Lead Solution Architect – Geospatial Services

Lead Solution Architect – Geospatial Services

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. Let us tell you about all the great reasons to join us here at Yorkshire Water.

Benefits

• Competitive salary up to £95,000 depending on experience
• Company car lease/allowance scheme (£600 per month or £7,200 per year, full‑time)
• Schedule of annual incentive bonuses (up to 15% of salary, rising to 20% in the 26‑27 performance year)
• Private health care (self and partner, if applicable)
• Attractive pension scheme (up to 12% company contribution)
• Life assurance cover of 4 times pensionable salary
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, plus 2 extra wellness days
• Additional benefits: health cash plan, critical illness insurance, dental insurance, life assurance flex and partner cover
• Retail savings scheme
• Online GP service, cycle‑to‑work scheme, gym membership discounts and more

Location and Work Type

Initially based in Bradford, the role will move to Leeds Valley Park in summer 2026. Hybrid working – 2–3 days in office per week (Bradford/Leeds).

Permanent. 37 hours per week, Monday – Friday.

What we do:

Yorkshire Water provides essential water and wastewater services to the Yorkshire region, protecting the environment and planning for a sustainable future. The Technology team plays a key role in meeting customer and regulator expectations.

Geospatial insight drives better decisions across our assets, networks, and customer interactions. The Lead Solution Architect will own the vision for geospatial services, working with business and technology leaders to fully leverage the ArcGIS platform and shape location intelligence across the organization.

Where you fit in:

As our Lead Solution Architect – Geospatial Services you will:

• Own, define and evolve the vision, strategy and roadmap for Yorkshire Water’s geospatial services, ensuring the ArcGIS platform supports current priorities and future transformation.
• Act as the design authority for the geospatial domain, providing architectural leadership and assurance across all programmes and initiatives that touch geospatial capability.
• Build strong, trusted relationships with business stakeholders across asset management, operations, planning and customer teams, translating priorities into geospatial opportunities.
• Proactively identify where existing geospatial investment can deliver new business value, including persona‑based dashboards and network intelligence.
• Lead continuous review of our geospatial landscape, managing and reducing technical debt to keep solutions scalable and sustainable.
• Shape adoption of the GIS Utility Network data model and modern ArcGIS capabilities, staying ahead of the ESRI roadmap and translating emerging developments into tangible value.
• Design and assure seamless, API‑driven integrations between ArcGIS, supporting applications and our wider enterprise landscape, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 (CRM), SAP S/4HANA (ERP) and analytics platforms.
• Champion architectural excellence by embedding best‑practice principles, standards and governance for the geospatial domain.
• Collaborate with Enterprise and Solutions Architecture to align geospatial decisions with Yorkshire Water’s long‑term strategy and business capability model.
• Create and maintain high‑quality architectural artefacts – assessments, roadmaps, diagrams, designs and decision records.
• Develop effective partnerships with external ESRI, system integrators and third‑party providers to enhance capability and bring market insight.
• Collaborate with delivery teams to implement geospatial solutions that align with architectural principles and agreed designs.
• Coach, mentor and develop geospatial capability across the organization, supporting recruitment and growth of GIS talent.
• Serve as a trusted technology advisor to the business, influencing key decisions and shaping the future of asset and geospatial services.

What skills & qualifications you will need:

• Strong architectural, functional and technical expertise in designing and implementing comprehensive GIS solutions (Enterprise and Online), including customisation, configuration, integration and analytics.
• Proven track record of delivering geospatial strategies and roadmaps, driving ongoing platform exploitation rather than one‑off implementations.
• Experience designing solutions that integrate ArcGIS with ERP, CRM and data platforms (ideally SAP S/4HANA and Microsoft Dynamics 365) using modern, API‑based integration technologies such as Microsoft Azure API Management.
• Strong understanding of the GIS Utility Network data model and core implementation processes, preferably within utilities.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, conveying complex design concepts to technical and non‑technical audiences and building credibility at senior leadership levels.
• Experience acting as design lead on complex implementations, working with large blended design and delivery teams to drive successful outcomes.
• Experience mapping end‑to‑end architectures within a complex system landscape, including data and integration design.
• Experience identifying, managing and reducing technical debt to keep solutions scalable and future‑ready.
• Practical experience applying architectural frameworks and methodologies, adapting approaches to suit varying business needs.
• Active membership in architecture governance forums.
• Ability to create clear, high‑quality, visually engaging architectural artefacts, strategies and roadmaps.
• Highly beneficial – strong utilities experience, especially with customer and asset management, delivering persona‑based GIS applications and dashboards.
• Relevant ArcGIS/ESRI certifications are desirable.
• Passion for coaching, mentoring, developing others, excellent written and verbal communication, and a positive proactive attitude.

Closing date for this role is 29th July 2026

We are committed to removing barriers and ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to everyone. Adjustments are available for applicants requiring changes to the recruitment process.

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