Lead Architect

Location: Warwick with hybrid working and travel to London Responsibilities include strategic planning, information systems coordination, and enterprise architecture Qualifications: broad experience in utilities, strong leadership and communication skills About us At National Grid, we keep people connected and society moving. But it’s so much more than that. National Grid provides the environment to make it happen. As we build momentum in the energy transition for all, we don’t plan on leaving any of our customers in the dark. So, join us as a Lead Architect, and find your superpower. National Grid is hiring a Lead Architect to join our Technology team, based in Warwick, with hybrid working and travel to our London offices as needed to collaborate with wider teams and stakeholders. In this role, you’ll play a pivotal part in shaping technology strategy and solution design, leading architectural decisions that enable secure, scalable, and resilient systems. You’ll work closely with engineering, product, and business teams to ensure architectures align with enterprise standards and support critical operations across our organisation. About The Role As a Lead Architect, you’ll play a critical leadership role at the heart of National Grid’s technology transformation. Acting as the primary link between the Chief Architect and your assigned Product Line(s), you’ll help shape how technology enables business strategy, transformation, and long‑term optimisation. You’ll take shared accountability, alongside the wider architecture community and product leadership, for defining and evolving the architectural models that guide change across the organisation. This includes building and maintaining a clear, holistic view of the business unit and product lines — understanding their objectives, delivery timelines, digital capabilities, information needs, and ecosystem dependencies — and ensuring these are reflected within our enterprise‑wide architecture. Working in close partnership with Product Line Directors, business leads, and fellow architects, you’ll contribute to the strategic context for investment and change, influencing decisions that drive value and delivery at pace. You’ll enable and assure architectural governance, supporting solution design and delivery across the change portfolio while maintaining alignment to agreed standards and strategic direction. A key part of the role is ensuring that infrastructure capabilities and business solutions are implemented consistently with the overarching architectural approach, empowering teams to deliver effectively while meeting business objectives and timelines. As a senior member of the Enterprise Architecture community of practice, you’ll help raise architectural maturity, share best practice, and actively contribute to the development of a strong, connected, and forward‑looking architecture capability. What You'll Do Strategic Planning Lead strategic planning activity, aligning organisational actions, roadmaps, and investment with business objectives. Produce insights, analysis, and reporting to support strategy management and informed decision‑making. Ensure stakeholders understand the strategic approach, governance, and delivery timelines, providing guidance where needed. Develop and communicate plans that drive strategy execution, transformation, and change. Contribute to the development of policies, standards, and guidelines for strategic planning. Information Systems Coordination Coordinate information and technology strategies, promoting enterprise‑wide approaches that drive efficiency, consistency, and resilience. Maintain awareness of the organisation’s global priorities and technology needs. Collaborate with teams on the acquisition, development, and implementation of information systems and services. Champion the business benefits of shared and standardised technology approaches. Information Management Planning Lead the lifecycle management of digital information and records, embedding compliant and effective practices. Ensure adherence to information management policies, standards, and relevant legislation. Provide specialist advice on change initiatives, assessing information‑related risks and impacts. Promote the value of information as a strategic organisational asset. Enterprise