Enterprise Architect - SC Cleared

Defence; Reading; On-site; GBP 104,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

Defence in Reading, Berkshire seeks an Enterprise Architect to lead Digital Engineering initiatives across Virtual Environment and related technologies. The role focuses on governance, reuse, and secure-by-design principles through the lifecycle, coordinating with delivery teams and suppliers.

You will drive architecture across people, process, and technology, delivering designs and guidance for Digital Twin, digital thread, and simulation-based testing within sensitive aerospace/defence

Qualifications

• Strong Enterprise / Business Architecture experience within MOD, Defence Digital, or UK aerospace/defence environments.
• Active SC clearance (mandatory) ; DV preferred.
• Experience across enterprise, system, data, and technical architecture.
• Strong understanding of digital engineering concepts (digital twins, digital thread, virtual environments, simulation).
• Experience architecting IT software development environments and working across the systems engineering lifecycle.
• Degree in a relevant discipline and architecture certifications such as TOGAF / ArchiMate / CISSP / cloud architecture.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain high-level and low-level designs (HLD/LLD).
• Provide architectural leadership across people, process, and technology for Virtual Environment / Digital Engineering.
• Support delivery of Digital Twin / Digital Thread, virtual testing, qualification/certification, and training solutions.
• Apply modelling & simulation principles including real-time/time-domain simulation and 'fail first' integration philosophy.
• Translate architecture policies and risk requirements into actionable design standards, governance, and compliance frameworks.
• Support architectural governance, security, regulatory and audit requirements.
• Write and manage RFI and RFQ, and contribute to tool/platform evaluations and proofs of concept.
• Work closely with Product Owners, Delivery Managers, engineering teams, IT, and suppliers—managing stakeholder expectations and delivery impacts.

Skills

Enterprise architecture

SC clearance

Architecture principles

Digital engineering concepts

IT software development environments

Cloud architecture

Education

Degree in Computer Science / IT / Engineering / Maths/Stats

TOGAF / ArchiMate / CISSP / cloud architecture certifications

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Power BI

CI/CD

DevSecOps

Job description

Enterprise Architect (Digital Engineering - Synthetics / ITEA / TLS) Location: Reading, Berkshire Rate: Up to £91.75/hour Clearance: Active SC is mandatory The opportunity We're seeking an Enterprise Architect to support sensitive aerospace and defence programmes in Reading . This contract position focuses on Digital Engineering , with responsibility for integrating Virtual Environment solutions across the wider Digital Engineering landscape-covering people, process, and technology. You'll act as the focal point for Virtual Environment architecture, providing expert guidance across the delivery organisation and helping drive governance, reuse, and secure-by-design principles across the lifecycle.

What you'll be doing (key responsibilities)

• Develop and maintain high-level and low-level designs (HLD/LLD)
• Provide architectural leadership across people, process, and technology for Virtual Environment / Digital Engineering.
• Support delivery of Digital Twin / Digital Thread , virtual testing, qualification/certification, and training solutions.
• Apply modelling & simulation principles including real-time/time-domain simulation and 'fail first' integration philosophy.
• Translate architecture policies and risk requirements into actionable design standards, governance, and compliance frameworks
• Support architectural governance, security, regulatory and audit requirements.
• Write and manage RFI and RFQ , and contribute to tool/platform evaluations and proofs of concept.
• Work closely with Product Owners, Delivery Managers, engineering teams, IT, and suppliers-managing stakeholder expectations and delivery impacts.

What we're looking for (requirements)

• Strong Enterprise / Business Architecture experience within MOD, Defence Digital, or UK aerospace/defence environments.
• Active SC clearance (mandatory) ; DV preferred .
• Experience across enterprise, system, data, and technical architecture .
• Strong understanding of digital engineering concepts (digital twins, digital thread, virtual environments, simulation).
• Experience architecting IT software development environments and working across the systems engineering lifecycle.
• Degree in a relevant discipline (Computer Science / IT / Engineering / Maths/Stats or similar) plus architecture certifications such as TOGAF / ArchiMate / CISSP / cloud architecture .
• Desirable / nice to have Microsoft Azure certification/experience SAFe / Agile delivery experience Exposure to CI/CD, DevSecOps Knowledge of Docker / Kubernetes Reporting/analytics tools (e.g., Power BI ) Flight simulation / synthetic environments exposure