Azure Architect & Developer

• Go back NHS North Of England Commissioning Support Unit
• Azure Architect & Developer
• The closing date is 18 November 2026

Are you an innovative and highly experienced Azure professional looking for an opportunity to shape secure, scalable and effective digital solutions?

We are looking for an Azure Architect & Developer to support the BSA DDAT function.

This is a senior technical leadership role responsible for the strategic planning, architecture and design of current and future technology solutions.

The postholder will lead the design and development of effective, secure and resilient solutions, ensuring that technology aligns with required business and operational outcomes.

This is a hybrid working role, with the successful candidate working across a mixture of home and office locations.

This vacancy is restricted to employees currently working within a Commissioning Support Unit (CSU).

The role is being recruited to support services moving to NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).

The successful applicant may therefore potentially transfer to NHSBSA as part of the relevant service transfer arrangements.

Further information will be provided as part of the recruitment and transfer process.

This role will close Wednesday 18th November and interviews/selection are expected to take place during the week commencing 23rd November.

Main duties of the job

This role will be responsible for

• Lead the strategic planning, architecture and design of current and future technology solutions.
• Provide senior technical leadership across application architecture and development.
• Design secure, scalable and resilient solutions using Microsoft Azure and relevant technologies.
• Ensure technical solutions align with required business and operational outcomes.
• Lead the development and support of applications, systems and associated technologies.
• Establish and promote architecture, development and engineering standards and best practice.
• Advise senior stakeholders on technology options, innovation, risk and value for money.
• Lead and develop technical teams and contribute to service strategy and improvement.

About us

At NECS we are very proud to be part of the NHS England family.

We are one of the very few truly customer-owned entities within the NHS.

We have grown from our roots in the North East to be an NHS business with customers the length and breadth of the UK and further abroad.

Our customer base has diversified significantly over this period, and we are now very pleased to be serving NHS providers as well as commissioners, NHSE regions, Local Authorities, General Practices and national NHSE Directorates.

NECS combines specialist skills and expertise with scale and resilience to achieve required results.

We combine core NHS values with a sharp focus on customer care and a relentless pursuit of continuous improvement.

We very much see ourselves as a key partner in the future success of the healthcare system and we take our share of the responsibility for shaping effective delivery.

Our people are the heart of our organisation.

We strive to ensure they feel trusted, valued and empowered.

Were passionate about nurturing and developing people.

When you join us, we want you to grow, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that as well as an excellent benefits package including generous holidays and pension plus free car parking and access to NHS discounts.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will lead the Directorate and the SART team in the strategic planning of current and future technological solutions to ensure optimal performance, researching and reviewing recognised best practice and upcoming technological enhancements, and ensuring an integrated business technology strategy and delivery of effective solutions and services.

The post holder will lead on providing technology solutions architecture and design to national, regional, and local customers, ensuring that technology solutions and service aligns to the required business and operational outcomes necessary to support the objectives of our health and care customers.

Responsible for the technical design, architecture, development, and support of the SART service and associated technologies, tools and solutions to deliver an effective service.

The post holder will be responsible for

Manage the teams business support function, including developing and managing the teams annual business plan, progress and dashboard reporting and risk and issue management.

Liaise with functions with the CSU.

Manage all corporate business returns, including planning and workforce returns.

Develop and implement a content management system to ensure information is properly managed and best practice is shared across the team, Directorate and the wider NHS organisations.

Using the most relevant technologies and industry standard best practice to develop leading software products to deliver overall efficiencies for both the organisation and the customers.

Take a lead in the coordination of training, development, and recruitment activity across the Directorate.

Oversight and management of all aspects of the Directorate budgets.

• Core Duties and Responsibilities (Key Result Areas)
• Communication and Relationships
• The post holder will be required to have regular contact with both internal and external stakeholders and will often need to engage with them over sensitive, complex, contentious, and confidential issues.
• Participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects, services, and initiatives to provide project, information and technical advice and expertise.
• Overseeing the team to develop and implement Application and Reporting architecture and development solutions.
• Present project information and issues, explaining complexities, to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• To liaise with other Managers to share best practice.
• Analytical and Judgemental
• Working within the overall strategic objectives, devise, implement and monitor the strategy. Evaluate, interpret, and locally implement best practice.
• Provide overall management to the function.
• Develop and implement qualitative and quantitative measures to determine performance against the organisational strategy.

Report progress against the strategy through personal representation at senior management forums and by written reports to appropriate boards and groups of staff.

• Present complex information on all aspects of the various web applications and architecture in a clear, understandable, and audience-appropriate manner to senior management and board level groups.
• Ensure that best practice is developed and delivered at organisational and departmental levels.

Challenge ways of working and persuade, motivate and influence other senior managers to realign their practice where necessary.

• Ensure a smooth transition through decision making process to the management of contracts.
• Ensure that the Software Architecture Strategy is in line with business objective and are fully cascaded.
• Personally lead, support, and contribute to formal negotiations with senior level staff from external stakeholders, providing a high level of negotiating expertise to secure the most advantageous arrangements.
• Advise on innovative technological opportunities and support all departments in their strategies and programmes to maximise service benefits.
• To lead in application development techniques, technologies, and best practice to support the team in developing their specialist understanding and knowledge.
• Oversee the tracking of progress against plans and transition milestones, ensuring appropriate processes are in place to flag issues, risks, and concerns with the relevant stakeholders.
• Work closely with the Heads of other Directorates to ensure that units understand and adhere to rules and standards, intervening as appropriate.
• Ensure the securing of value for money, giving due consideration to all relevant factors including risk, quality and other factors.
• Devise, manage and update application and architecture development policies and procedures, ensuring the adoption of best practice methodology, rules, standards, and thresholds.

Disseminating these methodologies etc. to staff within the department and throughout the organisation.

• Collect and report on information of expenditure within the organisation and other relevant governing bodies.
• Financial and Physical Resources
• The post holder will have budgetary responsibility for a function and the services provided within that function.

This will include evaluating the value for money of new contracts, monitoring the performance of existing providers and ensuring that provider performance aligns, and complies, with contractual terms and conditions;

• The postholder will be directly responsible for all budgets associated with the management of the function.
• Act in a way that is compliant with Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions in the discharge of this responsibility.
• Constantly strive for value for money and greater efficiency in the use of these budgets and to ensure that they operate in recurrent financial balance year on year.

Person Specification

Experience

• Plans and organises a broad range of complex activities, formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances.
• Inputs to strategic plans across NHS and within the specific teams.
• Works with Stakeholders to develop performance improvement plans and to develop plans for innovation and opening up the market.
• Good use of available information sources to enable efficient and effective planning.
• Manages team within the constraints of NHS strategic plan.
• Previously responsible for a budget, involved in budget setting and working knowledge of financial processes.
• Used to working in a busy environment.
• Excellent programming skills in . Net Core, C#, MVC, Entity Framework, REST Web APIs, OAuth 2.0 /Open ID Connect.
• Skilled in designing and developing SQL server databases for an applications data layer.
• Extensive experience using the Azure cloud platform for hosting web-based applications.
• Experience in Azure-Dev Ops processes including Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) for the automated release of application software.
• Design-based skills for architecting system solutions in a complex environment.
• Experience implementing OKTA security into web-based applications.
• Experience implementing B2C security (User Flows and Custom Policies) into web-based applications.
• Has working experience with the NHS Digital API platform.
• Knowledge
• Must have an understanding of the background to and aims of current healthcare policy and appreciate the implications of this on engagement.
• Should have an appreciation of the relationship between the Department of Health, the Strategic Health Authority and individual provider and the commissioning organisations.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills.
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of equality of opportunity and diversity taking into account and being aware of how individual actions contribute to and make a difference to the equality agenda.
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of equality of opportunity and diversity.

Qualifications

• Educated to Masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
• Extensive knowledge of specialist areas, acquired through post graduate diploma or equivalent experience or training plus further specialist knowledge or experience to masters level equivalent.
• Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development.
• Commitment to continuing professional development.
• Member of relevant professional body.
• Mobility
• Car driver / owner or reasonable alternative.
• Awareness of equality and valuing diversity principles.
• Understanding of Confidentiality and Data Protection Act.

Skills / Abilities

• Problem solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands.
• Ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options.
• Takes decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be a number of courses of action.
• Strategic thinking ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight and often changing deadlines.
• Skills for direct line management and job management.
• Skills for delivering results through managing through others and using a range of levers in the absence of direct line management responsibility.
• Skills for managing relationships with a range of different stakeholders.
• Ability to work on own initiative and organise workload, allocating work as necessary.
• Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues.
• An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust.
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change.
• Ability to carry out procurements for highly detailed, high value contracts that require analysis, comparison and assessment.
• Interpersonal Skills
• Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups.
• Persuade board and senior managers of the respective merits of different options, innovation and new market opportunities.
• Negotiate on difficult and very complex and detailed issues.
• Employer name
• NHS North Of England Commissioning Support Unit