Technical Architect - Shopify

About VML

VML is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney.

VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit  www.vml.com, and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

The opportunity:

A unique opportunity to help lead and grow our Shopify practice from a Technical Architecture perspective. This is a multi-faceted role for a talented and client-facing Technical Architect, who is well versed in the Shopify platform, has demonstrable experience architecting and delivering solutions built on Shopify, and someone who can lead conversations both internally and externally with key technical stakeholders.

What you’ll be doing:

The successful candidate will be pivotal in providing technical architecture leadership and support for our Shopify practice. You will be working with business and technical stakeholders on a wide and interesting range of topics and solutions. You will be using your knowledge of the Shopify platform and its roadmap to provide core technical architecture services for our clients, and you will also be using that knowledge to help guide our new-business, client, and engineering teams.

This is not a role for someone who doesn’t love architecture, engineering, and solving technical problems with grace and pragmatism. You will be expected to lead conversations about your Shopify solutions with clients and engineers alike. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate a seasoned and experienced approach to technical architecture in enterprise e-commerce landscapes, following best practices, aware of industry trends, and with significant experience delivering the Shopify platform to large-scale businesses.

What we want from you:

• Significant hands-on development and architecture experience in all aspects of the Shopify platform (including themes, apps, common integrations, REST, GraphQL, Shopify Plus and Shopify Markets).

• Significant experience in designing (and documenting) Shopify solutions, handling a wide range of technical and non-technical constraints.

• Development background and experience ideally in JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, React.js, as well Liquid and Hydrogen.

• Experience delivering Shopify solutions for enterprise clients, solving the unique challenges presented by clients of this scale, and following best practices.

• Experience leading a development team from a design and technical ownership perspective.

• Automation and quality-first mindset, advocating developer quality through unit testing, code reviews, and AI + automation tooling.

• Setting and guiding the technical strategy for our Shopify practice, including its supporting technologies and common integrations, reference architectures, architecture patterns and incorporating the Shopify roadmap.

• Supporting our new business pre-sales activities including estimating projects, presenting and explaining proposals, reports, and findings pertaining to the Shopify platform to our clients and prospects.

• Working to produce accelerator products, processes and practical strategies which enable us to deliver our Shopify solutions more efficiently.

• Helping define our Shopify learning, development and mentoring strategy for other architects and developers in our business.

• Excellent written, spoken and diagrammatic communication skills, with the ability to convey technical and abstract principles to non-technical audiences.

If you know some of this, even better:

• C4 Model for Software Architecture

• Delivering Headless Shopify integrated with common external systems like CMS, Product Search and PIM.

• Applying DevOps principles

• The application of AI (in the context of LLM abilities and use cases and within the SDLC – e.g. GitHub Copilot)

• Headless architectures, and how these interact with the back-end

• CI/CD pipeline creation and maintenance

• Diagrams-as-code

• js

What we can offer you:

Alongside the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting brands around the world, we’ll also prioritise your career development and help you grow your skills. We’ll empower you to make a difference, allow you to be yourself, and respect who you are.

Permanent only:
We offer a great benefits package including training opportunities, medical insurance, Dental insurance, Meal cards, social events, family friendly policies, discounts with hundreds of retailers and much more.

Our personality and behaviours: We believe that we are what we do, not just what we say. Our shared values and behaviours show how to bring the VML Enterprise Solution's culture to life through the actions we all take every day:

• Connect Meaningfully

• Inspire Creatively

• Include Purposefully

• Approach Positively

Our brilliant, talented people are what makes VML Enterprise Solutions what we are. That’s why we look for people who go beyond and always push our thinking to be better than yesterday.

AT VML Enterprise Solutions

Our Enterprise Solutions division houses strategic consultants, creative and technical architects and skilled developers and operators that together help some of the world’s leading organisations to deliver outstanding digital experiences across all major routes to market worldwide: marketplaces, online retailers, D2C, B2B and social platforms. With over 4,200 experts in 55 operational centres across 34 countries, our capabilities span the entire buying journey from customer acquisition, through engagement, to conversion and loyalty, driving multi-channel growth for world-leading brands.

We work with some of the most exciting brands such as The Coca-Cola Company, EY, Bosch, Unilever, Ford, DFS, Mercedes-Benz, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Shell and Tiffany & Co. We’ve built over 500 platforms for brands and retailers and generate in excess of $29bn annually for our clients and work with over 50 strategic partners including Adobe, SAP, Salesforce, HCL, Shopify, Sitecore, BigCommerce, commerce tools and Acquia. Our reputation is based on our people, and we believe we have some of the best in the business.

As our business grows internationally, we’re looking for new people to join us on our journey to inspire and take a key role in shaping some of the best commerce solutions, services, and websites in the world. Working as a team, no problem is insurmountable; we share in our client’s successes and believe that anyone can show creative bravery no matter what their role is in the team.

#LI-EMEA #LI-AS1 #LI-HYBRID

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

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