Solutions Architect

The Government People Group exists to work with departments, professions, and functions to build a modern, effective Civil Service.

We support the government workforce with the right skills and capability. We are working with leaders to get the right people in the right jobs, with the right skills and continuous learning to excel in their roles.

We provide leadership, and in turn, create leaders with exceptional line management capability across departments, influencing partners in the wider public sector and beyond. This involves getting our retention and reward strategy right, to nurture specific skills, and create pride and resilience in our workforce.

Our role is also to provide system leadership across central government in pulling together back office services. Collectively, we help support the Cabinet Office’s priority to drive efficiencies, and reforms that will make government work better, to ultimately provide a better service to the public.

Within GPG, the Platforms, Data and Interoperability (PD&I) directorate provides first-class platforms and services for over 400,000 civil servants, including recruitment, data analysis, skills and learning solutions.

We are looking for an experienced Solutions Architect or an architect looking to take the next step in their career, to join our Architecture Services Team and play a critical role in developing and implementing technological solutions for the GPG enterprise. As a Solutions Architect, you will assess business needs and devise strategies to leverage technology solutions effectively. Your expertise will ensure the balance between investing in technology and solving business problems while aligning technical solutions with the overall goals of the organisation. Additionally, you will be responsible for creating architecture roadmaps for service and technology, serving as the Solutions Architect for a Business Advisory Group (BAG), and being part of the Enterprise Architecture Assurance Board (EAAB).

Reporting to the Head of Architecture Services, the role of Solutions Architect will have an expanded set of responsibilities, including:

Service and Technology Roadmaps: Develop and maintain comprehensive architecture roadmaps for services and the technology that underpins them. These roadmaps will align with the organisation's long-term goals and provide a clear path for implementing and evolving solutions.

Business Advisory Group: Act as the Solutions Architect for our Business Advisory Group, working closely with stakeholders to review and design solutions proposed by different teams. Your expertise will ensure that proposed solutions meet business requirements, align with enterprise architecture standards, and are in line with the service and technology roadmaps.

Enterprise Architecture Assurance Board: Be an integral part of the Enterprise Architecture Assurance Board (EAAB), contributing to the development and enforcement of architectural principles, standards, and guidelines. Your input will play a crucial role in ensuring that solutions are consistent, scalable, and compliant with the overall enterprise architecture.

Solution Development:

• Problem Definition – clearly define the problem and understand its scope, impact and stakeholders
• Research and Analysis – Gather relevant information, data, and insights to better understand the problem and identify potential solutions
• Ideation – Generate a variety of potential solutions to the problem, considering different approaches and perspectives
• Solutions Design – Create detailed solutions design artefacts
• Refinement and implementation – Refine the solutions iteratively based on feedback and ensure development teams implement the agreed design.

Technology Evaluation: Evaluate and select the appropriate technology stacks, software, hardware, and infrastructure to create cohesive and efficient digital ecosystems.

Business Alignment: Collaborate with stakeholders at all levels, including senior management, to understand business needs and ensure that solutions align with their specific requirements.

Project Management: Quality assurance of projects through their entire lifecycle, ensuring effective roll-out of new solutions and raising architectural risk with EAAB.

Testing Requirements: Establish and outline testing requirements to ensure the success and reliability of solutions.