Head of Enterprise Architecture

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About Ashurst

Ashurst is a leading progressive global law firm with a rich history spanning more than 200 years. We are proud of our history and are future-focused, having expanded into new technologies through our NewLaw division, Ashurst Advance, and our consulting arm. Our in-depth understanding of our clients and commitment to providing excellent standards of service have seen us become a trusted adviser to local and global corporates, financial institutions and governments in all areas of commercial law. To find out more please visit www.ashurst.com .

Department/Role overview

The purpose of this role is to lead the Architecture team and provide Enterprise Architecture guidance and governance for all architects within (and external to) Ashurst.

The Head of Enterprise Architecture will work as part of the Architecture Team to design, document and facilitate the implementation of the Ashurst application, technology and enterprise architectures through the various IT teams and technology partners. IT Architectures must support the overall Ashurst business strategy. The coordination of and attendance at relevant boards and committees will be required. This role has direct reports.

Main responsibilities

Enterprise & Business Architecture

• Lead the development of Technical Designs, working with IT function heads and 3rd parties to successfully deliver the IT strategy.
• Champion and embed the IT Strategy and supporting design principles across the Architect function and the department as a whole. Take time to communicate and build buy-in of the strategy and technology roadmaps across the IT department, starting with peers and senior managers.
• Be responsible for the creation and maintenance of a series of Technical Roadmaps to clearly articulate the complex dependencies, and the required order of changes, across the change initiatives.
• Assessing current capabilities and identifying required changes in capabilities to achieve objectives.
• Describing the interrelationships between people, organisation, service, process, data, information, technology and the external environment.
• Creating, iterating, and maintaining architectural models and views embodying the key principles that describe the organisation's future state, and that enable its evolution.
• Implementing enterprise architecture working practices to support and enable iterative/agile working.
• Interpreting business goals and drivers.
• Documenting and communicating constraints, standards and guiding principles necessary to define, assure and govern the required evolution.
• Using architectural models and processes to facilitate changes in the organisation's structure, business processes, information or data, business systems and infrastructure.
• Describing where and why the enterprise will benefit from cloud-based services.

Network Design

• Contribute to and govern the selection of key platforms and technologies to ensure a coherent and cost-effective ecosystem of products is commissioned. Ensure that major technology choices take into consideration evolving trends and operational impact.
• Designing communication networks to support strategic and operational requirements and producing network strategies, architectures, policies and related documentation.

Consultancy

• Contribute to the ongoing development of the IT Strategy by working with the CIO, senior business leaders, and 3rd party organisations to create a plan which supports Ashurst's business goals.

Specialist Advice

• Provide detailed and specific advice regarding the application of specialism to the organisation's planning and operations.
• Actively maintain knowledge in one or more identifiable specialisms.
• Collaborate with other specialists to ensure advice given is appropriate to the organisation's needs.
• Maintain a network of recognised experts (inside and/or outside the organisation) who can deliver expert advice in relevant areas.

Leadership

• Leads and embeds a culture with high levels of psychological safety, openness and emotional inclusivity, where people speak without fear or embarrassment about their own wellbeing or the wellbeing of a colleague.
• Challenges behaviour that is inconsistent with Ashurst values or desirable workplace behaviours and practice.
• Remains calm in the face of pressure and shows respect for the wellbeing of others.
• Contributes to the creation of a culture of open and honest communication.
• Acts as a role model regarding continuous and timely feedback to teams on a regular basis.
• Reflects on lessons learnt and implements process improvements.
• Delivers strong communication in times of ambiguity and change.
• Actively monitors the wellbeing of team members and raises any concerns in an appropriate manner.
• Leads in effective personal and team time management to deliver outcomes, and enables others to do the same.
• Provides opportunity for team collaboration and delegates effectively.
• Encourages a flexible approach on hours of work where required and enable and empowers team members to do the same.
• Acts as a role model to promote and encourage new ways of working and challenges the status quo.
• Thinks strategically about applying new ideas and understands the associated business impact.
• Thinks differently about the best ways of achieving goals and understands the strengths and development of the team.

Client & Stakeholder Experience

• Leads and empowers team members to develop knowledge and understanding to deliver exceptional service.
• Proactively builds effective working relationships across business services, the firm and external clients.
• Applies strong knowledge and insight as a trusted advisor.
• Drives and builds strong and collaborative relationships, and empowers teams to do the same.
• Enables effective networking across teams and projects to help deliver extraordinary outcomes.

• Risk and Control: Ensure that all activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with our regulatory requirements and internal policies.

Desired skills and experience

• Demonstrate good experience in the IT industry with expertise in many areas of infrastructure and applications, preferably in a technical or enterprise architecture capacity.
• Have demonstrable experience in design, strategy and architecture related activities.
• Experience around infrastructure hardware components.
• Experience with enterprise application and integration architecture.
• Demonstrate a good knowledge of IT industry trends, suppliers and products, preferably in the legal sector.
• Experience with sizing, performance and high availability.
• Experience with data backup, business continuity and disaster recovery strategies and technologies.
• Good knowledge of cloud technologies.
• TOGAF certification or knowledge is an advantage.

Background checks

In order to comply with regulatory and client requirements, Ashurst will undertake appropriate vetting of staff. When applicants accept a job offer, Ashurst, alongside a specialist provider, will undertake professional verification and background checks. These checks are only undertaken with consent, and in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations.

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