Enterprise Architect

Technology is at the heart of The FA's transformation. From supporting grassroots football through our digital platforms to harnessing data‑led insights to shape the future of the game, our Digital Technology team drives innovation across every level of football in England. We're seeking an experienced Enterprise Architect to join us on a fixed‑term contract until March 2027. In this role, you will shape and oversee the technical strategy for The FA, ensuring it aligns with our broader organisational goals. You'll drive simplicity, flexibility, and sustainability in our digital solutions, provide guidance to stakeholders across the business, and champion technical standards and best practices. This role is based at Wembley two days a week and offers the chance to shape technology that supports football today and builds the foundations for the game of tomorrow.

What you'll be doing:

• Develop a deep understanding of The FA's business strategy and translate it into technical direction.
• Communicate technology strategy clearly to stakeholders to guide decision-making.
• Identify opportunities to improve systems and processes using your technical expertise and knowledge of industry trends.
• Support product portfolio management with value‑driven architecture decisions.
• Provide architectural leadership and consultancy to product teams.
• Manage architecture interfaces with third‑party vendors and partner organisations.
• Mentor internal and partner teams on microservice and web architectures.
• Act as the design authority across the organisation, creating and maintaining technical standards and best practices.
• Ensure architectural governance and standards are embedded across teams.
• Contribute to business planning, helping prioritise key technical initiatives in product plans.
• Support the FA Group's evolving priorities with agility and professionalism.

What We Are Looking For:

• Experience with Enterprise Architecture tooling, including LeanIX.
• Experience in architecture governance.
• Extensive knowledge of architecture patterns and practical application.
• Expertise in asynchronous, message‑based architectures and microservices.
• Understanding of continuous integration, delivery, and automation.
• EA qualification such as TOGAF or equivalent.
• Cloud certification in Azure, AWS, or GCP.
• Experience with Agile frameworks including Scrum or SAFe.
• Knowledge of the Microsoft enterprise development stack.

Benefits:

• Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season, encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and well‑being.
• Free, nutritious lunches at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
• Free private medical cover.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional 'Thank You' days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave (based on a full‑time, permanent contract).
• A hybrid working model which offers greater flexibility.

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work. We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application. As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.