Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Shared Platform Services Principal 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.
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Job Description
The Principal Architect is responsible for the end to end design, assurance and strategic direction of technical architecture and cloud-based re-usable services across Defra Shared Platform Services (SPS), representing Group Infrastructure & Operations (GIO) within the wider DDTS Architecture function while contributing to cross-domain architectural strategy and standards.
As a key member of the GIO Platforms team, the role contributes to the roadmap for Shared Platform adoption, evolution and reuse across the organisation, ensuring alignment with business needs and provision of value driven services in support of an expanding portfolio of externally facing digital services.
The role provides technical leadership across multiple platforms (including Customer, Identity, Data Platform and Integration), ensuring that systems are secure, scalable, interoperable, and adhere to organisational strategy and governance.
Person specification
Responsibilities
- Provide architectural leadership in implementation of technical architecture and reusable cloud-based services.
- Support and oversee solution architects and technical teams in the completion of high-quality architectural artefacts - including Solution Overviews, Conceptual Service Designs, Architectural Design Records, High-Level System Records and Security documentation.
- Lead the design and support the build of technical architecture for Shared Platform Services using established technologies and innovation, applying expertise in emerging platform technologies and innovation (with awareness of how these are used and adopted in other organisations).
- Translate complex business and technical requirements into coherent solution designs, guide technical teams, influence governance decisions, and ensure that architectural artefacts meet required quality standards.
- Conduct deep technical investigations, represent technical teams to senior stakeholders, and ensure alignment with broader digital and organisational strategy. Identify trends, wider industry practices and innovation to inform the architectural approach and ensure alignment to broader strategy.
- Design systems characterised by manageable levels of business and technical complexity. Identify reuse opportunities and promote shared components across the organisation.
- Drive architectural assurance, quality control, and risk identification across systems. Make and influence decisions based on managed levels of risk and complexity, follow governance procedures and take responsibility for technical assurance and risk identification across services. Ensure that standards, patterns, policies and designs are applied correctly, challenged where appropriate, and influence improvements in governance processes where appropriate.
- Communicate with stakeholders at technical and non‑technical levels across the business and multiple delivery programmes across the organisation. Communicate complex architecture to varied audiences, including senior leaders, and speak on behalf of technical teams and build strong relationships with both direct and indirect stakeholders.
- Champion architectural coherence across shared services, ensuring decisions taken within GIO support Defra-wide strategic direction preventing creation of siloed or tactical solutions. Provide architectural leadership beyond operational boundaries, ensuring infrastructure, platform and shared services designs align with enterprise strategy, security principles, service tiering, and long-term technology roadmaps.
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Skills And Experience
As a senior member of the platforms team, the role requires a broad technical knowledge of platform technologies, as well as expertise in implementation and delivery of reusable cloud-based services - including, but not limited to:
- Microsoft tech stack (including Azure SaaS and PaaS services)
- Amazon Cloud Infrastructure / Services
- Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Services
- Identity Management - inc. Identity & Access Management (IdAM), Identity Services and authentication protocols (inc. OIDC) and Microsoft Identity services.
- Microsoft Cloud Service for Data inc. MS Fabric, Purview and Power BI
- Data ingestion, modelling and visualisation
- MS Dynamics 365
- Power Platforms
- Dell Boomi Managed Cloud Services
- Azure API Management (APIM)
- Azure DevOps
- Significant experience leading architecture for large‑scale digital or platform services.
- Demonstrate a good understanding of current and emerging platform technologies, including awareness of how these are used and adopted in other organisations.
- Experience in implementation of shared and reusable platforms, including those relating to Customer, Identity, Data and Integration services.
- Experience in the development and application of reusable design patterns and producing high‑quality architectural documentation.
- Experience working within an architecture practice, defining and evolving standards, patterns, reference architectures and target-state designs, and providing architectural assurance across complex programmes and portfolios.
- Proven experience authoring and reviewing architectural artefacts, including High-Level Designs (HLDs), strategy papers, roadmaps, and options papers, ensuring documentation is clear, evidence-based, and aligned to organisational strategy and governance frameworks.
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.
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 using the STAR method.
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 500-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.
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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, as well as Strengths.
Interview dates are to be confirmed. Please note that these may be subject to change.
Interviews will be held virtually on Microsoft Teams.
As part of the recruitment process you will be required to do a 5-minute presentation. Full details will be provided later within the process.
For further information on Success Profiles, you can visit the links below and watch our videos on DefraJobs.
Behaviours
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Seeing the Big Picture
Technical Skills
- Making architectural decisions - practitioner
- Architect for the whole context - practitioner
- Architecture communication - communication between the technical and non-technical) - expert
- Strategy design - practitioner
- Community collaboration - practitioner
- Technical design throughout the life cycle - expert
Strengths
Alongside your salary of £67,730, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £19,621 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).
- 25 days leave (rising to 30 days over 5 years) plus bank holidays.
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
- A day off per year for the King's birthday.
- Access to a range of retail discounts (these include supermarket, tech, gym, holiday, phone and more).
- Flexible working options such as condensed hours, part-time and flexi time.
- 3 paid volunteering days per year.
- Funding for professional membership of a recognised professional body.
- Learning and development tailored to your role and budget for training or qualifications.
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
- Cycle to work scheme.
- Health cash plan to help you manage health costs for a reduced monthly fee.
- Access to the Employee Assistance Programme open 24 hours, 7 days a week, that provides support to you during any times of stress or difficulty.
- Free access to Headspace for wellbeing.
- Season ticket loan for public transport.
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, Strengths, 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
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