Essex County Council
Solutions Architect
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About The Role
Solutions Architect
Permanent, Full Time
£51,563 to £60,662 per annum
Location: Chelmsford
Working Style: Anywhere worker*
Closing Date: 2nd August 2026
Experience the best of both worlds with our flexible hybrid working arrangements. Enjoy the freedom to work from home while still benefiting from in-person collaboration at our Chelmsford office, typically around 2 to 3 days per month dependent on business need.
Join a Council Shaping the Future of Public Services
Essex Digital Service is transforming how Essex County Council delivers services, making it easier and safer for people to get things done, whether they're colleagues or residents.
We design and deliver modern, user-focused digital solutions that support everything from social care and education to transport and the environment. Our vision is to build digitally empowered, 21st-century services that work across teams and boundaries, delivering real value to the people who rely on them every day.
In this strategic and technically focused role, you’ll lead the design of enterprise-wide solutions that translate business needs into scalable, secure, and efficient technology platforms. As Solutions Architect, you’ll ensure ECC’s digital services are aligned with architectural principles and technical standards, supporting simplification, reuse, and innovation. You’ll work across teams and suppliers to shape solutions that deliver real value for residents, staff, and partners.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design technical, data, security, and business solutions that translate user and service requirements into operationally viable technology.
- Ensure solutions align with ECC’s architectural principles and technical reference architecture to support standardisation and reuse.
- Apply policies, standards, and best practices to ensure compliance between business and technology plans.
- Provide expert input into technical initiatives, ensuring consistent design and implementation across ECC’s digital estate.
- Contribute to innovation by identifying market trends and alternative approaches that deliver business benefits and align with enterprise architecture.
- Advise the Commercial Team on supplier and product selection, ensuring alignment with ECC’s architecture and operational principles.
- Collaborate with business relationship managers, architects, designers, and suppliers to shape and present business cases for strategic initiatives.
- Assess technology options and present strengths, weaknesses, and costs to stakeholders through clear, evidence-based recommendations.
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The Experience You Will Bring:
- Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant subject.
- Strong experience in solutions architecture, ideally within a large local authority or public sector service provider.
- Proven track record of designing business and technical solutions that meet complex requirements and support simplification and reuse.
- Accredited in TOGAF 9.2, with working knowledge of frameworks such as ArchiMate, BPMN, COBIT, and IT4IT.
- Clear understanding of ICT standards and experience applying them in enterprise environments.
- Skilled in using enterprise modelling tools such as EA Sparx and Orbus iServer.
- Experience developing systems in line with GDS and Cyber Security Group guidelines.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and customer service skills.
- Committed to continuous professional development and staying current with emerging technologies and delivery practices.
Why Join ECC?
As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost.
Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working, excellent development opportunities, and the chance to work with a supportive team that’s passionate about what they do, Essex is the ideal place for you.
Ready to help shape the future of public services in Essex? Apply now and become a key player in ECC’s digital transformation journey.
What else do you need to know?
In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.
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Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.
Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.
At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.
As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service
Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community
If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk
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