Head of Architecture Services

National Highways; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading national organization in the UK is looking for a Head of Architecture Services to lead their new architecture practice. This role involves setting policies, standards, and governance across IT product services while enhancing technical capabilities within a hybrid working environment. Candidates should possess strong leadership skills, technical expertise, and the ability to shape technology strategies that align with business needs. A commitment to fostering a diverse workplace is central to this position.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in a similar role with a deep level of technical expertise.
• Strong leadership skills with a track record of high performance delivery.
• Experience in translating business challenges into architecture solutions.
• Solid understanding of technical governance and contributing to service assurance.
• Experience shaping technology strategy aligned with business needs and roadmaps.

Responsibilities

• Lead and champion architecture across National Highways.
• Develop the EA strategy and roadmaps to deliver business benefits.
• Govern technology decisions ensuring compliance with architectural standards.
• Govern and assure technology decisions, ensuring alignment to guardrails, principles and EA strategy.
• Act as the authority for enterprise architecture across the organisation and supplier ecosystem.

Skills

Leadership

Technical expertise

Data governance

Stakeholder collaboration

Architecture strategy development

Job description

As Head of Architecture Services, you will lead the National Highways Architecture Services practice. This is an exciting, fast-paced opportunity within a brand-new team, working alongside fellow specialists to enhance how National Highways utilises technology and data.

You will be responsible for setting policies and standards across all IT product services, while also developing technical competency and capability across the technology function. You will also be accountable for line managing all technical experts for your discipline and for developing our technical capability to provide into virtual delivery teams.

This role can be based at any National Highways office and also offers the flexibility of a hybrid working arrangement (40% office based). We are a national team so there will be a requirement for travel to one of our offices for meetings, most commonly Birmingham.

• Lead and champion architecture across National Highways, acting as an ambassador for the architects, at all levels.
• Own and develop the EA strategy and roadmaps from the overall perspective.
• Lead the establishment, orchestration, evolution and promotion of the architectural principles, community, policies and standards across multiple domains and frameworks to deliver measurable business benefits.
• Govern and assure technology decisions, ensuring alignment and compliance to the architectural guardrails, principles, policies, standards as well as the Enterprise Architecture (EA) strategy and roadmaps.
• Act as the authority for enterprise architecture across National Highways providing subject matter expertise across the organisation and supplier ecosystem, ensuring dependencies, risks and opportunities are identified and managed.

About you.

• Demonstrated experience in a similar role, bringing a deep level of technical and data expertise.
• Strong leadership capability, with a proven track record of leading, developing and motivating a diverse workforce to achieve high performance.
• Experience collaborating with business and technology stakeholders to translate complex business challenges into effective architecture patterns.
• A solid understanding of technical governance, with the capability to contribute to or deliver service assurance.
• Proven experience shaping technology strategy that aligns with business needs, including the ability to create, refine and challenge patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements.

Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England's motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.

The Digital Services Directorate is helping to reshape the way National Highways operates by delivering digital, data, and technology services across all areas, from frontline to back office, in a modern and efficient manner. Our vision is to develop integrated information and technology that empowers our colleagues and provides real-time information to our customers, as well as integrating with intelligent vehicle and transport systems as they evolve, to enhance journey safety and reliability.

External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy.

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.