Principal Technical Architect in Corsham

Location: Corsham (MOD Corsham Westwells Road, SN13 9NR), Bristol (MOD Abbey Wood, Filton, BS34 8JH) or London (MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB)

Salary: £72,840 (London locations may attract an allowance of £3,300 per annum.)

Digital Skills Allowance: The base salary for this grade is £72,840. Offers above this will be made up of a Digital Skills Allowance of up to £18,000 per annum for exceptional candidates.

Full-time, part-time, flexible working, job share

Summary: The MOD's digital teams ensure we remain among the most technologically advanced Armed Forces in the world. We develop and lead in cutting-edge data science, automation, and cybersecurity solutions to protect the UK and its interests, at home and abroad. Our mission goes beyond the battlefield, by leading humanitarian efforts and driving innovation, that impacts lives across the globe.

Job description: As Principal Technical Architect, you'll be the driving force behind defining and embedding architectural strategy, ensuring it's not only well-crafted but consistently delivered. In this leadership role, you'll influence, engage and advise teams (engineering and architecture), making enterprise-wide technology decisions that shape national capability. With a primary focus on apps, you'll address design, development, enterprise CI/CD, tooling and product selection, overseeing delivery when required. You'll also manage the architecture and migration to cloud-based providers, such as AWS, Azure and Oracle. This is an exciting opportunity to join our team in a senior leadership position, supporting our mission to provide strategic advantage and capability for Defence, through rapid and effective software delivery, based on clear prioritisation and agile practices.

Responsibilities:

• Set technical direction and make enterprise-level decisions on digital technologies, and product selections that drive integration and alignment with the overarching architectural vision and business requirements.
• Plan and deliver a prioritised schedule of work, using agile methodologies, securing agreement from stakeholders and ensuring all technical architecture artefacts are captured and maintained, within relevant repositories.
• Serve as a Service Assessor, evaluating internal and cross-government services to ensure compliance with the service standard and alignment with architectural principles.
• Promote re-use and scalability across Defence, driving integration by default and reducing duplicate technologies, to support sustainability and value for money.
• Lead, inspire and influence engineering and architecture teams to deliver high-quality outputs, aligned with strategic priorities.
• Role model and champion product and service delivery, using agile user centred design methodologies, helping Defence modernise its delivery practices.

Person specification: We'd expect to see expertise in architectural tools (e.g., ArchiMate) and frameworks, such as design patterns, modelling languages and component building blocks, to support complex design, governance and stakeholder engagement. You'll be able to demonstrate a breadth of technical knowledge, enabling you to advise and challenge teams to find the best solutions for Defence. You'll have knowledge of data and security architecture and approaches to data storage and management. This role may also be suitable for individuals who have progressed into technical architecture from previous roles in software engineering or architecture, working in agile delivery teams.

If not held already, opportunity may be provided to gain the following when in post: TOGAF certification, Open Agile ArchitectureTM Practitioner Certification.

Additional information: This post is eligible for a Digital Skills Allowance of up to £18,000 per annum. Eligibility for this allowance will be assessed at interview against 4 core technical skills only and reviewed annually in line with MOD policy. This position can be based at either MOD Corsham, Westwells Road, Corsham, SN13 9NR, MOD Abbey Wood, Filton, Bristol, BS34 8JH or MOD Main Building, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2HB. Work location will be agreed once the successful candidate has been selected. This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, blending a balance of attendance in the workplace and working from home as a personal choice. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post. Dependent on the business need, there may be a requirement to travel to meetings within the UK (or potentially occasional overseas visits).

Benefits: Our benefits include:

• Learning and development tailored to your role with a dedicated minimum of 5 days per year
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (by 1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of five years' service
• Ability to roll up to 10 days annual leave per year
• In addition to eight public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The King's birthday
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Parental and Adoption Leave
• Discounts on a range of services within and external to the civil service
• In year rewards and 'thank you' schemes such as vouchers and gift cards.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent

Pay: £72,840.00 per year

Benefits: Additional leave, Company pension, Employee discount, Enhanced maternity leave, Enhanced paternity leave, Paid volunteer time

Work Location: In person