Chief Architect (Interim)

Chief Architect (Interim)
Global Transportation Company
London (On Site)
Contract | Competitive Day Rate

We are supporting a global Transportation organisation on the appointment of a Chief Architect (Interim) to lead a critical phase of its digital and technology transformation.

This is a high-impact leadership role, operating at the heart of the digital leadership team, with responsibility for shaping and delivering enterprise-wide architecture and engineering strategy in a complex, large-scale environment.

The Opportunity
This role blends strategic vision with Architecture & Engineering leadership, taking ownership of architecture as a true business enabler, not just a governance function.

You will be responsible for modernising legacy environments, accelerating digital capabilities, and embedding scalable, future-ready technology foundations. A key part of the remit will also involve enabling increased adoption of AI and emerging technologies, supporting innovation across operational and customer-facing functions.

With significant investment underway and strong executive backing, this is a unique opportunity to influence the direction of a globally recognised organisation at pace.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and own the end-to-end Architecture and Engineering strategy, aligned to wider business and technology objectives
• Provide leadership across enterprise, solution and platform architecture, alongside software engineering teams
• Define and implement architecture standards, guardrails and governance, ensuring consistency across delivery
• Drive adoption of modern practices including cloud, DevSecOps, APIs, microservices and Agile delivery
• Establish and evolve foundational capabilities that enable product teams to innovate at speed
• Act as a senior decision-maker on technology direction, standards and strategic design across the enterprise
• Develop and present technology roadmaps and business cases, influencing senior stakeholders on key trade-offs
• Build and maintain trusted relationships across business and technology leadership, acting as a strategic advisor
• Lead, mentor and develop a high-performing architecture and engineering leadership team
• Champion a culture of engineering excellence, innovation and continuous improvement

Scope & Scale
Reporting to the Chief Information Officer
Direct leadership of 5-10 senior leaders, with a dotted line to an overall team of 100+, and additional third-party resources
Accountability for £10m+ Opex budget, with governance across a significantly larger technology spend

What We're Looking For

• Proven experience operating in a senior technology leadership role within a complex, global organisation
• Deep expertise across enterprise architecture and full-stack engineering, including modern digital platforms
• Strong understanding of cloud architectures, APIs, microservices, DevSecOps and scalable application design
• Experience leading architecture across application, data and infrastructure domains
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive enterprise-wide change
• Track record of leading and developing large, multi-disciplinary teams
• Experience working in Agile, product-centric environments (e.g. SAFe)
• Strong commercial awareness, including business case development and technology investment decisions

Leadership Profile
You will bring a combination of:

• Strategic thinking and technical depth
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills
• A collaborative, inclusive leadership style
• The confidence to challenge the status quo and drive change
• A passion for innovation, learning and continuous improvement

Why Apply
Enterprise-wide impact within a globally recognised organisation
Significant influence over technology strategy and investment
Opportunity to shape modern architecture and engineering capabilities at scale
Immediate start, with strong executive visibility and backing