Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lead Solution Architect
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Bristol, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Reading, Warrington, York
Job Summary
Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.
Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is the trusted team for digital across the entire Defra Group.
We have around 1000 colleagues across DDTS and our ambition is to make it easier and faster than ever for people to interact with Defra. If you are ready to drive innovation and push boundaries, we want to hear from you. Join us and together we will create a great place for living, and a green and healthy future for all.
The Delivery Architecture team is responsible for leading the delivery of solutions:
- Analysing requirements, assessing options for delivery.
- Imagining, envisioning what is possible. Collaborating with other architecture domains, subject matter experts & suppliers to produce a vision for the solution.
- Assessing delivery options, to identify the ‘right’ components and delivery routes for a solution.
- Defining the proposed solution by producing models, prototypes and documentation.
- Engaging governance organisations/teams.
- Supporting and guiding delivery, using internal/external teams.
Find Out More About DDTS
- Defra digital, data and technology blog
- Defra Jobs
Job Description
The Lead Solution Architect will work across multiple projects or teams on problems that require broad architectural thinking to ensure delivery of end to end solution architectures and implemented designs based on requirements, strategic drivers, best practices and guidance. These projects will be high profile and high value, spanning Defra bodies and partner organisations and being highly visible to the public. The Lead Solution Architect will operate within a pan government and industry aware context. Decisions made and guidance given by an architect operating at this level will be financially consequential and guide long term investment decisions in the order millions of pounds.
The Lead Solution Architect plays an active and often practical part in the realisation of the design to deliver the desired business outcomes and will be called upon as an expert to resolve conflicts with inter-dependencies in multiple initiative scenarios often arbitrating between organisations and suppliers. The role often requires oversight and direction of Solution Architects from suppliers, including assurance of their work.
The Lead Solution Architect is expected to cover the end-to-end solution to provide a fully rounded service i.e. the business, information, application and technology aspects of the solution with support from specialists in both business and technical domains. A key part of the role is working with specialist architects and other professions – also getting close to the delivery team and being a trusted advisor and decision maker.
Person specification
Key Responsibilities
- Design logical and physical components of solution architectures that will enable the delivery of the required business outcome and service.
- Assure the work of other colleagues and suppliers, challenging and escalating when necessary. Provide mentoring within teams and provide leadership by exemplifying architectural best practice to other architects.
- Creation of appropriate formal architecture products for (amongst other activities) product selection, options and impact assessment to validate or solution choices, enable traceability and provide corporate knowledge for ongoing support efforts.
- Coordinate the efforts of specialist colleagues (such as security and networks) to contribute to end to end service designs ensuring quality and coherence throughout the solution layers.
- Work with project managers and service owners to provide whole life costing for the components of the architecture in order to select best value approaches and inform the organisation as to the economy of their solutions estate.
- Work with commercial colleagues to provide input to tender materials and conduct supplier and product evaluation.
- Work with service and operations colleagues to define and implement service needs and ensure that sustainable and manageable services are delivered.
- Support technical and architectural requirements capture, design and assurance including injection of architectural stories into backlogs.
- Where appropriate, work as part of agile teams supporting appropriate architectural decision making.
- Identification and management of “technical debt” items including justification and exception seeking for initial adoption and exit plan for future remediation.
- Actively support and contribute to the domain lead aspects of the team function by providing specialist insight and hands-on experience into one or more application technology concerns.
- Gain knowledge of and communicate the needs of a specific business domain within a delivery group, supporting the Principal Architect and deputising for them when required.
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Typically successful candidates will exhibit the following skills, experience and knowledge:
Skills
- Significant experience of complex IT programme architecture involving dependency management and multi-supplier deliveries in an applications or solutions architecture capacity.
- A practical understanding of architectural models of application and solution delivery and of delivery methodologies and ways of working.
- Strong hands-on experience and knowledge of at least one solutions stack or product ecosystem coupled with a broad understanding of the range of application technologies which may be selected from to deliver required capabilities.
- An understanding of the technical implications of delivering to both on premise infrastructure and cloud (or hybrid) environments and an understanding of the associated economics.
- A desire to prove, pilot and learn new technologies and keep up to date with industry best-practice, external disruptors and adapt accordingly.
- Demonstrate the ability to identify areas where specialist input is required and to coordinate the required resources and consider their advice and input constructively in the broader context of a defined solution.
- Higher education or industry certifications in topics such as Computing, Cloud (AWS/Azure) or other relevant technologies.
Experience And Knowledge
- Sift and Experience of working in a multi-supplier environment, both designing aspects of solutions and assuring the work of others to ensure coherent designs supporting an end-to-end service.
- Experience of estimating and contributing to project planning, development of business cases, dependency and risk maps from a technical perspective.
- Demonstrate the ability to arbitrate in difficult situations with senior stakeholders (Directors and Deputy Directors) and make well evidenced decisions that may carry significant delivery and/or financial consequences.
- Experience of working with AI tools from Microsoft or other major suppliers, including delivery of business solution using those technologies.
Selection process
The Civil Service marks each element of the selection process on a merit basis. You can visit the gov.uk website for further information on the Civil Service rating scale.
Get help with your application
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Ensure you have tailored your CV and Personal Statement to the 'skills and experience' section of the job advert by providing examples on how you are suitable for the role. Consider using the STAR method which allows you to set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome.
Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your personal statement, how you meet these requirements, as the information you provide will form a key part when the panel is scoring your application.
For further information on STAR, you can check out our Hints and Tips document.
Application process
As Part Of The Application Process, You Will Be Assessed On Your Experience. This Will Be Evaluated By Looking At Your CV And Personal Statement, So Please Provide The Following And Ensure Your Experience Is Clearly Demonstrated
- A CV
- A 750 word Personal Statement: Referring to the 'skills and experience' sections of the job advert, please demonstrate how you are suitable for the role by providing relevant examples.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Sift
Sift will begin shortly after the advert closes.
Should there be a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted using your personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment or interview.
Interview
If successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview where you will be assessed on the Behaviours and Technical Skills listed below.
Sift and Interview dates are to be confirmed. Please note that these may be subject to change.
Interviews will be held face-to-face in our London office, further details will be provided if invited to interview.
For further information on Success Profiles, you can visit the links below and watch our videos on DefraJobs.
Behaviours
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
Technical skills
- Architect for the whole context Level: working
- Architecture communication Level: practitioner
- Commercial perspective Level: working
- Making architectural decisions Level: practitioner
- Problem definition and shaping Level: practitioner
- Strategy design Level: working
Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
Learning and development tailored to your role An environment with flexible working options A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
For further information on the selection process for this role, please refer to the person specification section of the job advert.
Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual
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