Senior Solution Architect

On behalf of DWP, we are looking for a Solutions Architect for a 12 month contract (Inside IR35) based in Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds or Sheffield office 2-3 days per week.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. As such, we operate on a scale that is almost unmatched anywhere in Europe and most people in Britain come into contact with us at some point in their lives.
Working with DWP, you will be helping us to drive our priorities to:
. Help people to move into work and support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation
. Help people to plan and save for later life, while providing a safety net for those who need it now
. Provide effective, efficient, and innovative services to the millions of claimants who rely on us every day, including the most vulnerable in society
. Improve experience of our services while maximising value for money for the taxpayer.
As a Solution Architect, your main responsibilities will be:
. Deliver the architecture design elements of DWP services
. Work with DWP engineering teams, and other Digital stakeholders, to create VFM solution designs
. Ensure technical quality and adherence of solution designs to the DWP architecture principles, standards, patterns and practices, Enterprise Architecture and Product Roadmaps.
. Identify, capture, share, and implement architecture patterns
. Drive resolution of technical debt, to reduce the ongoing cost of DWP IT services
. Represent solution designs at DWP governance forums, providing clear communication of architecture design and rational for decision making, in order to gain approval to proceed with designs.
Essential:
. Architecture design and modelling techniques, patterns, tools and standards.
. Event-based architecture design, patterns (including pub-sub and data streaming), modelling techniques, tools and standards.
. Agile delivery methodologies and best practice.
. DevOps: Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) delivery methodologies, tools and best practice.
. Presenting architecture design to Technical governance forums.
. Shaping and supporting technology initiatives, projects, programmes and portfolios. Technical authoring skills, particularly for the production of technical design and specification documents.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.
Disability Confident
As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, DWP guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
Armed Forces Covenant
DWP guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following “this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different”.