Defence Business Services (DBS) Solution Architect - MoD - HEO
Government Digital & Data -
Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?
Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?
Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.
- Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
- Our Mission – Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.
DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society.
We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.
Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.
DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and have consolidated all activities in Norcross, Blackpool. A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2026.
Come and join the DBS community today!
Job description
You will join a team in DBS Digital, Information and Technology responsible for translating Civilian HR business needs into digital solutions. Working closely with business analysts, cloud architects, cloud engineers, software developers and the wider Civilian People Change Delivery Services, your focus will be to support recommendations and solution designs to modernise legacy applications and meet new business needs through cloud technology, exploiting the Oracle Software-as-a-Service HR, Payroll and Expenses system MyHR where possible. There will also be a dotted line to the business analysis capability, providing support to requirements analysis, process modelling and testing where required.
You will carry out the duties of a Technical Architect as defined by the Government Digital and Data framework, with an emphasis on business engagement. At Higher Executive Officer level, you are expected to support the identification and realisation of opportunities to create business value, escalating risks and issues as appropriate.
This is an opportunity to work with modern and powerful technologies such as Oracle Fusion SaaS (MyHR/CSM), the low-code Oracle development tools Visual Builder and APEX, the cloud-hosting platform Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to exchange real-time information between applications. You will also join the team as it begins its journey to utilise AI capabilities within technical solutions.
Responsibilities of the Role
- Provide technical input to projects and change requests, ensuring solutions are technically feasible, user-friendly and align with business processes and policy, engaging with business and technical stakeholders where appropriate
- Bridge the gap between technical and non-technical, detailing technical concepts in straightforward terms and emphasising business benefit and impact on business processes
- Create As Is and To Be system designs, identifying gaps in capability and progressing solutions
- Identify, analyse, challenge and validate business and user requirements, and co-ordinate and review their prioritisation
- Model As-Is and To-Be business processes, roles and responsibilities – using swim-lane diagrams, user interaction diagrams etc. – and highlight potential impact of changes
- Identify opportunities for technology transformation to provide business benefit, including innovation or automation, and through participation in proof of concepts (POCs) of new and enhanced solutions
- Ensure security policies and procedures are adhered to during the design and development of applications and systems
Person specification
You will have an interest in and aptitude for technology, and will be keen to expand your skills and develop a career in the Digital and Data profession. You will be a familiar with modern digital services, whether within a digital role or as an experienced end user.
Additionally, you will possess the following:
Strong written and oral communication skills:
- Proactive and confident in engagement with business stakeholders, customers and technical colleagues
- Able to articulate complex information in writing
- Willingness to increase understanding and bridge gaps in knowledge by asking questions
- Able to maintain focus on removing blockers and establishing next steps
Technical understanding:
- Good all-around competence with M365 applications – Teams, Sharepoint, Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
