Senior Technical Architect (Ref: 22076) in Edinburgh

This position is based Nationally.

Job Description: Senior Security Architect

Judicial Digital Services – Judicial Office

Contract type: Permanent

Grade: G7

Offers made above this will be made up with a specialist GDD pay allowance.

Location: National/London

Closing date: 19 June 2026

Suitable for: Promotion or level transfer

About Judicial Digital Services (JDS)

Judicial Digital Services is a small, collaborative and friendly team within the Judicial Office, responsible for the development, integration and continuous improvement of digital products that support judges, legal professionals, and the public. The team also works closely with HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice to support cross‑organisational digital initiatives and integrations.

With a growing portfolio and a diverse pipeline of work, this is an exciting opportunity to join a digital function at the heart of improving services for the judiciary.

About Judicial Office (JO)

The Judicial Office (JO) reports to, and is accountable, to the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ). It was established in 2006 to provide support to the LCJ and to the wider judiciary in upholding the rule of law and in delivering justice impartially, speedily and efficiently, following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

In addition, we support, and are accountable to, the Senior President of Tribunals, whose responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland. The JO is an interesting and unique place to work. Everything we do is in support of upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. We work closely with HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and others across Government as well as with the legal professions.

We are an Arm’s Length Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. This creates an interesting and complex environment in which to work where we agree our priorities with the senior judiciary and receive our funding to deliver them from the Ministry of Justice. The Judicial Office has been through a period of significant growth resulting from an expansion of our remit and responsibilities.

Role

You will have experience of participating in a technical design authority, where business and technology are aligned and you will have a good understanding of architecture development methods and models. You will have worked within technology for many years but with strong and broad understanding of technical solutions and approaches, understanding the business value of technology change is your domain, alongside solid understanding of data, applications and technology.

You will be resilient and comfortable managing stakeholders at a senior level and your discussions will always be shaped by a good understanding of the commercial and operational impact of what we do as an architect.

Key Accountabilities

• Own the Technical Vision: Define the 'how' for all strategic change, ensuring solutions align with the long-term enterprise architecture.
• Lead Technical Governance: Champion and implement architectural standards, including Secure by Design, across high-impact projects.
• Mentor and Guide Teams: Provide technical leadership and guidance to engineering and architecture teams on complex design decisions.
• Manage Architectural Risk: Identify and clearly articulate technical debt and architectural risks early in the investment process.
• Ensure System Integrity: Verify that new High-Level Designs (HLDs) are scalable, secure, and fit within the broader CCS technology ecosystem.
• Drive Strategic Alignment: Collaborate with Business Architecture to translate strategic goals into practical, resilient technical blueprints.
• Review Supplier Capability: Assess the technical viability and integration methods of solutions proposed by market suppliers (e.g., for the Self-Serve programme).
• Document Architecture: Lead the creation of clear, concise architectural documentation suitable for senior leadership.

Essential Criteria

• Enterprise Architecture Governance: Proven experience in defining and enforcing architectural standards (e.g., through an Architecture Review Board or similar forum) to manage technical debt and ensure system integrity.
• Secure & Scalable Design: Deep expertise in designing and leading the implementation of highly scalable, resilient, and secure solutions, including applying Secure by Design principles to platforms.
• Strategic Technical Alignment: Ability to translate abstract business or policy strategy into concrete, actionable technical blueprints, and effectively articulate risks to senior stakeholders.
• Complex Integration & Trade-offs: Demonstrated experience navigating and making complex technical trade-offs (e.g., speed vs. cost vs. quality).
• Leadership: Experience in providing technical mentorship and coaching to digital/technical teams.
• Experience working across multiple domains or projects, coordinating with third-party suppliers and cross-government teams.
• Aptitude for anticipating future technologies and aligning solutions with broader strategies and business outcomes.
• Strong grasp of agile methodologies, DevOps principles, and design patterns, paired with enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF).
• Ownership of technical roadmaps and strategies, ensuring solutions align with enterprise objectives and evolving user needs.
• Experience of an API-first and services-led design approach, with the ability to use business requirements, user stories, data standards, and integration patterns to help to define services and APIs.

We do expect candidates for this role to have the knowledge and experience required in our tech stack.

Assessment

• Behaviours: Experience – As demonstrated in your CV and Statement of Suitability.
• Technical: As demonstrated in your CV and Statement of Suitability.
• Presentation: You will/may be required to prepare a short presentation. Details will be provided when invited to/or on the day of the interview.
• Strengths: The interview will involve a discussion around 2 strengths.
• Behaviours: You will be required to provide evidence of the following key behaviours at Level 5: Seeing the bigger picture, Leadership, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Changing and Improving.

The JDS Team have recently joined the GDD Profession. The post will align with Technical Architect referred to in the below link.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing.

Benefits

• Alongside your salary of 58,511, Ministry of Justice contributes 16,950 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
• Access to learning and development.
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work-life balance.
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Annual Leave.
• Public Holidays.
• Season Ticket Advance.

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Selection process details: This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service.

Further information on nationality requirements.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.

Apply and further information

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Contact point for applicants

Job contact: Name: SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team

Email: Recruitment team

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission.