Senior Technical Architect (Infected Blood Compensation Authority) - CO - G7

Location

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

About the job

Job summary

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) is a new arm’s-length body which is being set up, at unprecedented pace, to administer compensation to people whose lives have been impacted by the infected blood scandal.

Are you driven and ready for an exciting opportunity which will make a real impact? This is a challenging and fulfilling role that requires pace, impact, sensitivity, and compassion.

The multidisciplinary teams within IBCA’s Digital Service Directorate are organised around delivering our mission and priorities:

• To create a user-centred, empathetic end-to-end service at the heart of IBCA;
• To provide the means of paying compensation to those eligible;
• To iterate our service through starting small and scaling fast, through a test and learn approach.

A rare opportunity to apply cutting-edge architectural design and implementation across the breadth of a public service making a real difference. Joining IBCA early in the service lifecycle allows the Senior Technical Architect to influence tech decisions, build capability, and realise the architectural strategy. 

Opportunities to move to the new Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA).  At the moment all IBCA roles are hosted by Cabinet Office within the Civil Service. However, once IBCA becomes operational, it is anticipated that most of these roles will transfer to IBCA, which is a new Arms Length Body (ALB) separate from the Cabinet Office. Roles that transfer to IBCA from Cabinet Office will maintain the same or substantially the same terms and conditions of employment that are overall no less favourable. It is anticipated that employees who move from Cabinet Office to IBCA will be able to continue to participate in the Civil Service Pension arrangements with no break in their pensionable service. Roles commencing after IBCA has become operational will be with IBCA itself on similar terms and conditions. All successful candidates will receive full details of the terms and conditions of employment for their role with their formal job offer.

Please note that the mission of IBCA means that it is likely to be operational for a period of approximately 5 to 7 years. When IBCA’s work begins to wind down, IBCA employees will receive support and practical guidance to find a new role, whether in the Civil Service, another Arms Length Body (ALB), or an external employer.

Job description

IBCA’s Senior Technical Architect will work with senior stakeholders to define, maintain and own iterations to the technical strategy and roadmap for the service and how this evolves over time.

You will be responsible for developing and delivering technical architecture blueprints, overseeing the design of technical services and, selecting technologies and patterns to meet IBCA’s requirements and user needs.

A key part of this role will be to ensure that the technical, delivery and business impacts of architectural design decisions are aligned to the technology strategy and understood by the appropriate stakeholders. To be successful, you will also need to collaborate effectively in a fast paced, transparent, multi-discipline environment.

You will seek to identify how architecture can enable efficiency and drive quality by minimising tech debt and building capabilities. Through establishing effective ways of working, you will ensure that we meet our value driven outcomes.

You will also be responsible for managing relevant risks and dependencies, considering the full breadth of the service lifecycle.

We are looking for someone who is strategic and forward thinking to implement architecture solutions that achieve early value release and deliver our long-term goals. You will strive to deliver better outcomes and value for money by encouraging and embedding a culture of continuous improvement. Your leadership skills will ensure that solutions are delivered on time, to a high level of quality, and are operating in an open and collaborative manner. As a leader within the Digital directorate, you will communicate a clear strategy, inspire others and establish a culture that individuals feel proud to be a part of.

Proven hands-on AWS experience required, and understanding GDS Service Standards for building great public services is desirable.

Responsibilities

Own iterations to the architecture blueprint for the IBCA service;
Build architecture capability and support the community of practice;
Collaborate and find agreement with senior stakeholders, providing both technical and non-technical direction and challenge;
Look for opportunities to build and reuse common components, communicating with both technical and nontechnical people;
Undertake structured evaluation of technical concepts, translating this into technical designs that describe a solution;
Assure service and system quality, ensuring the technical work fits into the broader strategy for IBCA, including representing architecture at appropriate governance forums.

Person specification

Essential criteria

You will have the following skills, knowledge and experience:

Proven experience in a technical architecture role, leading the technical design of large and complex systems and services;
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to jointly develop technical designs which deliver outcomes aligned with business needs and in an iterative way;
Practical knowledge of modern cloud-first architectures, leveraging cloud capabilities to design secure, scalable applications, while mitigating security risks in public cloud environments;
Can communicate technical concepts for multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders, ensuring mutual understanding and fostering strong relationships, particularly with senior leadership;
Demonstrates technical leadership, successfully guiding cross-discipline teams to deliver complex outcomes, while ensuring alignment with wider strategic priorities and influencing future direction. 

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Behaviours

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

Seeing the Big Picture
Changing and Improving
Making Effective Decisions
Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

Architecting on Amazon Web Services (AWS)