Senior Technical Architect - Crown Commercial Service - G7

Location

Birmingham, Liverpool, Newport (Gwent), Norwich

About the job

Job summary

Insight into CCS - Webinar

Watch our Webinar on the above link and gain valuable insight into CCS and our recruitment processes!

Ready to step up from merely managing systems to designing the future of our entire technology ecosystem? We're seeking X2 Senior Technical Architect to be the driving force behind our next generation of scalable, resilient, and innovative solutions, directly translating business strategy into technical reality. Do you possess the deep technical mastery to mentor a high-performing engineering team while navigating the complex trade-offs between speed, cost, and quality?

Job Summary

We are seeking a visionary Senior Technical Architect ready to own and evolve our enterprise-wide DDaT technical strategy and architecture. You will be the defining authority, responsible for architecting highly scalable, secure, and resilient solutions that directly impact public service delivery. Lead technical governance, mentor high-performing engineering teams, and drive our complex digital transformation journey by translating national strategy into robust technical reality.

Directorate Overview

The Digital & Data Services (DDS) directorate is at the heart of CCS's digital transformation journey, responsible for delivering modern, efficient, and user-centred digital services that support over £30bn of public sector procurement annually. We're building a world-class digital capability that will revolutionise how the public sector buys common goods and services.

Team Summary

The team operates as a single, unified unit of 6 (and growing to 10), combining both Enterprise Architecture (EA) and Senior Technical Architecture expertise. While we leverage supplemental support from preferred partners, we always maintain control, with our architects establishing the guardrails and managing the strategic direction of their work.

Job description

Key Accountabilities

Own the Technical Vision: Define the 'how' for all strategic change, ensuring solutions align with the long-term enterprise architecture.

Lead Technical Governance: Champion and implement architectural standards, including Secure by Design, across high-impact projects.

Mentor and Guide Teams: Provide technical leadership and guidance to engineering and architecture teams on complex design decisions.

Manage Architectural Risk: Identify and clearly articulate technical debt and architectural risks early in the investment process.

Ensure System Integrity: Verify that new High-Level Designs (HLDs) are scalable, secure, and fit within the broader CCS technology ecosystem.

Drive Strategic Alignment: Collaborate with Business Architecture to translate strategic goals into practical, resilient technical blueprints.

Review Supplier Capability: Assess the technical viability and integration methods of solutions proposed by market suppliers (e.g., for the Self-Serve programme).

Document Architecture: Lead the creation of clear, concise architectural documentation suitable for senior leadership.

Person specification

Essential Criteria (to be assessed at application stage):

Enterprise Architecture Governance: Proven experience in defining and enforcing architectural standards (e.g., through an Architecture Review Board or similar forum) to manage technical debt and ensure system integrity.

Secure & Scalable Design: Deep expertise in designing and leading the implementation of highly scalable, resilient, and secure solutions, including applying Secure by Design principles to large-scale platforms (e.g., IDAM or high-volume transactional services).

Strategic Technical Alignment: Ability to translate abstract business or policy strategy into concrete, actionable technical blueprints, and effectively articulate risks to senior stakeholders (e.g., GCF architecture presentation at 'level zero').

Complex Integration & Trade-offs: Demonstrated experience navigating and making complex technical trade-offs (e.g., speed vs. cost vs. quality) and defining integration strategy for major enterprise systems.

 Leadership: Experience in providing technical mentorship and coaching to technical teams.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Seeing the Big Picture
Communicating and Influencing
Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Architecture communication
Architect for the whole context