Principal Technical Solutions Architect

iO Associates; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 161,000 - 166,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site 2 days per week

Job summary

iO Associates is seeking a Principal Solutions Architect to lead AI-powered digital product architecture for a major UK Government programme. The role involves shaping technical strategy, governance, and end-to-end delivery of large-scale, customer-facing AI solutions.

The candidate will drive architecture for national-scale products, lead 4-8+ engineers, and collaborate across security, DevOps, and delivery teams. On-site presence is required with flexibility for some remote work.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience as a Technical Architect or Solutions Architect.
• Proven track record designing and launching user-facing digital products.
• Experience leading teams of 4-8+ architects.
• Strong experience delivering AI-enabled products with end-user focus.
• Deep AWS expertise including Serverless and Bedrock.
• Knowledge of modern engineering practices and DevOps.
• Experience with secure services aligned to CAF and NCSC principles.
• Ability to operate at organisational leadership level while remaining technically credible.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI Solutions Architecture for government programmes.
• Shape and deliver AI-powered digital products used by millions.
• Define technical strategy, governance, standards and best practices across large organisations.
• Oversee architecture across complex, multi-team environments.
• Collaborate with DevOps, security and delivery teams to ensure quality and security.

Skills

Technical leadership

Solutions architecture

AI-enabled products

AWS Serverless

Cloud-native architecture

DevOps

CI/CD

TDD

Agile delivery

Education

Computer Science degree

Postgraduate qualifications

Tools

AWS Bedrock

Job description

Principal Solutions Architect - AI customer facing products
£875-£900/day Inside IR35
6 Month Contract
London (preferred) | Bristol or Manchester considered

Up to 2 days per week on site

I'm supporting a search for a senior technical leader to head Technical AI Solutions Architecture for a major UK Government AI programme, responsible for shaping and delivering AI-powered digital products used by millions of citizens.

This role would suit a Principal Solutions Architect, Senior Technical Architect, AI Solutions Architect, Head of Technical Architecture, Head of Solutions Architecture with a strong background delivering large-scale digital products.

Key Requirements

• Extensive experience as a Technical Architect or Solutions Architect (not Enterprise Architecture focused).
• Proven track record designing, building and launching user-facing digital products, apps and web services.
• Experience leading architecture functions and managing teams of architects (4-8+ people).
• Strong experience delivering AI-enabled products, ideally where AI functionality has reached end users rather than purely internal/back-office use cases.
• Example: website and mobile application chat bots
• Deep AWS expertise, including:
• AWS Serverless technologies
• AWS Bedrock
• Cloud-native architecture
• Strong software engineering and application architecture background.
• Experience defining technical strategy, governance, standards and best practice across complex organisations.
• Knowledge of modern engineering practices including DevOps, CI/CD, TDD and Agile delivery.
• Experience building secure services, ideally aligned to NCSC Secure by Design principles and/or Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF).
• Ability to operate at organisational leadership level while remaining technically credible.

Ideal Background

• Delivery of products at national or enterprise scale.
• Multiple major product launches/releases with clear ownership of technical architecture decisions.
• AI, machine learning or data-intensive product delivery experience.
• Public sector experience is welcome but not required.
• AWS certifications, Computer Science degree or postgraduate qualifications are beneficial but not essential.

Additional Details

• Active SC Clearance preferred (transferable SC acceptable).
• Can start on BPSS while clearance transfer is completed.
• Typically 2 days onsite per week, with flexibility available.
• Candidates based outside London should expect quarterly travel to London.

This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for the technical architecture strategy behind some of government's most visible AI-powered citizen services, including the next generation of GOV.UK digital experiences.