Infrastructure Architect in Manchester

Infrastructure Architect

Full time/Part Time

Salary: £57,815 - £65,021 pa, with potential for further progression to £73,211 pa with our pay progression scheme.

Location: Hybrid Contracted to our Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast office. Through hybrid working we offer flexible home and office-based working opportunities and there will be times when you will be expected to attend the office to collaborate with colleagues or travel due to business need.

Why work for the ICO?

• Pay progression scheme.
• Hybrid and flexible working options.
• 25 days paid holiday per year, plus privilege and public holidays.
• Flexi leave (up to 24 additional days leave per year).
• Pension (employer contribution around 28.9%).
• Online discount scheme to save money at major supermarkets, retailers, gyms, restaurants, insurance providers and many more.
• Health Cash Plan.
• Fantastic development opportunities to learn and progress.

Further details can be found on the benefits section of our website.

About us

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent regulator of information rights. In a data-driven world, we provide advice, guidance, and support to organisations enabling compliance with their obligations, as well as protecting individuals and their personal data. As an employer, we are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives and careers of our people, and we empower you to be curious, impactful, collaborative and respectful.

Job Summary

This role will set the architecture vision for the ICO’s use of a variety of technology infrastructure resources, to ensure that on-premise and cloud resources are managed properly and meets the needs of the ICO. The successful candidate will help the Director of Architecture to design and implement robust technology infrastructure solutions and will ensure the performance, security and scalability of infrastructure components including servers, storage, networks and cloud services. The role will design infrastructure standards and frameworks that guide best practices for deployment, management and security.

Job Description

• Developing and delivering the ICO’s Infrastructure Architecture vision, strategy and roadmaps
• Lead the design of infrastructure aspects of systems and services, justifying and communicating design decisions
• Establishing infrastructure architectural principles, policies, guardrails and standards, and overseeing the implementation and assurance of these
• Assess existing infrastructure and recommend improvements for performance and cost savings
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to project teams during implementation
• Conduct capacity planning and performance tuning to ensure optimal resource utilisation
• Developing appropriate graphical and documented representations of Infrastructure Architecture and components suitable for communication with different audiences and for different purposes
• Assurance of system quality, ensuring work fits into the broader strategy for government
• Playing an active role in the ICO Architecture community and related communities of practice where you will share your knowledge of best practice, tools and techniques
• Helping to build a diverse, inclusive culture across the architecture community, growing awareness, inclusivity and balance
• Working with other architects, colleagues and peers to define standards and guidance around best practice
• Engaging and networking with people across the ICO up to Director level to understand their needs and ensure they are aligned with the Enterprise Architecture vision
• To lead our future infrastructure architecture working with Microsoft Azure on an IaaS and PaaS level
• Experience working with Azure administration and security (e.g. Azure Active Directory/Entra ID, Microsoft Defender and Azure Policy)
• To be an evangelist for Azure infrastructure architectures and best practices

Essential criteria assessed at application stage

• Substantial experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification, and accumulated through any combination of academic or vocational qualifications or experience.
• Experience of developing and executing Infrastructure Architecture for a large or medium-sized (1,000+ people) organisation, including developing infrastructure designs from enterprise to project level.
• Experience of establishing infrastructure architecture principles, policies, guardrails and standards, and overseeing the implementation and assurance of these.
• Experience of understanding business strategy and translating that into infrastructure architecture.
• Experience of working with Enterprise Architecture frameworks (TOGAF, Zachman).
• In-depth knowledge of networking protocols, architecture and security measures.
• Knowledge of a wide range of technologies including cloud platforms (Microsoft Azure), microservices, APIs and enterprise software.

Essential criteria assessed at interview stage

• Experience of networking and communicating with stakeholders at senior levels.
• Knowledge of a wide range of technologies including cloud platforms (Microsoft Azure), microservices, APIs and enterprise software.
• Strong understanding of infrastructure design principles, including cloud, on-premise and hybrid environments.
• Understanding of security frameworks, protocols and best practices for infrastructure protection.
• Ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity, creative problem solving and developing innovative solutions.
• Able to communicate complex insights and principles simply and with impact, particularly across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Competent at negotiating and persuading where necessary, whilst applying a highly ethical approach.
• Proficient in creating and maintaining technical documentation and architecture diagrams.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

The ICO is committed to promoting and enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion. We are focused on developing a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve and together we are building an inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference.

We are championing this through our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board together with a number of staff networks. Read more about our commitment on our website.

Candidates with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy will be invited to interview as part of the ICO’s commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme.

All candidates who meet the minimum criteria and apply in-line with our guaranteed interview scheme for disabled and ethnic minority applicants will be interviewed.

As part of the ICO’s commitment to our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) objectives, and creating a workplace that represents the communities and societies we serve, we guarantee an interview to candidates who identify as belonging to an ethnic minority, and who meet the minimum criteria.

Clearance Required for this role: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)