Lead Technical Architect - DEFRA - G7
Government Digital & Data -
Job summary
Defra, the UK government department, is responsible for safeguarding the natural environment, supporting the food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy.
The department's broad remit impacts daily life, from the food we eat to the air we breathe and the water we drink. Within Defra, the Digital, Data and Technology Services (DDTS) team is the trusted digital partner, comprising around 1,200 colleagues. DDTS aims to make interactions with Defra easier and faster, driving innovation and pushing boundaries to create a great place for living and a green, healthy future for all.
Find out more about DDTS
Defra digital, data and technology blog
Job description
In this role you will navigate through multiple projects and programs, crafting and refining roadmaps, principles, and standards. Your collaboration with delivery teams will breathe life into these frameworks, ensuring that the infrastructure meets the needs of comprehensive solutions encompassing business, information, application, and technology aspects.
In Defra you will play a hands-on role in bringing designs to fruition, delivering business outcomes, and resolving conflicts in multi-initiative scenarios. Your broad and holistic architectural thinking will be crucial in ensuring the delivery of end-to-end technical architectures and designs based on specific needs and requirements.
This role is vital for meeting business and IT needs by managing technical project aspects and providing guidance. This position will collaborate with technical and non-technical stakeholders to comprehend technical specifications and ensure that selected solutions adhere to DDaT and enterprise architectural principles, government security standards, and best practices.
In this role you will have an opportunity to continuously grow and develop yourself through exposure to training in the latest emerging technologies and reprising some older, bridging the gap that is not always perceived.
For a clearer understanding of the role's requirements, we have created an extended job description, which outlines the required skills and responsibilities needed. This can be found at the bottom of this advert. Please note you will only be assessed against the essential responsibilities, skills and experience listed in the advert.
Please note this post requires Security Check (SC) clearance. While applicants without SC clearance are welcome to apply, they must be eligible to obtain it. To be eligible for SC clearance, all applicants are required to have been a UK resident for a minimum of 5 years. If this requirement is not met, the individual will not be able to progress their application further.
Person specification
Responsibilities
- Participate in and support proof of concept (POC) initiatives to explore and validate new ideas and technologies.
- Lead the technical vision and execution of complex IT solutions, ensuring they align with our business goals and technological roadmap.
- Evaluate, recommend, and introduce new technologies to optimise the IT infrastructure.
- Identify implied technical requirements from user-centric work and stories.
- Help supplier(s) in translating business requirements into clear and concise technical specifications.
- Identify common needs and gaps proactively, influencing technology roadmaps and necessary components.
- Foster a mindset of continual improvement by seeking out and implementing best practices and innovative solutions.
Skills and experience
- Extensive knowledge of working with different suppliers, both in creating parts of solutions and in checking the work of others to ensure consistent designs that support a complete service.
- Proven ability to lead teams and departments in the design, implementation, administration, and support of infrastructure solutions and services.
- Maintains a focus on the entire lifecycle, including design, development, delivery, and operation. Ensures that a set of IT products, suppliers, and vendors come together to deliver a cohesive IT service.
- Strong understanding of security principles and practices, including risk assessment, threat modelling, vulnerability management, and incident response. Experience in implementing security measures to protect data, applications, and infrastructure from cyber threats.
- Experience in supporting large-scale deployments of Windows devices in a multi-supplier environment.
- Proficient in both designing and operating virtual device platforms, at enterprise scale.
- Expertise in managing migrations of varying scales, from end-user computing to hosting platforms, involving different operating systems.
- Expertise in using PowerShell for automating tasks, managing configurations, and deploying applications. This includes writing and debugging scripts to streamline processes and improve efficiency.
- Knowledge of software licensing models and compliance requirements
Specialist Insight and Skills
Identity Management: Expertise in managing and securing user identities, including the use of Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and configuring and managing Azure AD to ensure proper access controls, authentication mechanisms, and integration with other Microsoft services.
Microsoft 365: Proficient in using the Microsoft portals for managing Microsoft 365 services, including user accounts, licenses, and service settings.
Intune: Expertise in using Intune for device management including deployment, monitoring, and maintenance to ensure optimal performance and security.
Device Management: Enhanced experience of managing devices across an organization.
Microsoft Defender: Proficient in use of Microsoft Defender for endpoint security, threat detection, and response.
For a clearer understanding of the role's requirements, we have created an extended job description, which outlines the required skills and responsibilities needed. This can be found at the bottom of this advert. Please note you will only be assessed against the essential responsibilities, skills and experience listed in the advert.
Selection process
The Civil Service marks each element of the selection process on a merit basis. You can visit the gov.uk website for further information on the Civil Service rating scale.
Ensure you have tailored your CV and your Personal Statement to the 'responsibilities' and 'skills and experience' section of the job advert by providing examples on how you are suitable for the role. You may find the STAR method helpful when writing your personal statement.
For further information on STAR, you can check out our hints and tips document.
Application
As part of the application process, you will be assessed on your experience and will be asked to complete:
- A CV
- A 250- word Personal Statement on the Behaviour 'Leadership'
- A 750-word Personal Statement: Referring to the 'Specialist Insight and Skills' sections of the job advert, please demonstrate how you are suitable for the role by providing relevant examples.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your Personal Statement, how you meet these requirements as the information you provide will form a key part when the panel is scoring your application.
Sift
Sift will begin shortly after the advert closes.
Should there be a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted using your personal statement.
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment or interview.
Interview
If successful at sift stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Strengths, as well as Technical Skills and the Behaviours listed below.
Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.
A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.
The technical skills are aligned with the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability framework for the Lead Technical Architect profession. To find out more about them, please visit the website.
Sift and Interview dates are to be confirmed. Please note that these may be subject to change.
For further information on Success Profiles, please use the links below and watch our videos on Defra Jobs.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Leadership
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Architect for the whole context – practitioner
- Architecture communication (Communicating between the technical and non-technical) – expert
- Community collaboration – practitioner
- Making architectural decisions – practitioner
- Strategy design – practitioner
- Technical design throughout the life cycle - expert
