Principal Solution Architect

Job Description

About DEFRAAre you a tech enthusiast with a passion for making a positive impact Are you ready to shape the future of environmental sustainability and resource management Look no further! The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are looking fortalented tech professionals like you to join our dynamic and innovative team.At Defra, we believe that technology has the power to transform how we protect and enhance our environment, ensure sustainable food production, and create a greener, healthier future for all. As a leading government department responsible for tackling pressingenvironmental challenges, we are at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge technology and digital solutions to drive meaningful change.You will have the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse range of experts, including policymakers, scientists, engineers, and data analysts.Role SummaryYou will develop and manage relationships with vendors and suppliers to ensure the most effective use of technology, digital skills and data for Defra. These vary, but often includes Gov.UK public facing transactional systems, internal back-office systems,Scientific modelling applications, Big data and Geospatial applications, Cloud services, SaaS and mobile/field operations. If successful, you will lead one Delivery Group, with multiple delivery projects and programmes (up to 20) with a total value of circa£50-200M. You will be responsible for the definition and delivery of the Delivery Group Roadmap to ensure the successful delivery of complex systems against risks, costs and other considerations.Responsibilities

• Review and updating of the roadmaps for several key BDAT domains.
• Guide other domain architects (Lead Technology Architects) in the development of their domain and understand the inter-dependencies.
• Assess future needs, against likely scenarios, anticipating & mitigating delivery risks where possible.
• Support the Chief Architect to manage governance processes in the Delivery Group you lead.
• Work with innovation colleagues to maintain a view on industry and technology changes, trial and potentially adopt by shaping and conducting proof of concept and pilot exercises and “bedding in” new application capabilities and platforms.
• Take the lead in disseminating information on delivery portfolio goals, investment priorities, strategic futures and technologies to other application architects and a wider stakeholder group.
• Represent Defra Digital, Data & Technology Services’ needs to external bodies to ensure that Defra needs are understood as part of the development of UK Government digital, data and technology services

Experience required

• Extensive experience of working with and influencing suppliers and dependencies.
• Communicating with internal and external senior stakeholders.
• Extensive experience of estimating and contributing to project planning, dependency and risk maps from a technical perspective.
• Proven ability to lead and deliver technological change within large organisations.
• Experience of analysing future technology needs from the proposals for user/digital Services.
• Experience of producing roadmaps, business cases and other corporate investment plans.
• Experience of significant application modernisation/transformation.
• Management of multiple technical domains at senior level, delegation of detail working to others, and management of dependencies.
• Agile orientated delivery mindset with the ability to implement, own and lead governance and assurance activities.
• Ability to plan, budget, forecast and estimate resources, time and costs.

Benefits We can offer an array of benefits including (but not limited to):

• 25 days’ leave (rising to 30 days over 5 years) plus bank holidays
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27% (worth a minimum of £14,685 per year)
• Access to a range of retail discounts (including supermarkets, tech, gyms, holidays, phones and much more)
• Flexible working options such as condensed hours, part-time and flexi time
• 3 paid volunteering days per year
• Funding for professional membership of a recognised professional body
• Learning and development tailored to your role and budget for training or qualifications
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme 24/7

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