DDaT Principal Technical Architect

Ministry of Defence; West of England; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading government department in the UK is seeking a visionary individual to lead its digital architecture strategy. In this role, you will influence technical direction across large-scale programmes that impact national capability. You will set the technical direction, manage a team of Technical Architects, and drive integration of digital technologies. This is an opportunity to make a lasting difference in the Defence's operational landscape.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading digital architecture.
• Ability to influence technical direction on large-scale programmes.
• Passionate about innovative and scalable technology solutions.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction and make enterprise-level decisions on digital technologies.
• Plan and deliver a prioritized schedule of work.
• Evaluate internal and cross-government services as a Service Assessor.

Job description

Overview

We’re seeking a visionary individual to lead at the strategic level, shaping the future of Defence’s digital landscape. This is a unique opportunity to influence technical direction across complex, large-scale programmes that have real-world impact.

In this role, you’ll be the driving force behind defining and embedding architectural strategy, ensuring it’s not only well-crafted but consistently delivered. You’ll lead the development of the Pan-Defence digital technology architecture at the domain level, owning the vision, strategy, taxonomy, standards, patterns, and roadmaps. This includes mapping the current, future, and transitional states across both logical and physical layers.

If you're passionate about designing innovative, scalable solutions and making enterprise-wide technology decisions that shape national capability, this is your chance to lead with purpose and make a lasting difference.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction and make enterprise-level decisions on digital technologies, and product selections that drive integration and alignment with the overarching architectural vision and business requirements.
• Plan and deliver a prioritised schedule of work, securing agreement from stakeholders and ensuring all technical architecture artefacts are captured and maintained within relevant repositories.
• Serve as a Service Assessor, evaluating internal and cross-government services to ensure compliance with the service standard and alignment with architectural principles.
• Promote reuse and scalability across Defence, driving integration by default and reducing duplicate technologies to support sustainability and value for money.
• Lead and inspire a team of Technical Architects to deliver high-quality outputs aligned with strategic priorities.

For more information on the Technical Architects profession, please see the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework: Principal Technical Architect