Please be aware this role can be hybrid office based or remote subject to location.
The Architecture Practice Operations Lead delivers the day to day operational activities that support the effectiveness of the Architecture and Design practice. Reporting to the Architecture Practice Manager, you will join a diverse architecture team comprising enterprise, security, and technical solution architecture specialists. The role provides essential people leadership, operational coordination and reporting within the Architecture & Design team and effective collaboration and interaction with the wider business.
The role is people and process focused, suited to someone who enjoys improving ways of working, and supporting teams to perform at their best.
Key responsibilities of the role are:
People Leadership & Team Support
- Provide line management to architecture team members, including regular one-to-one check-ins.
- Manage timesheets, annual leave, absence reporting, and routine people鈥憁anagement tasks.
- Support the performance review lifecycle (objective setting, mid鈥憏ear, and year鈥慹nd reviews).
- Identify early wellbeing, behavioural, or performance concerns and escalate appropriately.
- Foster a supportive, inclusive, high鈥憈rust team culture.
- Champion practice behaviours, role鈥憁odelling professionalism, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Operational Coordination & Work Intake Administration
- Maintain the practice鈥檚 workload tracker with accurate, up鈥憈o鈥慸ate information.
- Record and validate new work requests, assign resources and perform prioritisation.
- Track progress, ownership, dependencies, and priorities across all workstreams.
- Highlight delays, risks, or blockers promptly to relevant leads.
- Support coordination with Engineering, Delivery, Security, and Product teams.
- Prepare summaries and insights for monthly practice workload and capacity review sessions.
Reporting, Analytics & Insight
- Produce clear, structured reports and dashboards using Excel and Power BI.
- Track practice KPIs including throughput, work quality, lifecycle efficiency, and Learning & Development (L&D) engagement.
- Analyse trends to support planning, prioritisation, resourcing, and operational decision鈥憁aking.
- Provide insight on work patterns, delays, demand, and capacity utilisation.
- Maintain data quality standards across operational reporting.
Process Consistency, Governance & Improvement
- Maintain and continuously improve operational guides, work鈥慽nstructions, templates, and onboarding materials.
- Support consistent ways of working across the practice.
- Identify opportunities to simplify workflows, reduce friction, and improve operational efficiency.
- Work with other teams to align operational improvements, tooling, and governance frameworks.
Practice Culture, Learning & Development & Engagement
- Promote participation in learning sessions, workshops, knowledge鈥憇hares, and communities of practice.
- Track L&D activity, maintain training records, and provide insight on development engagement.
- Support practice events, retrospectives, planning sessions, and initiatives that strengthen team culture.
- Maintain shared knowledge resources, documentation libraries, and repeatable assets.
- Encourage collaboration and ensure visibility of best practices and reusable artefacts.
NEC SWS values in action
- Involved: Helps maintain open communication and accurate information flow across teams.
- Inspiring: Supports a well organised practice environment that enables confidence and clarity.
- Innovative: Looks for practical ways to enhance operational tools and processes.
- Improve: Contributes to steady and meaningful improvements that benefit the practice and wider organisation.