Architects

Lead enterprise architect

Grade

G6

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As a lead enterprise architect, you will​ ​partner with senior DfE business, strategy and policy leads and stakeholders across the department, to demonstrate the business value of Enterprise Architecture as an enabler of strategy formulation, business change and technology innovation. You will collaboratively develop business capability models and roadmaps to facilitate discussion and decision making

You will be working in [for example] the Schools and Curriculum digital delivery portfolio, which includes services like Get help buying for your school, Start and manage an academy and Build or repair a school.

The role

All​ ​architects​ ​within​ ​Government​ ​are​ ​​responsible​ ​for​ ​the​ ​design​ and build​ of​ both solution and technical​ ​architectures​. It is their job to communicate ​​the​ ​vision​ ​for​ ​government services​ ​to​ ​developers​ ​and​ ​non-developers​ ​alike.​ ​You’ll​ ​thrive​ ​using​ ​agile​ ​methods​ ​and enjoy​ ​working​ ​with​ ​departments​ ​and​ ​in​ ​multidisciplinary​ ​teams.​Above​ ​all,​ ​you’ll​ ​want​ ​to make​ ​government​ ​better,​ ​which​ ​may​ ​sometimes​ ​involve​ ​challenging​ ​the​ ​status​ ​quo.

You will lead analysis of the organisation’s future-state capabilities and current / future IT environment, to detect critical deficiencies and recommend solutions for improvement, driving the organisation forward. To do this, you will have​ ​a​ ​good​ ​understanding​ ​of​ ​a​ ​broad​ ​range​ ​of​ ​technologies and​ ​the ability​ ​to​ ​take​ ​a​ ​balanced​ ​approach​ ​to​ ​technology​ ​selection. You’ll be able​ ​to​ ​converse​ ​easily​ ​with​ ​and​ ​translate​ ​between​ ​non-technical​ ​stakeholders and​ ​technical​ ​practitioners. ​ ​You’ll be able to​ ​switch​ ​between​ ​different​ ​problems​ ​and responsibilities​ ​and​ ​be directly​ ​involved​ ​in​ ​service​ ​delivery.

You could be working on anything from transforming core technology services to architecting substantial digital services [for example] the Schools and Curriculum digital delivery portfolio, which includes services like Get help buying for your school, Start and manage an academy and Build or repair a school. Other examples of our services include ​​Find​ ​an apprenticeship​,​ ​​School​ ​performance​ ​tables​,​ ​​Get​ ​information​ ​about​ ​schools​ and​ ​​Get​ ​into teaching. O​ur​​ services​ ​are​ ​​developed​ ​by​ ​multi-disciplinary​ ​teams​ ​using ​a​ ​variety of​ technologies​ - ​​you​ ​would​ ​ideally​ ​have​ ​experience​ ​across multiple platforms, technologies and delivery methodologies.

You’ll​ ​undertake​ ​structured​ ​analysis​ ​of​ ​technical​ ​issues,​ ​translating​ ​this​ ​analysis​ ​into ​designs​ ​that​ ​describe​ ​a​ ​solution. ​You​ ​can​ ​be​ ​consulted​ ​on​ ​design​ ​and​ ​are capable​ ​of​ ​providing​ ​design​ ​patterns. ​ ​You​ ​can​ ​identify​ ​the​ ​deeper​ ​issues​ ​that​ ​need fixing​ ​and​ ​look​ ​for​ ​opportunities​ ​to​ ​collaborate​ ​and​ ​reuse​ ​components,​ ​communicating with​ ​both​ ​technical​ ​and​ ​non-technical​ ​stakeholders. Collaborating with other DfE leaders, you will help build an architecture capability that can deliver the DfE priorities, as well as supporting capability building across government.

You will have oversight of the work of architecture community members on projects, programmes and business as usual activities, ensuring work is of an appropriate standard. Where appropriate, you should lead by example and positively resolve issues collaboratively.

There will be opportunities to contribute to the development of the pan-government community and wider technology leadership across government.

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Working across a programme or group of projects aligned to a portfolio or domain, across DfE, to understand the needs of the delivery programmes and projects, defining suitable strategies, architectures and roadmaps to meet those needs.
• Building ​and​ ​maintaining​ ​technical​ ​roadmaps, ​looking​ ​ahead​ ​for​ ​future​ ​opportunities​ or blockers,​ ​and​ ​ensuring​ ​decisions​ ​by​ ​service​ ​teams​ ​align​ ​with​ ​the​ ​strategy.
• Advising​ ​on​ ​optimal​ ​architectures​ ​and​ ​ensure​ ​projects​ ​are​ ​run​ ​using appropriate assurance​ ​activities,​ ​best​ ​practice​ ​guidelines​ ​and​ ​appropriate ​methodologies.
• Anticipating​ ​and​ ​mitigating​ ​against​ architecture challenges​ ​or​ ​risks within projects.
• Defining​ ​and​ ​managing​ ​technical​ ​procurement​ ​requirements.
• Involvement ​ ​in​ ​the​ ​wider​ ​development​ ​community,​ ​identifying​ ​good​ ​practices​ ​to adopt​ ​and​ ​share​ ​your​ ​experiences,​ ​e.g.​ ​through community meet-ups, blog posts and other collaboration channels
• Advising ​Service Owners​ ​and their teams on​ ​the​ ​estimated​ ​effort​ ​and​ ​technical​ ​implications​ ​of current​ ​user​ ​stories, ​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​those​ ​in​ ​the​ ​backlog.
• Help​ing to ​enable​ ​the​ ​reuse​ ​of​ ​patterns,​ ​tools,​ ​and​ ​components​ ​across​ ​the​ whole government​ ​service​ ​landscape.
• Helping to mature architecture practice and profession to ensure what we deliver is strategically aligned and provides best value. Helping to maintain the architecture body of knowledge, developing standards and patterns that contribute back to wider technical communities.
• Providing leadership and support in the architecture community (which may include line management), offering independent leadership to ensure issues are resolved positively across DfE.
• Supporting the architecture community in DfE, ensuring a diverse group of people feel welcome, respected and supported, as well as supporting your counterparts in other parts of government in building an active community that everyone in architecture and leadership across government can belong to and participate in.

Skills you need

Successful candidates should be able to demonstrate the following essential skills and experience:

• Experience working as a Technical, Solution, Business or Enterprise Architect (or equivalent), operating across a wide range of architectures, technologies and programming languages
• Experience of working across varied technology domains, such as Business, Applications, Data, Infrastructure, Integration and Security.
• Experience of ​ providing technology leadership in complex projects and programmes, with an understanding of long-term business objectives and the ability to suggest technical strategies to meet those objectives, by introducing innovation through technology.
• Experience of suggesting and influencing good digital, software and data design
• Experience of ​working​ ​with​ ​business​ ​and​ ​technology​ ​stakeholders​ ​to​ ​translate business​ ​problems​ ​into​ ​suitable architectures and designs, producing clear architecture artefacts underpinned by sound technology solution design principles.
• Strong stakeholder management, evidencing the influencing and execution skills of Enterprise Architecture, including the ability to interact with stakeholders at all levels, translating ​technical​ ​concepts​ ​between​ all parties.
• Ability to make​ ​​effective​ ​decisions, ​characterised​ ​by​ ​managed​ ​levels​ ​of​ ​risk​ ​and complexity, explaining​ ​clearly​ ​how​ ​the decision​ ​has​ ​been​ ​reached and​ ​recommending​ ​decisions​ ​as​ ​the risk​ ​and​ ​complexity​ ​increase.
• Ability to resolve ​technical​ ​disputes​ ​between​ ​wider​ ​peers​ ​and​ ​indirect stakeholders,​ ​taking​ ​into​ ​account​ ​all​ ​views​ ​and​ ​opinions.
• Experience in the use of cloud technologies, cloud strategies and in architecting solutions for the cloud, as well as big data, analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and automation.

As part of our continued drive to build capability across our teams, the following skills would be an advantage, but are not essential:

• Technical knowledge and skills across several domains, which may include software design, development, engineering and integration, cloud-native services, productivity tools, applications, infrastructure, data solutions, business / service design
• A background in software development / engineering is strongly preferred, along with the ability to suggest and influence good digital design
• The ability to suggest and influence good data architecture, with experience of creating and designing data solutions
• Experience of writing thematic papers or thought leadership blogs, leading discussions and deep-dives on specific subject-matter areas
• Experience of modern engineering practices (such as DevOps, CI/CD, PaaS) and cloud-native platforms and services (such as Azure, AWS, GOV.UK PaaS, O365, ServiceNow)
• Experience of technical assurance within UK Government Service Assessments
• Architecture qualifications or certifications (such as TOGAF, Business Architecture Guild)
• Line management experience, including coaching, mentoring and developing yourself & others

Selection process

Application

Candidates should complete the advertised Civil Service Jobs application by submitting a completed application form and CV, explaining how they meet the essential criteria specified under the Selection Criteria heading in the advert.

CV details need to be included in the template within the application form which is accessible through the Civil Service Jobs advert. Emailed CVs will not be considered.

Sift

Applications will be sifted by a panel who will look further at the evidence provided. The CV will be assessed in-line with the essential criteria listed in the advert.

Depending on the number of candidates who meet the minimum pass mark at sift, you may be invited to a first stage interview.

First Stage Interview

Longlisted candidates may be invited to attend a preliminary interview, which will be conducted via telephone, typically involving a commitment of up to 1 hour. The interview will consist of a series of questions to further assess the essential criteria listed in this advert.

As interviews will be conducted via telephone, please ensure that you are in a suitable location to hear and answer the questions.

If successful, candidates will then be invited to a second interview, which will be conducted via Microsoft Teams Video.

Second Stage Interview

At this interview, candidates will be asked to provide further evidence of the essential skills listed in this advert.

Interviews may also include an additional scenario-based or presentation exercise.

Interview questions will be aligned with Civil Service Success Profiles, assessing the following behaviours, along with your strengths, technical experience, and suitability for the role:

• Seeing the bigger picture
• Making effective decisions
• Leadership
• Communicating and influencing

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.