Senior Technologist & Systems Architect

National Physical Laboratory (NPL); Teddington; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

National Physical Laboratory (NPL) seeks a Senior Technologist to balance hands-on build work with design review and documentation, guiding secure and sustainable architectures aligned to organisational goals. You’ll work with a Lead Technologist to implement changes across scientific services and projects.

You will contribute to architecture decisions, ensure secure by design practices, and mentor junior engineers while maintaining clear communications with stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Strong analytical skills and practical engineering judgement.
• Experience delivering IT solutions across scientific services and platforms.
• Ability to design and implement secure, sustainable architectures.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality IT changes across scientific services and environments.
• Design, build and improve solutions using modern engineering practices (version control, automated testing, CI/CD, IaC).
• Contribute to code reviews, technical discovery and proofs-of-concepts.
• Support and improve live services including incident response and problem management.
• Produce and maintain clear technical designs and documentation for handover and knowledge sharing.
• Apply secure-by-design principles to ensure interoperable solutions.
• Identify technical debt and opportunities for incremental improvements.
• Research and evaluate cutting-edge IT hardware and software for scientists and engineers.
• Support technical assurance activities with evidence and recommendations.
• Align work with Teknical Delivery Authority standards and respond to actions.
• Proactively identify and manage technology risks and communicate with stakeholders.
• Collaborate with product, delivery, operations, science and business teams.
• Support suppliers and partners with clear technical requirements.
• Develop, mentor and share knowledge with junior team members.
• Respect health & safety duties and follow safety instructions.

Skills

Analytical skills

Engineering judgement

Technical delivery

Security thinking

Education

IT-related field

Tools

Version control

CI/CD

Architecture design

Job description

National Physical Laboratory (NPL) seeks a Senior Technologist to balance hands-on build work with design review and documentation, guiding secure and sustainable architectures aligned to organisational goals. You’ll work with a Lead Technologist to implement changes across scientific services and projects.

You will contribute to architecture decisions, ensure secure by design practices, and mentor junior engineers while maintaining clear communications with stakeholders.