Domain Architect - Buying & Planning
3 days ago
Reading
Domain Architect - Buying & Planning Location: Reading or Dublin (Hybrid working) Day Rate: Competitive Day Rate (Inside IR35) Duration: Initial 6 Months About the Role We’re looking for a Domain Architect for Buying & Planning to shape the future of Primark’s merchandising, planning, forecasting, allocation, and replenishment technology landscape. This is a senior strategic role where you’ll partner closely with the Head of Product & Delivery, acting as their trusted architectural adviser. You’ll guide major investment decisions, define the domain roadmap, and ensure our Oracle Retail ecosystem evolves in line with business ambition. You’ll work alongside a team of Oracle specialists and oversee a group of Solution Architects - providing technical direction, architectural leadership, and clarity of vision. What You’ll Be Doing Strategic & Architectural Leadership • Define the architecture vision, strategy, and multi‑year roadmap for Buying & Planning., • Shape strategic solution options across merchandising, planning, forecasting, allocation, and replenishment., • Drive modernisation, simplification, and lifecycle planning across the Oracle Retail estate., • Lead innovation and horizon scanning to ensure the domain stays ahead of business needs. Governance & Assurance • Chair or contribute to domain design forums and represent Buying & Planning at the Enterprise Design Authority., • Provide design assurance across delivery, approving high‑level designs and ensuring alignment to enterprise principles., • Strengthen architectural governance, tooling, and documentation across the domain. Delivery & Collaboration • Partner with Product, Platform, and Programme leaders to shape demand, sequencing, and investment priorities., • Lead early ideation and concept shaping for new initiatives., • Support vendor selection, proof‑of‑concepts, and implementation roadmaps., • Collaborate with other architecture practices to ensure cross‑domain consistency. Mentorship & Knowledge Management • Provide architectural leadership and technical direction to Solution Architects and Engineers., • Maintain an accurate domain landscape and ensure critical design knowledge is captured and shared., • Contribute to the growth of the architecture community through coaching and collaboration. Role Scope & Influence • Accountable for a domain with £10m–£20m annual technology spend., • Influence procurement decisions typically valued between £5m–£20m., • Provide design leadership to 5–10 architects and senior engineers (no direct line management)., • Act as the senior design authority for all Buying & Planning technology decisions., • Partner with senior leaders across Buying, Planning, Merchandising, Product, and Technology. What You’ll Bring Essential Skills • Strong blend of enterprise and solution architecture experience., • Deep knowledge of Oracle Retail (e.g., RMS, RPAS, Allocation, Replenishment, Planning & Forecasting)., • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills — able to translate complex concepts for non‑technical audiences., • Strong relationship‑building capability, especially with senior business leaders., • Strategic thinker with strong analytical and organisational skills., • Proven architectural leadership across large‑scale programme delivery., • Broad technical awareness across applications, data, integration, and platforms., • Experience guiding and mentoring Solution Architects. Desirable Skills • Experience with modern planning and forecasting platforms., • Familiarity with merchandising and planning processes in global retail., • Exposure to cloud‑native, microservices‑based architectures., • Experience with analytics, optimisation, or AI‑driven planning tools., • Awareness of sustainability and circularity considerations in retail product lifecycles. If you’re excited by the idea of shaping the architecture of a global retailer undergoing major transformation, this is your opportunity to make a real impact.