Technical Assurer

Sanderson Government & Defence; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 129,000 - 148,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

London on-site 2 days per week

Job summary

Sanderson Government & Defence seeks an experienced Technical Assurer to join our assurance function supporting a major government agency. This independent role provides objective challenge across a portfolio of digital, data and technology programmes, guiding procurement through to governance approval.

You will review architectures, challenge decisions and ensure secure, compliant solutions, working with suppliers and customers in a governance-focused environment.

Qualifications

• Breadth across cloud, data, integration and security architectures.
• Experience reviewing architectures and supplier proposals.
• Knowledge of government security and information assurance principles.
• Experience with governance boards, design authorities or assurance processes.
• Excellent written communication for senior audiences.

Responsibilities

• Provide independent technical assurance across complex digital and technology programmes.
• Develop technical requirements and evaluation criteria for supplier procurements.
• Assess and score supplier technical proposals.
• Review supplier architectures, designs and delivery approaches.
• Identify technical, security, architectural and delivery risks early.
• Produce clear technical findings, recommendations and assurance positions for senior stakeholders.
• Support governance and assurance forums, including formal approval and review gates.
• Act as a trusted advisor to customers, delivery teams and suppliers.
• Contribute to assurance standards, frameworks and reusable assets.

Skills

Cloud architecture

Security architecture

Data integration

Stakeholder management

Azure

Governance principles

Job description

Technical Assurer / Consultant
Hybrid - 2 days on-site in London
£700-£800 outside IR35
Requires Active SC Clearance used within a government agency

Overview

We are looking for an experienced Technical Assurer to join a growing assurance function supporting a major government agency.

This is an independent technical assurance role, providing objective challenge and oversight across a portfolio of complex digital, data and technology programmes. You'll typically support several commissions at once, each using different suppliers, technologies and delivery approaches.

There is no fixed technology stack. Success in the role comes from having sufficient breadth across cloud platforms, data, integration and security to challenge technical decisions effectively, regardless of the technologies being used. Deep expertise in a single product or platform is less important than the ability to understand, assess and assure a wide range of technical solutions.

You will be the independent technical voice throughout the lifecycle of a commission, from early problem definition and procurement through to delivery and governance approval points.

This is not a hands-on engineering, development or solution architecture role. You will not design, build or test solutions yourself. Instead, you will review, challenge and assure the work of others.

What You'll Be Doing

• Providing independent technical assurance across complex digital and technology programmes.
• Developing technical requirements and evaluation criteria for supplier procurements.
• Assessing and scoring supplier technical proposals.
• Reviewing supplier architectures, designs and delivery approaches.
• Identifying technical, security, architectural and delivery risks at an early stage.
• Producing clear technical findings, recommendations and assurance positions for senior stakeholders.
• Supporting governance and assurance forums, including formal approval and review gates.
• Acting as a trusted advisor and critical friend to customers, delivery teams and suppliers.
• Contributing to assurance standards, frameworks and reusable assets across the wider practice.

What We're Looking For

You’ll likely come from a background in solution architecture, enterprise architecture, technical leadership, design authority, technology consulting or technical governance.

Most importantly, you’ll be comfortable evaluating and challenging other people’s technology decisions, rather than building solutions yourself.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Broad technical knowledge across cloud, data, integration and security architectures.
• Strong understanding of at least one major cloud platform, ideally Azure, with awareness of other cloud environments such as AWS.
• Experience reviewing, assuring or governing technical designs, architectures or delivery approaches.
• Knowledge of government security and information assurance principles, including secure-by-design approaches.
• Experience supporting technical governance, architecture review boards, technical design authorities or similar assurance processes.
• Experience defining technical requirements and evaluating supplier responses within procurement activities.
• Good understanding of Agile delivery practices and how to assess delivery risk and programme maturity.
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, evidence-based technical positions for senior audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and experience working with senior technical and non-technical leaders.

Personal Attributes

This role requires someone with confidence, credibility and sound judgement.

You will often be working with suppliers who know their technology in significant depth while supporting customers who need an independent and objective assessment. Success comes from being able to ask the right questions, understand the answers and confidently challenge where required.

You’ll be able to:

• Ask difficult questions when necessary and confidently challenge assumptions or unsupported claims.
• Build trust quickly with customers, suppliers and delivery teams.
• Communicate complex technical risks in clear, accessible language.
• Develop evidence-based recommendations and stand behind them when challenged.
• Remain independent and objective while maintaining positive working relationships.
• Influence senior stakeholders through credibility, professionalism and sound judgement.

Desirable Experience

• Experience working within central government, the wider public sector or other highly regulated environments.
• Familiarity with government digital, technology, security or assurance frameworks.
• Experience working across complex multi-supplier delivery environments.
• Exposure to large-scale data, integration or cloud transformation programmes.
• Experience participating in architecture governance, design authority or technical assurance functions.

Who This Role Would Suit

This opportunity would suit someone who has previously worked as a Solution Architect, Enterprise Architect, Technical Lead, Design Authority member, Technical Consultant or Architecture Governance specialist and now enjoys providing independent challenge and assurance more than hands-on technical delivery.

Reasonable Adjustments

Respect and equality are core values to us. We are proud of the diverse and inclusive community we have built, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and perspectives. Our success is driven by our people, united by the spirit of partnership to deliver the best resourcing solutions for our clients.