Solutions Architect: Strategic Tech & COTS Integration

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

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