Principal Technical Architect

A bit about us...

Migration and Borders Technology Portfolio (MBTP) is part of the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Directorate in the Home Office. DDaT enables the Home Office to keep citizens safe and the country secure, as well as at the front line of making the Home Office a modern and capable department at a time of unprecedented global change. MBTP is a portfolio of around 3,500 dedicated professionals made up of civil servants and suppliers working together to develop some of the most challenging and transformative technology products, supporting critical programmes within the migration and borders system.

🚀 What you'll be doing 🚀

A Principal Technical Architect leads at the highest level, with a technical understanding of the broadest range of technologies used across the estate, working with the Head of Role to define technical strategy, making sure it is agreed and followed. You will manage diverse teams across multiple locations, finding and using best practice and emerging technologies and inspiring other architects, helping them understand how to deliver the goals of the organisation.

The role requires working closely with our organisation across the Migration and Borders services; understanding the current and future systems managing passports, civil registration, immigration, border security, and controls for people and goods entering the UK. You will be a key part of the design authority for the portfolio, and responsible for representing Migration and Borders interests for the technical governance, problem solving and high-risk issue management of our systems.

• Owning the creation and delivery of the technical strategy for your area of work, include brokering decisions and bridging technical and business disputes by weighing up risk, complexity impact and deliverability.
• Presenting recommendations for technologies or improvements to enhance systems to support project goals clearly to senior management, based on knowledge of IT and analysis of systems' needs.
• Leading the design and review processes for new solution and services, translating technical concepts between systems engineering, delivery management and service management.
• Developing and documenting the proposed technical design for the integration and implementation of any solution, working with and across other areas of DDaT and the business.
• Creating detailed plans for the integration of new systems architecture into existing infrastructure, considering the broader context and strategies of the organisation.
• Leading the development of the architectural practice, ensuring a coherent and consistent strategy across cyber, cloud, data centre, storage, network, mobile and the user experience of infrastructure.

👀 About you 👀

We're looking for an experienced Technical Architect looking for a new and interesting challenge with skills or proven experience in:

• Evidencing strong technical leadership qualities, with a passion for delivering leading edge designs and inspiring a culture of technical excellence and innovative solution design.
• Anticipating and advising on future technology changes that present opportunities for the product or program.
• Leading the complex landscapes of technologies, 3rd party suppliers (leading the procurement process), internal and cross-government teams.
• Leading technology teams to adhere to good engineering principles from architecture through to development.
• Managing and delivering complex technology solutions within time, cost, and quality targets, ensuring solutions are robust, resilient, and appropriately implemented, tested, and documented.
• Defining, owning, and contributing to the technical roadmap and strategy.