality personalised photo products, like photo books, wall decor, calendars & gifts. Our innovative technology enables customers to easily personalise their creations to keep for themselves or share as the most thoughtful of gifts.

Every single one of our employees brings something unique to Storio group and leaves a lasting imprint on our work, our culture and our company. Storio group is a place where we can all see and feel the impact of what we do, every day. A career with us is an opportunity to make your mark on our customers’ lives and on your career.

Our values shape everything we do, from our interactions with customers and colleagues to the way we approach our work. We believe in fostering an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute to our shared success. At Storio group, we: 

Act with heart: People - both customers and employees - are at the heart of all we do. So we embrace diversity and get to know each other as real people and build real relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.

Give our best: As the crafters and makers of people’s memories, we play an important role in our customers’ lives. That’s why we give our best and work together to make the right decisions and build a better business everyday. 

Own all we do: We are all, as individuals and as a team, responsible for creating our success and shaping our future. We lead the charge and drive things forward - fully owning our actions and decisions along the way.

Embrace curiosity: We believe progress requires curiosity. So, we’re relentlessly curious about the world and each other, actively seeking out diverse perspectives and always asking big questions like ‘why’ and ‘what’s next’?

Find the joy: At Storio, joy matters. We see it as a state of mind, so while we don’t pretend every day will be easy, we do set out every day to intentionally find, create and share big and little moments of joy with our customers and teammates.

Equal opportunities statement

We are committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment regardless of age, disability, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

If you have a disability or special need that requires reasonable adjustments in order for you to perform at your peak during the interview, please let our HR team know ahead of time so that they can assist. We will consider the matter carefully and try to accommodate your needs within reason. If we consider a particular adjustment would not be reasonable we will explain our reasons and try to find an alternative solution where possible.

Sponsorship

You must have a right to work in the country where the position is located