Discovery Solutions Architect

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Discovery Solutions Architect, you will play a critical, data driven, and forward-thinking role within the Discovery Content Systems team. You will focus on understanding data infrastructure, and digital systems that allow our content and commercial pages to achieve maximum organic visibility and scale. Rather than authoring content directly, you will build and optimise technical bridges, internal linking mechanisms, and demand-led commerce solutions, while owning and maintaining the team’s experimentation frameworks.
You will transform complex insights into clear, strategic directions using data storytelling, removing friction for content creators and unlocking hidden opportunities across our digital estate. This is a fantastic opportunity for an inquisitive, technical problem-solver passionate about digital architecture, automation, and search innovation to make a direct impact at the UK’s largest employee-owned retailer.

In addition to your contractual pay, any time worked between 22:00 - 06:00 will attract Night Premium at a rate of £4.75 per hour. This will also apply to existing Partners who have enrolled onto Enhanced Hours Premium arrangements.


- Expected Salary: The expected salary range for this role is £36,000 - £45,000 (based on experience).
- Contract type: Permanent.
Location - London Pimlico
- Working pattern/flexible working: We know flexible working is important to you, and it is important to us too. The Partnership has adopted a blended working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. The team meets in person 2–3 days a week at our London Head Office campus to connect and collaborate, with flexibility built around business needs. Please note, any cost incurred as a result of travel to the office is the responsibility of the successful candidate.

Key Responsibilities
Agile Tool & Workflow Development: Proactively identify emerging digital opportunities and develop creative, automated solutions, scripts, and internal tools that empower content and commercial teams to work smarter and faster.

- Data Storytelling & Stakeholder Enablement: Manipulate and analyse large datasets to uncover structural trends and technical opportunities, translating complex metrics into clear, visual, and narrative-driven project plans for non-technical Partners.
- Demand-Led Commerce Management: Own the technical configuration, scaling, and performance of our demand-led commerce platforms and internal linking solutions, leveraging automation to capture discovery demand at scale.
- Content Team Support & Tooling: Act as the dedicated technical consultant for content creators, providing automated solutions, insights, and structural guardrails without authored content output being required from this role.
- Discovery Experimentation Framework: Design, execute, and monitor technical SEO and content experiments (split-testing and observational studies) to validate hypotheses and mitigate risk prior to sitewide rollouts.
- Partnership Contribution: Contribute positively to team culture, peer development, and the democratic principles of the Partnership, taking shared co-ownership of team goals.

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

- Technical & Architectural Expertise: Proven experience in a technical SEO, digital solutions architecture, or data analytics role within a large-scale, enterprise-level e-commerce environment.
- Workflow Automation: Demonstrated track record of developing lightweight tools, scripts, or automated workflows to solve real business problems.
- Data Diagnostics & Analysis: Mastery of enterprise digital analytics and SEO/GEO diagnostic tools  or advanced data handling .
- Demand-Led Systems & SEO: Practical knowledge of automated demand-led commerce platforms, web architecture, crawl dynamics, rendering, and programmatic internal linking frameworks.
- Experimentation & AI Discovery: Experience building, executing, and analysing digital A/B tests or split-testing frameworks, alongside a deep understanding of LLMs and AI Discovery developments.
- Inquisitive Problem-Solving & Storytelling: Natural curiosity to diagnose root causes and design systemic solutions, paired with the ability to turn data into compelling narratives for stakeholders.

Desirable skills/experience you may have

- Foundational knowledge of programming languages used for automation and data manipulation (e.g., Python or JavaScript).
- Experience working within an agile product management or software development framework (Scrum/Kanban).
- Hands-on familiarity with agile product and software development teams (understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework rendering).

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Closing Date:
October 19, 2026
Pay:
£36,000.00 - £56,900.00 Annual
Contract Type:
Permanent
Hours of Work:
35
Job Level:
Partnership Level 8

Where You'll Be Working:
London Central Office, 1 Drummond Gate, London, , SW1V 2QQ

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note:

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles. ​

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.