IT Solutions Architect

The Role

Aligned to a continuous drive to innovate, Withers has recently launched a new business strategy which focuses on reviewing and improving how our firm operates across all regions and divisions in order to optimise productivity through the better use of technology, and ultimately to deliver the best service to our clients. 

This will be achieved through a number of means including examining and optimising technology skills, the processes that our people use, and the technologies which they are using. It will address both the better use of our existing systems, and the purchase and /or development of new tools aligned to business needs.  Given the scope of the firm's strategy, the work will cover a wide breadth of technology areas including legal-specific and more general operational systems, including the embedding of new technologies such as generative AI into working practices. 

In support of this, we are recruiting a number of roles to constitute the core of a new 'AI & Innovation' team (supplemented by resources from our project management office, IT team and external consultancy as required) which will lead the delivery of this work. In order to ensure better alignment to the firm's standards and to provide supplemental support as required, the members of this team will be 'homed' inside the IT and PMO teams (as appropriate), but will work together as a ring-fenced team dedicated to delivering the AI & Innovation work under the direction of a multi-disciplinary steering group. 

As part of this AI & Innovation team, we are seeking an experienced and driven Solutions Architect who has a passion for delivering innovation and change, and for working with stakeholders across all disciplines and seniority levels. 

This is a very exciting opportunity to be a core part of a new capability for our firm, with sponsorship from the highest levels of the firm, and high visibility for the value delivered.  It is a hands-on, strategic role ideal for a self-starter who thrives in an innovative, fast-paced and pragmatic environment, who excels in inter-personal relationships, and wants to make a lasting impact by supporting change to the working practices of a global law firm.

A high level of personal organisation and professionalism is critical to this role, together with a 'can-do' attitude and an ability to work to tight deadlines and under pressure.  You must be a self-starter, inspire a positive work environment and help champion quality, innovation, teamwork and service to the business. 

Working as part of our Global IT Systems Team, your primary work base will be the London office, but travel may be required. The chosen candidate will line-report to the Senior IT Solutions Architect (based in London) and work closely with them and the global team, to assist with delivery of the firm's strategy and expectations. 

Tasks and responsibilities

Working environment: 

• Work as a core member of the AI & Innovation team, working closely with the delivery lead, business analyst and trainer to analyse requirements in order to identify and define opportunities to deliver business value through technology, to determine fit-for-purpose solution options, and to drive solution decisions backed by strong business cases.
• Collaborate with both legal and business services teams to understand workflows, inefficiencies, opportunities and identify and support solutions based on existing or new technologies.
• Work with the Chief Information Security Officer, Business Systems Team, Global Systems Team, and Programme Management Office to ensure that all solutions delivered are consistent with agreed-upon standards and deliver maximum value to the firm.
• Ensure a collaborative approach for solution design across all areas of IT, including IT Systems, IT Business systems and IT Service Delivery.
• Utilise architecture best practices (such as the Architectural Development Method (ADM)) to ensure a consistent and governable approach to architecture within Withers.
• Analyse the current architecture to identify weaknesses, identify opportunities to increase value, develop opportunities for improvements and recommend new best practice approaches.
• Stay abreast of and provide expert advice on technology and application trends.  Feed into the IT Director, Global Head of IT Systems and the IT Systems technology strategy.
• Championing the technology strategy with a hands-on understanding of how this can be applied to solutions.
• Ensure the strategy, architecture, standards and roadmaps are communicated and understood by the relevant teams.
• Provide architecture support and guidance for Withers' IT teams and external vendors.
• Ensure that IT application capabilities, where practical, are consolidated in order to increase the value of IT to the firm.
• Responsible for the end-to-end design and integration of custom built and COTS applications, including design of test systems to prove architectural design sanity.
• As appropriate, propose solution options aligning with the overall IT strategy based on requirements and delivering measurable benefits.  Ensure full consideration of the implications of options as part of solution decisions.
• Run time-boxed prototypes / proof of concepts against clear success criteria to support informed go/no-go decisions.
• Produce fit-for-purpose technical solution designs (COTS, custom-built applications or integrations) for assigned projects and gaining acceptance and approval from internal stakeholders.
• Lead technical workshops, participate in project meetings or stand-ups to review and present solution / architecture designs or communicate technical requirements.
• Own Non-Functional Requirements (security, confidentiality, performance, availability, RTO/RPO, auditability, cost/FinOps as appropriate) and ensure they’re baked into designs and acceptance.
• Where necessary, act as the Technical Lead or Technical Design Authority until the appropriate time to hand over to assigned SME's for IT projects
• Assist IT Systems and IT support teams to ensure that new services are effectively delivered, understood and supported against functional and non-functional requirements.
• As part of solution handover, use knowledge to assist SME's in any handover capacity.
• Work with IT Change and Release team, IT Training Team and internal comms team to ensure that user training and adoption is considered as part of design and change. Also runbooks/observability (logging, metrics, SLOs), handover quality, operational KPIs.
• Oversee the technology elements of vendor and product selections to meet technical and business requirements considering exit plans, data portability, and cost modelling to ROI.
• Review and approve vendor-provided technical specifications and designs against Withers' standards, roadmaps and policies.
• Cloud & platform: Azure, Power Platform (Power Apps, Automate, Dataverse, ALM, governance), SharePoint/Teams extensibility
• Office 365 - Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, Teams, OneNote, OneDrive
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar GenAI tools
• Windows 11
• Legal-technology - Elite 3E, WorkSpace, Intapp (Integration Builder/Open/Conflicts), iManage Cloud, Litera/BigHand/HighQ/DocuSign—or similar.
• Legal document automation tools (e.g., HotDocs, Contract Express) and eDiscovery platforms, legal research tools, and case management systems.
• Client Relationship Manager - InterAction or similar
• Understanding of SaaS architectures, APIs, and integrations
• Identity & security - SSO, OAuth/OIDC, Conditional Access, just-in-time access, information protection, MIP labels, audit.
• Integration - Event-driven design, async messaging, API design, webhook patterns, file-to-API transitions, ETL/ELT.
• Certifications (desirable): TOGAF or BCS ESA; Azure Solutions Architect Expert; Power Platform Solution Architect; ITIL; security (e.g., CCSP/CISSP) as nice-to-have.

Architecture:

• Utilise architecture best practices (such as the Architectural Development Method (ADM)) to ensure a consistent and governable approach to architecture within Withers.
• Analyse the current architecture to identify weaknesses, identify opportunities to increase value, develop opportunities for improvements and recommend new best practice approaches.
• Stay abreast of and provide expert advice on technology and application trends.  Feed into the IT Director, Global Head of IT Systems and the IT Systems technology strategy.
• Championing the technology strategy with a hands-on understanding of how this can be applied to solutions.
• Ensure the strategy, architecture, standards and roadmaps are communicated and understood by the relevant teams.
• Provide architecture support and guidance for Withers' IT teams and external vendors.
• Ensure that IT application capabilities, where practical, are consolidated in order to increase the value of IT to the firm. 

Solution design and delivery:

• Responsible for the end-to-end design and integration of custom built and COTS applications, including design of test systems to prove architectural design sanity.
• As appropriate, propose solution options aligning with the overall IT strategy based on requirements and delivering measurable benefits.  Ensure full consideration of the implications of options as part of solution decisions.
• Run time-boxed prototypes / proof of concepts against clear success criteria to support informed go/no-go decisions.
• Produce fit-for-purpose technical solution designs (COTS, custom-built applications or integrations) for assigned projects and gaining acceptance and approval from internal stakeholders.
• Lead technical workshops, participate in project meetings or stand-ups to review and present solution / architecture designs or communicate technical requirements.
• Own Non-Functional Requirements (security, confidentiality, performance, availability, RTO/RPO, auditability, cost/FinOps as appropriate) and ensure they’re baked into designs and acceptance.
• Where necessary, act as the Technical Lead or Technical Design Authority until the appropriate time to hand over to assigned SME's for IT projects
• Assist IT Systems and IT support teams to ensure that new services are effectively delivered, understood and supported against functional and non-functional requirements.
• As part of solution handover, use knowledge to assist SME's in any handover capacity.
• Work with IT Change and Release team, IT Training Team and internal comms team to ensure that user training and adoption is considered as part of design and change. Also runbooks/observability (logging, metrics, SLOs), handover quality, operational KPIs.

Solution selection:

• Oversee the technology elements of vendor and product selections to meet technical and business requirements considering exit plans, data portability, and cost modelling to ROI.
• Review and approve vendor-provided technical specifications and designs against Withers' standards, roadmaps and policies.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive.  It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for the performance of this job, and as such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.

Skills, knowledge, qualifications and competencies

Technology

• Cloud & platform: Azure, Power Platform (Power Apps, Automate, Dataverse, ALM, governance), SharePoint/Teams extensibility
• Office 365 - Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, Teams, OneNote, OneDrive
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar GenAI tools
• Windows 11
• Legal-technology - Elite 3E, WorkSpace, Intapp (Integration Builder/Open/Conflicts), iManage Cloud, Litera/BigHand/HighQ/DocuSign—or similar.
• Legal document automation tools (e.g., HotDocs, Contract Express) and eDiscovery platforms, legal research tools, and case management systems.
• Client Relationship Manager - InterAction or similar
• Understanding of SaaS architectures, APIs, and integrations
• Identity & security - SSO, OAuth/OIDC, Conditional Access, just-in-time access, information protection, MIP labels, audit.
• Integration - Event-driven design, async messaging, API design, webhook patterns, file-to-API transitions, ETL/ELT.
• Certifications (desirable): TOGAF or BCS ESA; Azure Solutions Architect Expert; Power Platform Solution Architect; ITIL; security (e.g., CCSP/CISSP) as nice-to-have.

Experience

• Demonstrated success over 5+ years in the role of Solutions Architect in a law or similar professional services firm.  It is expected that the post-holder will have relevant architecture qualifications
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills with the ability to methodically and logically draw conclusions
• Able to support the estimation and planning aspects of business cases and implementation plans
• Able to negotiate demand and priorities with stakeholders
• Past hands-on experience in delivering products and services, including proactive vendor management and negotiation
• Demonstration of having identified and delivered technology innovation which delivered tangible business benefits
• Demonstration of extensive knowledge of current issues and trends in IT, particularly for the legal industry, including security, data protection, etc.
• Ability to produce technical solution designs and gain stakeholder approval
• Experience integrating legal-specific and operational systems, including generative AI tools
• Excellent understanding of cybersecurity and data protection
• Good knowledge of Azure and hybrid infrastructure platforms, including deployment and governance
• Use of structured technical validation processes
• Understanding and embedding GenAI into legal workflows
• Familiarity with emerging legal applications and platforms
• Ability to assess and plan upgrades or replacements for key systems
• Experience with workflow automation and AI-driven productivity tools
• Ability to analyse data sources and how they be used to support AI or innovative solutions

Personal Qualities

• Soft skills: Product thinking, benefits realisation, stakeholder negotiation, and storytelling with architecture diagrams. Able to work closely with senior (to executive level) business and technology stakeholders, demonstrating the gravitas and presence to inspire confidence and influence actions
• Strategic-level thinking, able to work with the Global IT Leadership Team to define and influence strategic decisions in order to optimise IT services and capabilities delivered to the firm
• Ability to collaborate with and motivate people across different teams and with different backgrounds to fully engage and to work collaboratively to deliver solutions
• Engaging with diversity of thought, recognising contributions and concerns from members of the firm – team members and stakeholders – from all backgrounds
• Inspires confidence
• Enthusiastic and friendly
• Able to work under pressure
• Flexible approach to working hours during upgrades and other ad hoc duties carried out by IT
• Excellent attention to detail and organisation skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Smart and professional manner
• Be well organised in calendar management and scheduling
• Collaborative mindset with a consultative approach
• Adaptability to work across diverse legal practice and business services areas
• Passion for innovation and continuous learning

The Essentials

• 9.30am to 5.30pm but flexibility is a must
• Hybrid working policy with a minimum of 2 days per week worked in the office
• 12 week probation period
• 12 week notice period
• Flexible benefit package including pension, private medical insurance, denplan, season ticket loan, subsidised gym memberships, lifestyle discount scheme, the ability to buy and sell holidays, flu jabs, doctors consultation service, cycle to work scheme, on site café and more

About Withers

A law firm focused on people, performance, and collaboration.

For the past 125 years, we have supported some of the world’s most remarkable people and organizations at defining moments in their lives.

As the global private client firm, we are trusted advisors to families, founders, fiduciaries and businesses – and more than this, to governments, charities and financial institutions. We structure, grow and preserve capital. We protect reputations and relationships, ideas and innovations. We secure our clients’ legacies across generations. We are united in our commitment to integrity, quality and collaboration. We have a culture of high performance and deliver excellent service consistently across the firm. We provide tailored solutions built on trust and partner with our clients to achieve their goals.

Many of our clients are shaping the future, and creating solutions to tackle many of the world’s problems. It makes for a fascinating and challenging practice. Our role is to get to know each individual client, find out where they want to be, and help them to get there – whether they are building a business, buying a home or protecting and defending their interests. To meet their unique needs we are exceptionally collaborative, working together across teams and time zones. And we are agile – focusing on strategy rather than rigid ideas and traditional hierarchy.

We are delighted that we have been awarded Mansfield Certification Plus in relation to our recruitment and leadership progression efforts in the US and UK. This certification is an encouraging milestone as we continue to champion diversity within our organization and in the wider legal sector.

Join us to be part of a team that is always looking to the future. Where initiative, big ideas and bold moves are always encouraged. Where you can truly be yourself.

Information for Recruitment Agencies

Withers endeavours to recruit and fill vacancies directly. However, when we do need to engage with agencies, Withers operates a preferred supplier list and will not be accepting unsolicited applications from non-PSL agencies for this role.

Equal Opportunities Employment Statement 

It is the policy of Withers to provide equal opportunities for all employees in relation to recruitment, training and promotion. Decisions in these areas will be made only by reference to the requirements of the job and shall not be influenced by any consideration of ethnic origin, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation or disability.