Lead Solution Architect

NHS ENGLAND; Leeds; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

NHSE is seeking a Lead Solution Architect to shape architecture for national-scale NHS programmes, translating ambition into practical, reusable patterns and assured solutions.

You will lead a team of 5–10 staff across internal and supplier resources, influence executive stakeholders, govern architecture, contribute to strategic planning and ensure alignment with NHS priorities and security requirements.

Qualifications

• Experience across Data, Security, Applications and Platforms.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams.
• Ability to influence executive stakeholders at board level.
• Experience delivering national-scale technology programmes.

Responsibilities

• Have responsibility for 5 to 10 staff, made up of permanent, interim and suppliers, co-ordinating across multiple directorates and complex programmes.
• Hold accountability for the architecture across a portfolio of national products and programmes, delivered through a combination of internal and supplier teams.
• Drive and support your team in their decision making.
• Manage and influence executive stakeholders at a board level (CxO).
• Be responsible for the NHS England technical governance, architectural roadmaps and contribute to strategic planning.
• Have broad experience across technical disciplines including Data, Security, Applications and Platforms alongside specialisms.
• Develop and mentor staff in your team and more widely.
• Lead in supporting and developing the architecture function and community of practice as well as participating in departmental leadership.
• Active participation in architecture governance, including attendance at relevant Boards.
• Able to influence direction across NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, other arm's length bodies and the wider supplier community.

Job description

Data & Analytics is central to delivering the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, with responsibility for national programmes worth £1.5 billion. This generational opportunity will use technology to transform how NHS care is delivered, planned, managed and improved by turning national ambition into effective data, digital and platform capabilities. Key programs include:

• Single Patient Record - transforming the current disjointed digital landscape to produce patient and clinician facing services that operate seamlessly regardless of care context or location
• Event Based Architecture - providing a real-time data capability to enable better intelligence across all NHS services and join up care. We are building faster, safer services with better operational decisions to advanced analytics, research and responsible AI at scale.

We are seeking a talented Lead Solution Architect to help shape some of NHSE's most strategically important technology work, translating ambition into practical architectures, reusable patterns and assured solutions that operate safely at national scale. This is an exciting time to join NHSE as one of our Lead Solution Architects and support the delivery of the 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future - GOV.UK. The Architecture Profession provides a range of services to our internal and external stakeholders. We provide architecture design, technical consultancy and architecture ownership to large scale NHS programmes and organisations.

As a Lead Solution Architect reporting into the Deputy Director of Technical and Security Architecture, you will:

• Have responsibility for 5 to 10 staff, made up of permanent, interim and suppliers, co-ordinating across multiple directorates and complex programmes.
• Hold accountability for the architecture across a portfolio of national products and programmes, delivered through a combination of internal and supplier teams.
• Drive and support your team in their decision making.
• Manage and influence executive stakeholders at a board level (CxO).
• Be responsible for the NHS England technical governance, architectural roadmaps and contribute to strategic planning.
• Have broad experience across technical disciplines including Data, Security, Applications and Platforms alongside specialisms.
• Develop and mentor staff in your team and more widely.
• Lead in supporting and developing the architecture function and community of practice as well as participating in departmental leadership.
• Active participation in architecture governance, including attendance at relevant Boards.
• Able to influence direction across NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, other arm's length bodies and the wider supplier community.

The role does not have significant direct financial responsibility but will have direct influence over setting technical direction for multi-million-pound spending decisions.

NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.

Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.

In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.

If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.