Senior Technical Architect (Azure) - Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - G7

Location

Bristol, Darlington, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton

About the job

Job summary

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives.   Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we’re all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you’re thinking of joining us, there’s never been a more exciting time.

We are seeking a Senior Technical Architect specialising in Microsoft Azure to lead the design, assurance, and evolution of cloud-based services within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). This role aligns with the DDaT Technical Architect capability framework at Senior (G7) level and supports the delivery of modern, secure, resilient public digital services. As a Senior Technical Architect, you will be the lead architect responsible and accountable for the Azure Platform. You will oversee its design, evolution, security, and ongoing maintenance, ensuring it remains robust, scalable, and aligned to departmental needs. Working closely with Enterprise Architects, Cyber Security, and project delivery teams, you will define and drive the Azure platform roadmap, prioritising improvements that enhance resilience, raise the security posture, embed secure by design, and support modern service delivery. 

You will guide architectural decision making, identify risks and manage their lifecycle, assure solution designs that consume the platform, and champion modern engineering practices, reusable cross government components, and DDaT aligned architecture standards.

Find out more about our Digital teams and what they are working on through our MHCLG Digital blog.
Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.

Job description

As a Senior Technical Architect, you'll:

Produce clear architectural artefacts including HLDs, LLDs, patterns, roadmaps and service guidance to support delivery teams and governance forums
Provide technical leadership within delivery teams, ensuring Azure solutions are secure, resilient, cost-effective and meet user and business needs
Design and assure cloud infrastructure, platform services, data flows and integrations, ensuring solutions follow agreed patterns and architectural principles
Carry out impact assessments across systems, estates, APIs and data flows, identifying dependencies, risks and required changes
Ensure solutions align with DDaT standards, technology policies, architectural principles and wider departmental strategies, escalating deviations where required
Champion responsible and AI-assisted architectural practices, including safe use of AI in design, review and optimisation activities
Lead the adoption of DevOps and platform engineering practices such as IaC, policy-as-code, CI/CD, observability and operational readiness
Embed secure-by-design and modern security architecture, applying zero trust, IAM and resilience patterns in all technical designs
Contribute to capability development, offering coaching and knowledge-sharing across teams to support a high-performance engineering culture
Advise on sustainability, cost optimisation, technical debt and risk, and work with vendors, delivery partners and governance boards to provide clear technical recommendation

Person specification

As a Senior Technical Architect, you'll have:

Extensive experience designing and assuring enterprise-scale Azure solutions (platform, identity, networking, integration, governance)
Strong understanding of cloud architecture patterns, security, automation, resilience, data-flow, and operational models
Ability to translate business needs into robust, cost-effective, secure technical designs. Hands-on experience with DevOps practices, Terraform IaC, CI/CD pipelines, automation, monitoring, and observability
Experience developing and governing architectural standards, patterns, guardrails, and frameworks
Strong influencing and leadership skills, shaping technical decisions and long-term cloud strategy. Deep knowledge of identity, authentication/authorisation, and cloud security controls (Azure AD / Entra ID)
Experience working in agile, multidisciplinary teams, with strong documentation and analysis capabilities
Awareness of core data-architecture principles, including governance concepts, lineage, interoperability standards, and high-level API/integration design patterns
Certification Requirements Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) preferred
Candidates without certification may apply with 5+ years of equivalent Azure architecture experience, including enterprise-scale design, governance, and security leadership

Desirable Skills:

Familiarity with government cloud strategy, NCSC guidance, or cross-government services. Practical experience with cloud data platforms and API/integration technologies (e.g., Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Databricks, Purview)
Experience with SRE practices, observability, or sustainable cloud operations. Understanding of responsible AI principles or AI-assisted architectural tooling