Solutions Architect

Job title: Solution Architect (MS Dynamics 365)

Location: London, Hybrid

Role type: Contract Inside IR35

Position Overview

The Solution Architect plays a critical leadership role in the design, planning, and execution of enterprise digital transformation initiatives. Reporting to the Project Manager, the Solution Architect is responsible for translating business requirements into scalable, secure, and integrated technology solutions. This role requires strategic technical thinking combined with exceptional stakeholder management and governance oversight across complex, multi-workstream implementations.

Experience Requirements

Minimum 10-12 years of enterprise software implementation experience, with:

• Minimum 8+ years with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, or Business Central technologies
• Minimum 6+ years in a Solutions Architect, Enterprise Architect, or equivalent senior technical delivery role
• Minimum 4+ years leading complex system integrations or data migration initiatives
• Track record of successful delivery on projects with budgets exceeding ?300k and durations of 6+ months
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing security frameworks for enterprise systems

Primary Responsibilities

Technical Strategy and Architecture Design

• Define enterprise-grade system architecture for cloud-native transformations, specifically Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, Copilot Studio), Business Central, and integrated ecosystems
• Design comprehensive integration strategies connecting multiple systems in real-time (CRM, ERP, payment processors, portal systems) with a focus on data consistency, scalability, and performance
• Develop detailed technical specifications for system components, including Dataverse schema design, Power Automate workflow frameworks, custom API architectures, and Power BI semantic models
• Create security architecture and governance frameworks, including field‑level security (RLS), role‑based access control, compliance requirements, and audit trail design
• Establish non‑functional requirements, including performance targets (latency, throughput, availability), scalability parameters, disaster recovery, and backup strategies

Project Planning and Governance

• Conduct comprehensive discovery sessions with business stakeholders to understand current state systems (legacy Dynamics CRM 9.2, Sage 200), business processes, and future state requirements
• Lead fit‑gap analysis to identify misalignments between business requirements and platform capabilities, documenting impact and mitigation strategies
• Produce Business Requirements Documents, Architecture Integration Design Specifications, and Security Compliance Frameworks that serve as blueprints for delivery teams
• Develop detailed project roadmaps and resource plans across three parallel workstreams (CRM Modernisation, Portal Development, Financial System Migration)
• Establish environment strategy, including development, test/staging, and production infrastructure provisioning with appropriate security controls

Integration Planning and Technical Governance

• Design real‑time and batch integration patterns for critical business flows (payment matching with SumUp, financial synchronisation between Business Central and Dataverse, portal data workflows)
• Specify integration technical requirements, including API contracts, error handling, retry logic, data reconciliation, and monitoring
• Create detailed API specifications for custom integrations with external systems and third‑party services
• Define data migration strategy, including test load procedures (TL1, TL2), data cleansing rules, validation logic, cutover procedures, and rollback plans
• Oversee integration testing coordination with QA teams, ensuring all systems function correctly together with defined success criteria

Stakeholder Management and Communication

• Lead stakeholder engagement throughout discovery and planning phases, including executive steering committee meetings, product owner workshops, and SME interviews
• Present technical concepts and architectural decisions to non‑technical audiences, translating complex technology into business value propositions
• Facilitate workshops on business process design, requirements prioritisation, and scope definition with Product Owner and subject matter experts
• Maintain executive‑level communication on technical risks, dependencies, and architectural decisions; provide escalation support when critical issues arise
• Partner with project management on governance processes, decision logs, risk registers, and architectural change control

Quality and Risk Mitigation

• Develop risk mitigation strategies for technically complex areas (large data migrations with 100% integrity requirements, high‑volume payment processing with 95% match accuracy targets)
• Define testing strategies aligned to technical architecture, including unit testing, integration testing, UAT approaches, and performance validation
• Ensure compliance with security standards and regulatory requirements relevant to charity sector operations (audit controls, data privacy, financial controls)

Knowledge Transfer and Documentation

• Produce comprehensive technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, design specifications, API documentation, and security runbooks
• Lead technical knowledge transfer sessions with client IT teams to build internal capability
• Develop go‑live support playbooks and hypercare runbooks, ensuring operational teams can support the system post‑launch
• Document lessons learned and architectural decisions for future reference and organisational knowledge base

Required Technical Skills

Microsoft Ecosystem Expertise

• Dynamics 365 & Dataverse: Advanced knowledge of Dynamics CRM architecture, Dataverse data model, security framework, field‑level security (RLS), custom fields, relationships, and form design
• Power Platform: Expert‑level understanding of Power Apps (canvas and model‑driven), Power Automate cloud flows (instant, automated, scheduled), workflow design patterns, and integration approaches
• Power Pages: Experience designing and architecting customer‑facing portals with Power Pages, including authentication integration with Microsoft Entra External ID, external user management, and data access controls
• Power BI: Semantic model design, row‑level security implementation, performance optimisation, and real‑time/scheduled refresh architecture
• Business Central: Functional and technical understanding of ERP configuration, GL posting, payment processing, inter‑company processes, and financial controls
• Azure: Knowledge of Azure infrastructure, App Service hosting, API Management, security services, authentication (Entra ID), and cloud deployment patterns
• Copilot Studio: Skilled in designing, deploying, and managing conversational AI with Copilot Studio, integrating with Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, and ensuring secure, compliant AI automation.

Integration and API Architecture

• Design and specification of REST and custom APIs for system‑to‑system communication
• Real‑time data synchronisation patterns and bidirectional sync implementation
• Payment processor integrations (experience with SumUp or similar payment gateways)
• Data mapping and transformation logic for complex migrations
• Error handling, retry logic, dead‑letter queues, and exception management
• ETL/ELT patterns for data migration and ongoing synchronisation
• Understanding of API security, throttling, rate limiting, and monitoring

Enterprise Architecture and Design

• Cloud migration architecture (on‑premises to cloud transformation)
• System integration patterns and event‑driven architecture
• Database schema design for enterprise applications
• Security architecture including authentication, authorisation, encryption, and audit controls
• Scalability and performance architecture for high‑transaction systems
• Disaster recovery and business continuity planning
• Infrastructure‑as‑Code concepts and cloud deployment patterns

Data Management and Migration

• Data governance frameworks and master data management (MDM) concepts
• Data mapping, cleansing, and validation strategies
• Large‑scale data migration planning and execution oversight (handling millions of records)
• Data reconciliation and audit approaches
• Metadata management and data quality assurance

Development and Coding (Secondary)

• Understanding of software development lifecycle and code quality standards
• Plugin development and custom API development in Dynamics 365/Dataverse
• No‑code/low‑code platform extensibility and customisation patterns

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