Solution Architect | Central Government Digital Transformation
Bristol | London | Manchester | 8+ years' experience | Hybrid (2-3 days in the office) | Up to 110k GBP gross| Security Clearance Eligibility Required | Permanent contract
Are you an experienced Solution Architect with a passion for delivering large-scale digital transformation across Central Government?
We're working with a leading digital transformation consultancy that is expanding its Government & Public Sector practice and is looking for senior architects to help shape the next generation of citizen-facing digital services.
This is an opportunity to work on complex, high-profile government programmes, helping public sector organisations modernise legacy systems, adopt cloud-native technologies and deliver secure, scalable digital services used by millions of citizens across the UK.
Your role
- Lead the architecture vision, strategy and design for major Central Government transformation programmes.
- Translate complex business requirements, policy objectives and user needs into scalable enterprise-level solutions.
- Design end-to-end architectures covering applications, cloud platforms, integration, security, infrastructure and data.
- Work closely with senior stakeholders across business, delivery, technology and policy functions.
- Guide multidisciplinary delivery teams through architecture governance, design assurance and technical decision-making.
- Define architecture standards, roadmaps and technical strategies aligned with government digital standards.
- Facilitate workshops, architecture reviews and stakeholder discussions across both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Drive adoption of cloud-native, API-first and modern engineering approaches.
- Support technical leadership, mentoring and capability development within architecture teams.
- Contribute to pre-sales activities, bids, proposals and new business opportunities.
- Assess emerging technologies including AI-enabled capabilities and their application within public sector services.
What We're Looking For
- Extensive experience working within or delivering programmes for UK Central Government organisations.
- Proven track record designing and delivering large-scale enterprise technology solutions.
- Experience leading architecture initiatives across complex transformation programmes.
- Strong cloud expertise across AWS, Azure and/or Google Cloud Platform.
- Experience with cloud-native architectures and modern software delivery approaches.
- Knowledge of open-source technologies and enterprise integration patterns.
- Understanding of modern development practices, including microservices architectures and technologies such as Java, Python or Node.js.
- Experience designing secure APIs, integrations and third-party interfaces.
- Strong data architecture and information management knowledge.
- Experience working within Agile delivery environments.
- Ability to evaluate and incorporate AI tooling and emerging technologies into solution designs.
- Excellent stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills.
- Eligibility to obtain UK Security Clearance.
Highly Desirable
- Practical experience applying GDS Service Standards and government delivery frameworks.
- Understanding of NCSC security principles and secure-by-design practices.
- TOGAF, AWS, Azure or equivalent architecture certifications.
- Experience delivering within Defence, Justice, Health or National Security domains.
- Previous consulting or professional services experience.
- Experience working across multi-supplier delivery environments.
- Knowledge of enterprise SaaS platforms such as Salesforce or Dynamics.
Why Join?
- Work on nationally significant digital transformation programmes
- Influence services used by millions of UK citizens
- Collaborate with senior government stakeholders and industry experts
- Exposure to cloud, AI and emerging technologiesStrong career progression opportunities
- Access to training, certifications and professional development
- Hybrid working model and flexible working options
- Inclusive, collaborative and growth-focused culture