Enterprise Architect

THE ROLE

We are seeking a pragmatic Enterprise Architect (EA) to define and govern the target architecture that underpins NextEnergy Group’s transition to a data‑driven, technology‑led, and AI‑enabled business. You will set architectural direction across applications, data, integration, and security, while guiding delivery teams to land incremental value safely and reliably.

Working across our Technology & Digital Services (TDS) portfolio, you will collaborate with product, data, design, engineering, security, and vendor partners to shape standards, make “build‑buy‑partner” decisions, and ensure solutions are scalable, secure, compliant, and cost‑effective. You will balance strategic vision with hands‑on solution oversight to enable timely product delivery and measurable business outcomes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Architecture Strategy & Roadmap

• Define the target state architecture, principles, patterns, and standards across business, application, data, integration, and security domains.
• Maintain a living architecture roadmap that sequences modernisation, remediation, and innovation, aligned to business priorities and capacity.
• Lead build vs. buy vs. partner evaluations and ensure architectural runway supports agile delivery.

Data, Analytics & AI Enablement

• Guide adoption of cloud data platforms (e.g., Snowflake) and self‑service analytics (ThoughtSpot) to enable governed, high‑quality data products.
• Establish patterns for ML/AI enablement (feature stores, MLOps, model governance) and ensure responsible, ethical AI practices.

Integration & Application Architecture

• Champion API‑first and event‑driven architectures; standardise API design, versioning, and lifecycle (e.g., via API gateways such as Kong or equivalent).
• Define reference architectures for microservices, workflow/orchestration, and legacy remediation, ensuring observability and SLOs are built‑

Security, Risk & Compliance

• Embed zero‑trust principles, identity and access management, data protection, and auditability across solutions.
• Partner with Compliance, Legal, and Security to ensure adherence to regulatory obligations (e.g., energy sector requirements, data protection).
• Run architecture risk assessments, drive mitigations, and maintain traceability from risk to control.

Governance & Ways of Working

• Operate and evolve Architecture Review Boards (ARBs); publish decision records and architectural standards.
• Ensure alignment with PMO and product delivery—clarify non‑functional requirements (NFRs), dependencies, and guardrails early.
• Improve reusability with design systems, integration patterns, and shared services; own the EA repository (e.g., models, diagrams, roadmaps).

Solution Oversight & Vendor Management

• Provide hands‑on solution guidance to delivery squads, from inception to handover—review designs, PoCs, and production readiness.
• Evaluate and govern third‑party solutions and partners to ensure value, quality, and contract adherence.

ABOUT US

NextEnergy Group was founded in 2007 to become a leading market participant in the international solar sector.  Since its inception, it has been active in the development, construction, and ownership of solar assets across multiple jurisdictions.  NextEnergy Group operates via its three business units: NextEnergy Capital (Investment Management), WiseEnergy (Operating Asset Management), and Starlight (Asset Development).

NextEnergy Capital manages the Group's investment activities and has invested in over 520 solar plants, exceeding 2GW in capacity across its institutional funds. * NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF): Listed on the London Stock Exchange, NESF manages 102 solar and energy storage assets in the UK and Italy, with a total installed capacity of 983MW and a gross asset value of £1,014m. * NextPower II (NPII): A private fund of 105 solar plants (149MW) focused on Italy, successfully divested in January 2022, delivering net IRRs exceeding its 10-12% target. * NextPower III ESG (NPIII ESG): A private fund targeting solar infrastructure in OECD countries (e.g., US, Spain, Italy), with $896m raised, exceeding its $750m target. * NextPower UK ESG (NPUK ESG): A private fund dedicated to new-build solar plants in the UK, with ~£600m raised. * NextPower V ESG (NPV ESG): A private OECD solar fund investing in solar and adjacent technologies like battery storage. To date, it has raised $745m, targeting $1.5bn ($2bn ceiling).

WiseEnergy® is NextEnergy Group’s operating asset manager.  WiseEnergy is a leading specialist operating asset manager in the solar sector.  Since its founding, WiseEnergy has provided solar asset management, monitoring, technical due diligence and under construction services to over 1,500 utility-scale solar power plants with an installed total capacity in excess of 3.4 GW.  WiseEnergy clients comprise leading banks and equity financiers in the energy and infrastructure sector.  

Starlight is NextEnergy Group’s development company that is active in the development phase of solar projects.  It has developed over 100 utility-scale projects internationally and continues to progress a large pipeline of c.10GW of both green and brownfield project developments across global geographies. 

NextSTEP is the venture capital fund of NextEnergy Group, dedicated to investing in innovative startups in the field of environmental sustainability. The fund primarily focuses on investments in Italy and the United Kingdom but also extends its reach to the rest of Europe and the United States, targeting startups in the pre-seed and seed stages. NextSTEP pays particular attention to emerging entities from incubators, startup accelerators, universities, and research centers, supporting projects that address global challenges in crucial areas such as Climate Change, Energy Transition, CO2 Capture and Sequestration, Circular Economy, Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable Fashion, Waste Management, Water and much more. 

NextEnergy Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2016 by the NextEnergy Group that operates internationally and whose mission is to proactively participate in the global effort to reduce carbon emissions by providing clean energy sources in regions where they are not yet available and thereby contributing to poverty reduction. As the main sponsor of this foundation, the NextEnergy Group donates at least 5% of its consolidated net profits each year. The NextEnergy Foundation has no overhead costs and therefore 100% of the funds raised go to donations for the various projects. Since 2016, in 8 years of operation the foundation has donated more than £1.2 million, supporting over 30 projects in 27 different countries around the world.

WHAT WE OFFER

• A busy role in a supportive team, with plenty of opportunities to learn
• International scope – we operate in over 8 countries
• Hybrid working – we will need you in the central London (Mayfair) office at least twice a week, but you will normally be able to work remotely for the remainder of the week
• 30 days’ holiday per year (3 of which are taken during the festive shutdown in December)
• Private pension
• BUPA Healthcare for you and qualifying dependents
• Cycle to work and electric vehicle leasing schemes
• Annual discretionary bonus.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate: * Enterprise architecture leadership with the ability to simplify complexity and influence senior stakeholders. * Strong depth across application, data, integration, and security domains; comfortable with cloud‑native designs and platform thinking. * Proficiency with API-first, event‑driven, microservices, and zero‑trust security concepts. * Working knowledge of Azure services (or equivalent), containerisation (e.g., Kubernetes), CI/CD, IaC, and observability (metrics, logs, traces). * Excellent communication—able to translate between business value and technical architecture; crisp documentation and visual communication. * Outcome‑oriented mindset with risk-based decision‑making and a focus on operability, performance, and cost optimisation.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS 

• BSc in Business Information Technology or equivalent technical discipline.
• MSc in System Design, with emphasis on architectural thinking, systems engineering, or enterprise‑scale solution design.
• 10+ years’ experience in architecture, solution design, or technical leadership roles within complex, multi‑system environments.
• Professional certifications including ITIL Foundation, PRINCE2 Foundation, and Agile Scrum.
• Microsoft Azure Certified—Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ‑305) or equivalent cloud architecture accreditation.
• The right to work in the UK.