Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Solution Architect - ServiceNow
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Job Description
About the Role
The Group Infrastructure Operations (GIO) function within Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is recruiting a Solution Architect with a focus on ServiceNow® to join their team on a permanent basis.
Responsibilities
- Providing governance and technical guidance for Defra’s instances of the ServiceNow® enterprise service management platform.
- Ensuring alignment of ServiceNow platform capabilities to Defra’s strategic objectives and ServiceNow roadmap.
- Guiding the Platform Support Team in implementation of technical good practices, policies, and procedures.
- Providing architectural controls and analysis of impacts for new requirements, including overseeing the service now technical governance board.
- Designing MID server architecture and configuring it to support applications such as Discovery, Service Mapping, Event Management, and Cloud Management.
- Evaluating emerging ServiceNow technologies and the evolution of current functionality to define roadmaps to meet business needs.
- Engaging with the Defra's wider Architect community to position ServiceNow as the strategic enterprise tooling platform.
- Managing the ServiceNow solution design for complex projects, ensuring best practice, quality, and fit for purpose outcome.
Skills and Experience
- Proven experience as a key technical resource leading the development of platforms specifically around areas such as Customer service management (CSM), IT service management (ITSM), IT Operations management (ITOM), IT asset management (ITAM), Integrations workplace service delivery (WSD), HR Service delivery (HRSD), etc.
- Excellent knowledge of integrating with internal and external applications and systems.
- Ability to influence and consult at all levels around key technical decisions aligned to ServiceNow best practices.
- Excellent technical knowledge of components such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Virtual private network (VPN), Secure sockets layer (SSL), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Hyper text markup language (HTML), JavaScript, Web Services, etc., and of working in a SaaS environment.
- Strong analytical skills, communication, and presentation skills.
- Deep understanding of ITIL processes and best practice approaches.
- Certified or willing to work towards becoming a ServiceNow System Administrator.
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AI Skills at Practitioner Level
- Experience with ServiceNow AI solutions, including Now Assist, Generative AI Controller, and AI-powered workflows and MCP.
- Understanding of AI/ML concepts and their application within ServiceNow platforms.
- Experience configuring and implementing AI Search, Virtual Agent, and conversational AI capabilities.
- Ability to identify and deliver AI-driven automation opportunities to improve service efficiency and user experience.
- Knowledge of prompt engineering and best practices for generative AI solutions.
- Experience integrating ServiceNow with AI services through APIs and connectors.
Behaviours
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
Technical Skills
- Strategy Design (working level)
- Community Collaboration (practitioner level)
- Making Architecture Decisions (practitioner level)
- Problem Definition and Shaping (practitioner level)
- Architecture Communication (practitioner level)
Benefits
- Salary: £56,375
- Pension: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 towards being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
- Leave: 25 days leave (rising to 30 days over 5 years) plus bank holidays.
- Pension: A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
- Day off per year for the King's birthday.
- Access to a range of retail discounts.
- 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.
- Access to the Employee Assistance Programme.
- Free access to Headspace for wellbeing.
- Season ticket loan for public transport.
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Application Process
CV
- A CV
Personal Statement
- A 750-word Personal Statement on how your technical expertise and experience supports the requirements of this role, with a focus on the skills listed below.
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 workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Nationality Requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Contact Point for Applicants
Job Contact
Recruitment Team
Further Information
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If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
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If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.
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