Technology Services Architect

Technology Services Architect

Business Area: IT

Place of Work: Liverpool

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract

When you join USS, the size and scale of our pension scheme means you will have numerous opportunities to learn and develop your career.

Given our size, you'll have real autonomy and influence as you collaborate closely with a wide-ranging team of experts.

Our office is a vibrant place to work, and we offer flexibility of office/homeworking due to our hybrid model.

About the role

In your role as Technology Services Architect you will make a meaningful and valued contribution from the outset.

This role will provide a great opportunity tobecome a highly technical member of the team responsible for ensuring that current and new systems fit the USS enterprise environment, working to a defined Architecture Engagement Model.

Understanding how all parts of the business model work, including processes, technology, and application architectures.

Meeting the requirements of the USS and USSIM stakeholders, ensuring functional and operational needs are considered. Translating the technical architecture into the technical project and business project initiatives.

Taking the role of subject matter experts in their specialism, providing guidance and assistance to all technical teams, and ensuring the integrity of USS systems.

Technical Solutions Architects at USS are responsible for assessing the impact of integrating and deploying new technologies into the USS architecture, developing statements of work, defining solutions and technical design documents with handover to BAU engineering teams for build.

What you will be doing

As a trusted part of the IT you will:

• Lead solution design and architecture for new technologies and initiatives across USS
• Produce high- and low-level design documents, ensuring alignment with governance and architecture standards
• Design and implement infrastructure and cloud solutions (Azure/AWS), ensuring strategic fit and operational readiness
• Act as a technical mentor and guide to support and engineering teams
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure technology solutions meet business needs and enable seamless project handover
• Stay up to date with emerging technologies and define operational standards and deployment strategies
• Support governance and policy development for deployed and future IT technologies

About you

We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they don't tick every box, if you're excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we're looking for, then please apply, regardless of whether you meet all the requirements outlined in this profile.

To be successful in the role you will have:

Essential:

• Strong knowledge of USS core technologies: server stacks, storage, virtualisation, Microsoft ADDS
• Experience managing technical workload, including projects and BAU tasks
• Skilled in producing high- and low-level technical design documentation
• Proficient in Office365, cloud services, backup management, and datacentre/cloud environments
• Experience working in multi-vendor and multi-hosted datacentre setups with high availability and disaster recovery

Desirable:

• Familiarity with architecture frameworks (e.g. TOGAF), networking, ITIL, and PRINCE2
• Experience in Financial Services and with Nutanix technology
• Azure design and Unified Communications (MS Teams/Skype) experience

Why join us?

At USS, every individual contributes to building a secure financial future for our members and their families.

We strive to create a work environment where everyone can thrive professionally while making a meaningful impact on the lives of others.

We're also committed to helping you build your career by providing opportunities for development. We put a focus on recognising and supporting each individual's unique career path, driving this forward with the support of an engaged and proactive management team.

Here at USS, we want you to thrive in and out of work with a friendly team, flexible culture and excellent range of benefits!

How we will reward you

• Great starting salary
• Generous annual leave package
• Access to a high quality pension scheme provided through Universities Superannuation Scheme
• Supportive people policies (including enhanced occupational sickness pay and family friendly pay)
• Financial contributions towards your personal development to help you maintain your physical and mental wellbeing
• Access to a range of health and wellbeing services i.e., private healthcare, discounted gym membership
• Learning and development opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and talent
• Employee Volunteer Days to support the communities where you work and live
• Cycle to Work Scheme

Our culture and values

Our people are what makes us different. We work together to create a diverse and inclusive culture that embraces individuality, where people are welcomed and feel comfortable in the knowledge that they can be themselves.

Our purpose firmly states the importance of members, putting them 'front and centre' of what we do. This is embedded through our values:

- Integrity
- Collaboration
- Excellence

About us

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) was established in 1974 as the principal pension scheme for universities and higher education institutions in the UK. We work with around 330 employers to help build a secure financial future for more than 528,000 members and their families. We are one of the largest pension schemes in the UK, with total assets of around £75.5bn (at 31 March 2023). To find out more, please visit

USSL is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We strive to ensure our recruitment process is as flexible and inclusive as possible so we can attract diverse candidates and recruit the best talent. We want all candidates to perform at their best during the recruitment process, so if you need any reasonable adjustments or if there is anything we can do to help support you through your recruitment journey please let us know by contacting .