Solution Architect

Kent Fire & Rescue Service; Maidstone; Hybrid; GBP 58,000 - 67,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Local Government Pension Scheme

Annual Leave

Salary progression

Health & wellbeing services

Job summary

The Kent Fire & Rescue Service is seeking a Solutions Architect to shape our technology strategy across the Service. You will provide architectural guidance for new and evolving systems, working with stakeholders, project teams and suppliers to ensure solutions align with our landscape and strategic direction.

Based in Maidstone with hybrid working, the role offers a challenging environment to drive commercial off-the-shelf integrations, lifecycle thinking, and durable digital enablement that

Qualifications

• Relevant technical qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience in IT, solution architecture, software engineering, infrastructure or related discipline.
• Proven experience designing, reviewing or assuring technology solutions within a complex organisational environment, supported by a practical and pragmatic approach to architecture.
• Experience implementing and integrating commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions, ensuring alignment with existing technology platforms, services and architectural standards.
• Strong knowledge of system integration, technical dependencies and architectural risk management, with the ability to identify challenges, assess impacts and recommend appropriate solutions.

Responsibilities

• Act as a self‑sustaining technical adviser and constructive challenger, balancing business requirements, user needs, cost, timescales, security and long‑term sustainability to support informed decision‑making.
• Engage with stakeholders at an early stage to understand desired business outcomes, challenge proposals where appropriate, and translate requirements into practical technology solutions and architectural considerations.
• Assess the suitability of proposed technologies within the existing technology landscape, identifying integration requirements, dependencies, duplication risks and potential impacts, while providing proportionate assurance around security, resilience, supportability and operational readiness.
• Identify technical risks, constraints and dependencies early in the delivery lifecycle, ensuring they are visible to decision‑makers and providing pragmatic recommendations where trade‑offs are required.
• Produce clear, proportionate solution designs and effectively communicate technical options, risks, dependencies and architectural decisions to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams, suppliers, project teams and business stakeholders, particularly across infrastructure, applications, cyber security and operations.
• Ensure operational sustainability by ensuring support arrangements, service ownership, monitoring, resilience, documentation and lifecycle management requirements are addressed prior to implementation and throughout live operation.
• The ability to provide credible technical challenge and architectural assurance, balancing business objectives with operational readiness, resilience, security, lifecycle management, cost, risk and delivery timescales.

Skills

Solution architecture

COTS integration

Stakeholder engagement

Security & risk

Procurement collaboration

Technical assurance

Education

IT qualification or equivalent

Job description

As a Solutions Architect, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of technology across the Service, providing practical architectural guidance and assurance for new and evolving systems, services and digital initiatives. Working closely with stakeholders, project teams and suppliers, you will become involved early in business change programmes and technology procurement activities, helping to understand requirements, assess technical implications and ensure that proposed solutions align with the Service's wider technology landscape and strategic direction. With a strong focus on commercial off-the-shelf solutions, integration and technology enablement, you will help ensure that solutions are designed with long-term success in mind from the outset. Rather than a traditional &slshquot;buy, build and hand over&slshquot; approach, you will champion consideration of technical, operational and support requirements throughout the lifecycle, ensuring solutions can be effectively adopted, supported and embedded within the existing IT operating model. This is an exciting opportunity to influence technology decision‑making, work across a broad range of business and technical initiatives and make a tangible contribution to the Service's ongoing digital transformation journey.

Responsibilities

• Act as a self‑sustaining technical adviser and constructive challenger, balancing business requirements, user needs, cost, timescales, security and long‑term sustainability to support informed decision‑making.
• Engage with stakeholders at an early stage to understand desired business outcomes, challenge proposals where appropriate, and translate requirements into practical technology solutions and architectural considerations.
• Assess the suitability of proposed technologies within the existing technology landscape, identifying integration requirements, dependencies, duplication risks and potential impacts, while providing proportionate assurance around security, resilience, supportability and operational readiness.
• Identify technical risks, constraints and dependencies early in the delivery lifecycle, ensuring they are visible to decision‑makers and providing pragmatic recommendations where trade‑offs are required.
• Produce clear, proportionate solution designs and effectively communicate technical options, risks, dependencies and architectural decisions to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams, suppliers, project teams and business stakeholders, particularly across infrastructure, applications, cyber security and operations.
• Ensure operational sustainability by ensuring support arrangements, service ownership, monitoring, resilience, documentation and lifecycle management requirements are addressed prior to implementation and throughout live operation.
• The ability to provide credible technical challenge and architectural assurance, balancing business objectives with operational readiness, resilience, security, lifecycle management, cost, risk and delivery timescales.

Qualifications

• Relevant technical qualification, professional qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience in IT, solution architecture, software engineering, infrastructure or a related discipline.
• Proven experience designing, reviewing or assuring technology solutions within a complex organisational environment, supported by a practical and pragmatic approach to architecture.
• Experience implementing and integrating commercial off‑the‑shelf (COTS) solutions, ensuring alignment with existing technology platforms, services and architectural standards.
• Strong knowledge of system integration, technical dependencies and architectural risk management, with the ability to identify challenges, assess impacts and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Experience working collaboratively with project and procurement teams throughout the delivery lifecycle, from requirements gathering and solution design through to implementation and transition into service.
• The ability to provide credible technical challenge and architectural assurance, balancing business objectives with operational readiness, resilience, security, lifecycle management, cost, risk and delivery timescales.

Pre‑employment checks

Kent Fire and Rescue Service, its employees, and volunteers are committed to safeguarding, protecting, and supporting children, young people, and adults at risk. As part of our safer recruitment process, we will undertake pre‑employment checks to verify your suitability for the role. These checks will include your references and a standard or enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Enhanced DBS check with barred lists are carried out for roles with direct and unsupervised access to children, young people, and adults at risk. Risk assessments will be undertaken on any disclosures identified as part of the pre‑employment checks. As a Public Sector organisation with added responsibilities under the Equality Act, 2010 the candidate must demonstrate an understanding of what is meant by Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion and how this fits in with their everyday work.

Location and working hours

Location: Service Headquarters, Tovil, Maidstone, ME15 6XB - Hybrid working with minimum 3 days per week in the office. Hours: Full Time - 37 Hours per Week. Pension: Automatic membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme - career average pension scheme with 16.5% employer contribution. Holidays: In addition to bank/ public holidays you will receive 32 days holiday. Base Salary: £58,439 - £66,686 per annum depending on experience. Reference: R001084.

About Kent Fire and Rescue Service

Being a part of Kent Fire and Rescue Service Everyone is unique. Everyone has value. Everyone helps to make Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) a great place to work. We are one team. Together with our customers we are creating a safer future for Kent and Medway. Our vision is for a connected, resilient and intelligence‑led service: one that understands risk earlier, makes confident decisions and equips our people to deliver outstanding outcomes for our customers. Joining us at this defining point offers the opportunity to turn strategic ambition into practical, lasting change. We are looking for talented, purposeful people who can connect strategy with delivery, bring clarity to complexity and build trusted relationships across the service.

Benefits

• Automatic membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Enhanced Annual Leave entitlement
• Annual Salary increase - Increase of 1 scale point per year within Grade to the top of the Grade.
• Blue Light Card discount scheme supported by a number of high street retailers
• CSSC Card - Discount provider for civil servants and public sector workers
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - Confidential support service designed to help manage personal or work‑related issues that may affect health, wellbeing, or job performance.
• A range of family friendly policies promoting work‑life balance
• Free to join internal clubs and colleague forums
• Access to health and wellbeing services and advice
• Access to Gym Facilities
• Free parking
• Above all you'll become part of a service that is committed to the safety of our community