Overview:
At RM, we are focused on delivering technology and resources to the education sector, supporting schools, teachers and earners, enabling the improvement of education outcomes worldwide. We work across the industry from pre-school to higher education and professional qualifications, our customers include schools, examination boards, central governments and other professional institutions. We have a clear purpose to enrich the lives of learners worldwide.
Working with local authorities, government ministries, exam boards and professional awarding bodies around the world, the teams in RM are experts in providing software-oriented products and services within education. We provide innovative and creative solutions. We pride ourselves on the long-term relationships that we build with clients that enable us to work in partnership on large high-profile projects, and on regular day-to-day activities.
We require Solution Architects to lead the definition of customer solutions. Roles report to a Senior Development Manager within the team. Solution Architects combine their professional experience and knowledge to solve a range of customer or market problems that may be very specific or of considerable breadth. Roles are likely to be extremely flexible and operate within a matrix structure depending on the demands facing the business. Ultimately Solution Architects should have skills that are transferable to any part of the RM organisation.
This Solution Architect role relates to our high-stakes assessment solutions. RM offers a range of services to our assessment customers from providing services to customers adopting on-screen marking of paper-based exams to genuine end-to-end on-screen authoring, testing and marking. We offer services such as customisation and support for our in-house developed assessment platforms and integration with third-party and client systems. Each year, our software is used globally to carry out hundreds of thousands of on-screen tests and to mark millions of paper-based scripts. For over a decade we have been partnering with the world’s leading awarding bodies to deliver intuitive, secure and reliable e-marking solutions. Every year more than a million people around the world get the marks they deserve thanks to RM.
The RM vision is to grow from our current strong position as the leading provider of high stakes e-marking solutions into an organisation that is a major force in the e-Assessment arena, and that is recognised as a thought leader in the market, bringing ideas such as artificial intelligence and adaptive testing into the e-Assessment ecosystem in new, valuable and innovative ways.
As a Customer-facing Solution Architect in RM, you will work with customers, sales staff and delivery teams to create solutions to customer problems. These solutions may include processes, services, and a technical solution which together deliver to the customer’s needs. Solution Architects may work as part of a bid team in response to a customer’s ITT, or directly with the customer in response to projects or change requests.
Solution Architects will define solutions across the product range and not focus on a single product or component. In this role, you may lead the solution design and implementation on a range of projects covering the range of products and services in the RM e-Assessment portfolio.
The Solution Architect leads the solution team and provides the interface between the customer and the RM product, development and technical operations teams. They will work with the customer to gather and analyse business requirements and determine the fit with the RM product portfolio, using existing product functionality where possible.
Where new product development is required, the Solution Architect will be responsible for analysing business requirements and working with the product and development teams to identify and agree new product functionality or changes to existing functionality. They will represent the customer during solution scoping and sizing, to ensure that the solutions that are defined will meet the customer requirements. They will continue to act as the customer-interface during development and implementation, undertaking functional demonstrations during development as required.
Solution Architects will be extensively involved during User Acceptance Testing, ensuring that the customer’s expectations are set appropriately, and that they are equipped to conduct acceptance testing. They will work with the customer and development teams to triage defects and issues that are raised, and work with all parties to agree a resolution plan.
The Solution Architect may also define and deliver end user training, depending on the needs of the project. They will tailor baseline materials, and use these to deliver product briefings, and in-depth training to end users, at different stages of the project.
Solution Architects will be knowledgeable about the breadth of products within the RM e-Assessment portfolio. They will work with the Product and Proposition teams to influence product roadmaps to enable the portfolio to continue to align with market trends and customer needs.
Working as part of a larger group of Solution Architects and Pre-Sales Consultants, the Solution Architect will work alongside a network of peers working on similar projects internationally. They will also work as part of functional project teams, with responsibility for a specific customer project. They will work within the RM governance framework, to ensure that product developments and commitments are tracked and managed effectively and efficiently. They will also work closely with the Account Directors and customer management teams to enable the successful transition of the customer to business-as-usual operations.
We recognise that any Solution Architect joining RM will not have any existing experience of our in-house developed products and services. The initial focus, therefore, on joining the team will be on developing product and process knowledge. This is likely to be through working on smaller projects initially and alongside more experienced colleagues to support knowledge development.
Ultimately, the Solution Architect will be comfortable engaging with and influencing stakeholders at all levels of the customer organisation and within RM, able to tailor their communications to the audience concerned.
Responsibilities:
As solution lead for customer projects, Solution Architects will:
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Create requirement specifications by interpreting customers’ requirements
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Define high level solutions to meet customers’ requirements
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Ensure solution boundaries are defined and that interfaces across boundaries (either between customer or RM systems or applications) are specified
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Articulate solutions to all stakeholders and adopt a position as the solution authority
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Work closely with the delivery team throughout the delivery lifecycle providing guidance and steering to ensure a successful delivery
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Work directly with and assist the customer during acceptance phases
- Position solutions in RM’s best interests while recognising and compromising with customers where necessary.
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Solution Lead for 1 or more projects up to £1m in value, either as part of multi-million pound contracts or on their own lasting anything between 3 months and 2 years.
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Lead the solution team of typically between 1 and 5 people.
The Customer-facing Solution Architect needs to be able to work autonomously within the project team with the ability to take crucial decisions regarding the development of the solution and implementation of the customer project. It is critical that the Solution Architect is aware of the impact of their work on the commercial aspects of the project, but also customer focussed with excellent organisational skills and the ability to communicate and influence both internally and externally with senior business stakeholders up to and including CEO level.
Working with our Account Directors and customer management teams to manage and build existing customer relationships whilst also effectively responding to new business requirements.
Working closely with other individuals working on projects, including off-shore product development teams.
Working closely with commercial product and proposition teams to influence product and service roadmaps and our overall customer propositions.
Experience:
We are looking for Solution Architects with a range of experience.
It is critical that the Customer-facing Solution Architect has a good understanding of the full RM e-Assessment product portfolio and can influence the customer such that change is minimised, and expectations set appropriately. We recognise, however, that someone joining RM will not have prior knowledge of our products and propositions and so will be supported to develop this knowledge through working on different projects and with a range of customers.
Candidates should have strong communication skills and will be supported to further enhance their skills and to communicate and influence both internally and externally with key stakeholders.
A technical background would be advantageous given the technical nature of our solutions, but this could be in a range of different areas, for example, as a software developer, business analyst or operations or support engineer.
In addition, candidates may have:
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Experience as development or delivery lead of a cross-functional software implementation project
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Experience of working in an Agile software development environment
- Knowledge and experience of working in the full Software Delivery Lifecycle
- Experience of working with decision makers within customer organisations
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Strong communication skills to effectively communicate requirements to internal and external stakeholders with the ability to translate business requirements into development user stories and acceptance criteria
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The ability to influence internal and external stakeholders of all levels, using flexibility of approach
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Demonstrable ability to motivate teams to work together in the most efficient manner
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Flexibility and adaptability.
As a Customer-facing Solution Architect you will work with a large and diverse stakeholder group in the UK, India and Australia including other Solution Architects, Developers, Business Analysts, Technical Architects, Project Managers, Customer Relationship Managers and Account Directors and Product Development, Operational Support and Business Development teams. Keeping these stakeholders informed, negotiating requirements and managing expectations.
Other key relationships may include:
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International Examination awarding bodies – for example, International Baccalaureate, AQA, Cambridge Assessment, OUP
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Professional Certification awarding bodies, for example the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
- International Government Educational Departments
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RM Management team.
This role may include international travel.
What’s in it for you?
As well as a competitive salary, you could earn a performance related bonus and you would receive our core benefits package which includes private medical healthcare, life assurance and a Group Personal Pension Plan with higher contribution levels available.
There are lots of voluntary benefits too. You could buy additional annual leave, join our dental plan, sign for a health assessment or take part in our cycle to work scheme. You could even earn yourself an extra bonus for successfully recommending a friend or family member for a position within RM.
At RM we are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve, and to creating an inclusive and flexible workplace where all our colleagues can be themselves and succeed on merit.
At RM we recently introduced My Work Blend @RM which provides office based colleagues with multi location and hybrid working. As well as your office base you can spend a proportion of your time working at other locations that suit your role and your life, including home, other offices, customer sites, distribution centres or on the move. We encourage you to discuss arrangements for this role with your potential line manager during the recruitment process. We expect how we make best use of hybrid working may continue to adapt as we adjust to our new ways of working.