Application Architect

We are seeking a motivated Application Architect to help shape the architecture of key strategic initiatives across Fourth. Working as an embedded member of delivery teams, you will provide hands-on architectural leadership, helping engineers design, build and evolve scalable, maintainable and resilient software solutions.

You will apply Fourth's application architecture standards, patterns and engineering principles, while contributing to their ongoing evolution through practical delivery experience. Working closely with software engineers, technical leads and fellow architects, you will balance technical quality with pragmatic delivery, ensuring architectural decisions support both immediate project needs and the long-term direction of the platform.

As part of the wider Enterprise Architecture team, you will collaborate with architects across multiple disciplines to solve complex technical challenges, champion engineering excellence, and leverage AI-assisted software engineering to rapidly prototype, validate and deliver high-quality solutions. You will also help evolve modern AI-enabled engineering practices, enabling teams to adopt AI safely and effectively while improving engineering productivity across Fourth's so,ware portfolio.

Responsibilities

Deliver the application architecture for strategic projects and programmes, ensuring solutions are scalable, maintainable, secure, and aligned with Fourth's architectural direction; Provide hands-on architectural leadership within delivery teams, working alongside engineers to solve complex technical challenges and guide architectural decision making from concept through to delivery; Apply and contribute to the evolution of Fourth's application architecture standards, patterns, and engineering principles through practical delivery experience; Produce architectural designs, decision records, and technical documentation that clearly communicate solution intent and support long-term maintainability; Participate in architecture, design, and code reviews, providing constructive feedback and helping ensure consistency with established architectural principles; Collaborate with business, product, engineering, and fellow architects to understand requirements and translate them into pragmatic, high-quality technical solutions; Own the architectural direction of assigned initiatives, balancing business objectives, technical quality, operational considerations, and long-term maintainability; Identify technical risks, architectural debt, and opportunities for improvement, working with engineering teams to develop practical remediation plans; Design and evolve AI-assisted software engineering practices, tooling, and delivery pipelines that enable teams to build software safely, efficiently, and consistently; Use AI-assisted development tools to prototype, validate, and deliver architectural solutions, reference implementations, and production-quality software where appropriate; Research, evaluate, and recommend new technologies, frameworks, and architectural approaches that improve engineering effectiveness and deliver measurable business value; Champion the adoption of AI and emerging technologies to enhance application capabilities, engineering productivity, and software quality; Share knowledge, mentor engineers and technical leads, and contribute to the continuous improvement of Fourth's architecture and engineering communities

Requirements

Demonstrable, hands-on experience in application or software architecture and engineering; Strong knowledge of application design patterns and architectural styles (e.g. microservices, event-driven, layered); Experience with modern application frameworks and technologies; Experience with API design, microservices, and distributed systems architecture; Excellent collaboration and problem-solving skills with the ability to document and communicate complex solutions; Ability to lead and manage projects and teams in a fast-paced environment; Proficiency in one or more programming or scripting languages; Solid understanding of the end-to-end Software Development Lifecycle

Nice to have

Familiarity with cloud platforms (preferably Microsoft Azure) and their application services; Awareness of or hands-on experience with AI tools and technologies, and their application in software development and engineering productivity

Benefits

Holidays. We all need to rest so you get 25 basic holidays with the option to grow up to 30 with service + your birthday off + bank holidays; Flexible working! Use our flexible working hours and hybrid working environments to manage it; Wellness activities and a lot of pampering included. On top of that, you can add gym subscription discounts; Laptop and equipment; Healthcare expense claim tools; Like in life, at work we also want you to grow with certifications; Annual meet ups; Enhanced parenting scheme; Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan provided; Pension and life insurance? Several, for you to choose what looks convenient; On demand pay tools for you to be able to access salary even before the end of the month