Architecture Lead - IT/OT

ARM (Advanced Resource Managers); Glasgow, Aberdeen City; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Part time

Job summary

ARM (Advanced Resource Managers) is seeking an Architecture Lead for IT/OT on a 6-month contract based in Glasgow or Aberdeen, with 1-2 days on site. The role leads the Transmission Architecture function and aligns IT/OT with broad technology strategies.

You will shape enterprise strategies, guardrails, and roadmaps across complex OT environments, supervising an architecture team and ensuring governance for major programmes while collaborating with senior business and technology stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience at senior Enterprise Architecture level.
• Strong ability to move between enterprise and solution concerns.
• Proven leadership of an architecture function or team.
• Significant experience in Operational Technology environments.
• Experience bridging IT and OT domains.
• Proven leadership and delivery stakeholder engagement.

Responsibilities

• Lead interim Transmission Architecture and align with permanent strategy.
• Direct architecture team daily, prioritise work, and deliver outcomes.
• Define priorities and ensure focus on business, technology and delivery goals.
• Provide Enterprise Architecture leadership across Transmission.
• Shape architectural strategies, principles, and roadmaps.
• Ensure architecture governance and guardrails across major initiatives.
• Guide IT and OT architecture discussions and ensure alignment.

Skills

Senior Enterprise Architecture

Solution Architecture

Architecture Leadership

OT Experience

IT/OT Boundary

Team Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Job description

Architecture Lead - IT/OT

6-Month contract - Inside IR35 - market rate

Glasgow or Aberdeen based - 1-2 days onsite

Electricity/Energy sector

Key Responsibilities

Interim Architecture Leadership

• Act as the effective interim leader of the Transmission Architecture function, providing leadership broadly equivalent to that expected of the permanent Head of Architecture.
• Provide day-to-day direction, prioritisation and coordination for the architecture team.
• Establish clear priorities and ensure the team's effort is focused on the most important business, technology and delivery outcomes.

Enterprise Architecture

• Provide heavyweight Enterprise Architecture leadership across the Transmission organisation.
• Shape and maintain architectural strategies, principles, target architectures and roadmaps.
• Ensure architecture is aligned with wider Group technology and architecture strategy.

Architecture Assurance & Governance

• Lead the architectural assurance of major projects, programmes, technology initiatives and supplier-led delivery.
• Establish appropriate architectural guardrails and ensure they are understood and applied.
• Review and challenge Solution Architecture produced by project teams, suppliers and other delivery organisations.

IT & OT Architecture

• Provide senior architectural leadership across both IT and Operational Technology environments.
• Participate in high-level technology and project discussions across Transmission.
• Understand and account for the specific operational, technical, resilience and risk considerations associated with OT environments.
• Help ensure appropriate architectural alignment across the IT/OT boundary.

Project & Solution Architecture

• Provide senior oversight of Solution Architecture across projects and programmes.
• Work with project teams to shape and assure solutions without becoming primarily responsible for project delivery.

Experience & Skills

Essential

• Extensive experience operating at senior Enterprise Architecture level.
• Strong Solution Architecture experience and the ability to move comfortably between enterprise and solution-level concerns.
• Proven experience leading an architecture team, function or significant architecture community.
• Significant experience working in Operational Technology (OT) environments.
• Experience working across the IT/OT boundary.
• Previous people leadership, team management or equivalent leadership experience.
• Broad technical knowledge across areas such as applications, data, integration, infrastructure, platforms and technology.
• Strong experience of architecture governance, assurance, standards, principles and target architectures.
• Experience working across large, complex transformation and technology portfolios.
• Experience working with senior business, technology and delivery stakeholders.
• Strong communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working in an asset-intensive organisation or environment.

Highly Desirable

• Direct experience within the electricity industry, particularly transmission, distribution or generation.
• Wider energy or utilities sector experience.
• Experience within large-scale infrastructure or capital investment organisations.
• Experience providing architectural leadership across major transformation programmes.
• Experience working with architecture repositories and modelling tools, particularly Bizzdesign.
• Experience working within a federated architecture model alongside a Group or enterprise architecture function.
• Experience establishing or developing an architecture function within a complex organisation.