Lead Technical Architect - Home Office - G7

Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Southport

As a Lead Technical Architect, you will drive the design and implementation of enterprise-wide technical solutions that shape our future business capabilities. Leading cross-functional teams, you'll ensure alignment with broader government strategies while guiding solutions around modern technologies like cloud, AI, IoT and more.

With a focus on security, agility, and innovation, you'll oversee multiple projects, mentor fellow architects, and collaborate with senior stakeholders. This is a pivotal role for an experienced leader passionate about delivering impactful solutions that support both user needs and organisational goals.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. Where this is the case, employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office. Applicants can raise any queries to the email address at the bottom of the advert.

Watch this short video to hear from members of Home Office Digital talking about the projects they work on and their experience of working here: Working for Home Office Digital.

As a Lead Technical Architect, you will proactively shape and deliver designs for application and infrastructure solutions across multiple projects or teams.

You will ensure solutions align with the wider enterprise architecture and strategic goals, leveraging modern technologies to drive innovative outcomes, particularly focussed on using cloud solutions.

Collaborating with a range of stakeholders including senior leadership, cross-functional teams, and external partners, you will balance near-term delivery with long-term scalability, security, and maintainability.

You will define and evolve technical roadmaps, advise on strategic technology investments, and identify opportunities for continual improvement.

Through clear, concise communication, you will secure buy-in for architectural initiatives and mentor junior architects to foster a high-performing architecture community.

By evaluating emerging trends, incorporating lessons learned, and championing best practices, you will keep the technical estate flexible and future-proof, positioning the organisation for ongoing success.

The roles under this campaign cover a number of Home Office Digital portfolios including: Police & Public Protection Technology (PPPT); Migration and Borders Technology Portfolio (MBTP); the Automation Centre and Enablers (corporate back office) Portfolio.

Main Responsibilities:

• Define and maintain enterprise-wide technical strategies, roadmaps, and architectures aligned with broader business objectives.
• Oversee design reviews, incorporating "Secure by Design" principles and compliance with architectural governance.
• Coordinate with cross-government teams and external partners to ensure cohesive, integrated solutions.
• Drive digital innovation by evaluating emerging technologies, embracing best practices, and championing continuous improvement.
• Mentor and coach architects, fostering a culture of collaboration and technical excellence.
• Facilitate the design and delivery of complex systems, ensuring performance, reliability, and security requirements are met.
• Manage multiple projects, collaborating with stakeholders to address risks, budgets, and timelines.
• Evaluate outcomes and integrate lessons learned into future strategies, enabling sustainable, long-term solutions.

Essential Skills:

• Significant experience of designing architecture with AWS products, particularly microservice and serverless architectures deployed at scale.
• Proven ability to lead complex technical architectures, championing innovation and best practices particularly in cloud applications.
• Experience working across multiple domains or projects, coordinating with third-party suppliers and cross-government teams.
• Aptitude for anticipating future technologies and aligning solutions with broader strategies and business outcomes.
• Expertise in delivering secure, reliable, and scalable systems within defined time and quality constraints.
• Strong grasp of agile methodologies, DevOps principles, and design patterns, paired with enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF).
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, translating complex technical topics for diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated leadership in mentoring or guiding other architects or technical professionals.

SFIA capability framework

Skills for the Information Age (SFIA) is the technical framework that sets the standard capability and development of all levels in the Home Office. This is a link to the capability framework: All skills A - Z English (sfia-online.org) .

We use set SFIA technical skills to form our interview questions and we will assess you against these technical skills during the selection process.

The essential skills listed above are reflective of the Home Office Government Digital and Data Profession Career Framework (based on the industry standard SFIA framework). Use the SFIA Levels of responsibility to understand what would be expected for each technical skills listed below.

SFIA Technical skills:

Strategy & Architecture:

• Strategy and Planning
  • Innovation (INOV) - Level 3
  • Enterprise and Business Architecture (STPL) - Level 3
  • Strategic Planning (ITSP) - Level 3
  • Solution Architecture (ARCH) - Level 5

• Advice & Guidance
  • Consultancy (CNSL) - Level 4
  • Specialist Advice (TECH) - Level 4

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Innovation (INOV) - Level 3
• Enterprise and Business Architecture (STPL) - Level 3
• Strategic Planning (ITSP) - Level 3
• Solution Architecture (ARCH) - Level 5
• Consultancy (CNSL) - Level 4
• Specialist Advice (TECH) - Level 4