Lead Technical Architect - MoD - G7

Government Digital and Data; England; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is looking for a Lead Technical Architect to shape their cloud and hosting strategy across Defence teams. In this pivotal role, you'll leverage your expertise in cloud platforms and emerging technologies to develop secure and resilient architectures that support vital operations. You will also mentor a team of Technical Architects, driving innovation and efficiency. If you are passionate about influencing technical direction and building scalable solutions, this is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact in a complex and rewarding environment.

Qualifications

• Proven success in crafting secure, scalable cloud solutions.
• Deep knowledge of cloud infrastructure, governance, and industry standards.

Responsibilities

• Create optimal technical reference architecture for Defence’s Digital Backbone.
• Collaborate with partners to ensure alignment with Defence strategy.
• Lead architecture communities and participate in NATO working groups.

Skills

Cloud Infrastructure

Technical Architecture

Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Networking

Data Centres

Emerging Technologies

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

OCI

VMWare

Nutanix

Job description

Job Description

We're seeking a Lead Technical Architect to drive our cloud and hosting strategy across diverse Defence teams. As our expert in this critical domain, you'll lead the creation of secure, resilient, and cutting-edge cloud architectures that power vital Defence operations.

You will leverage your deep understanding of cloud platforms, data centres, networking, and emerging technologies to shape our technical standards and ensure alignment across Defence and wider government, including NATO initiatives.

As a Lead Technical Architect you'll also manage, coach, and mentor Technical Architects within the Cloud and Hosting team.

If you're passionate about building innovative solutions at scale and influencing technical direction, this is your chance to make a significant impact.

Responsibilities

1. Iteratively create optimal technical reference architecture and patterns, aligning key factors such as user need, system requirements, security, and organisational objectives, to support Defence’s Digital Backbone and Common Technology Architecture (CTA).
2. Contribute to the overall Technical Architecture (TA) vision, strategy, and road-map for cloud and hosting, including ‘as-is’ and ‘to-be’ and transitional states, by developing architectural principles, policies, patterns, and standards.
3. Carry out horizon scanning across industry, identifying emerging trends and their potential impact and opportunity, updating technical strategies and road-maps, as appropriate. Present these findings to senior management and wider stakeholders to recommend improvements or enhancements to Defence’s cloud and hosting estate to further support strategic goals.
4. Collaborate with and advise partners across Defence, Government, NATO Allies, and Industry to ensure business, technology, and data decisions align with current Defence strategy whilst contributing to the development of architectural practice across various domains.
5. Develop, lead, and participate in architecture communities, including the Architecture Reference Authority (ARA) for Cloud and Hosting and various NATO working groups. National and International travel will occasionally be required to support these engagements.

For more information on the Technical Architects profession please see the Government Digital and Data Framework.

Person Specification

To be successful in this role, you will bring proven success in crafting secure, scalable cloud solutions and thrive independently in complex settings. You will be adept at communicating technical value and leading teams through impactful cloud transformations – from implementation to cost efficiency. You will have deep knowledge of cloud infrastructure, governance, and industry standards along with experience of cloud and hosting platforms such as AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, VMWare, or Nutanix.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions

Technical Skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Architect for the whole context
• Architecture communication
• Strategy design
• Technical design throughout the life cycle