About the job

Job summary

Do you want to transform the way cloud technologies are used across Government and the wider Public Sector in Scotland? Do you want to enable the delivery of better technology to serve the people of Scotland? 

As part of the wider Digital Strategy of the Scottish Government to build a suite of common platforms that help public services to be delivered in a more secure and efficient way, the Scottish Government Digital Directorate successfully launched a shared government cloud platform in 2023. The Cloud Platform Service aims to enable an improved and accelerated adoption of cloud services and encourage digital innovation within the Scottish public sector.

Job description

Technical Direction 

• Lead the team responsible for defining and communicating a scalable cloud platform architecture for government based on customer requirements, relevant strategies, policies, roadmaps, and operating practices. 
• Be seen across the department or division as a Subject Matter expert, contributing to the development of architectural practice, ensuring a coherent and consistent strategy across cybersecurity, cloud, data centre, storage, network, mobile and the user experience of infrastructure. 
• Contributing to the overall technical strategy and road map for the department in your area of expertise. 
• Act as a key contributor to architecture governance activities ensuring the adoption of good working methods and best practice in the application of technology architecture standards. 

Design 

• Leading the design and review processes for new solution and services, evidencing the inclusion of ‘Secure by Design” in the technical designs you produce, oversee, and approve. 
• Creating optimal technical designs through an iterative process, aligning such factors as the user need within the system requirements, security, and organisational objectives. 
• 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, 
• Ensure designs meet security and operational requirement. 
• 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. 

Continual Improvement 

• Evaluating the success of a project, once the solution has been integrated, identifying best practices and lessons learned. 
• Providing feedback to leadership and incorporating best practices and lessons learned into future integration plans. 

Developing Capability 

• Managing, coaching, and mentoring more junior Technical Architects. 
• Provide direction and assurance to the platform team and customers by defining principles, beneficial practices to guide the development of the service and customer workloads. 

Person specification

No specific qualifications are required for this post.    

Essential Criteria 

1. Demonstrable experience in a Senior Architecture Role. 
2. An ability to understand the complex landscapes of technologies and the required collaboration with 3rd party suppliers, internal and cross-government teams across multiple projects to deliver successful outcomes in line with business and technical requirements. 
3. Managing Human Resource activities, including interviewing, selection / hiring, and conducting performance assessments. 
4. The experience, skills and personal qualities that allow you to be effective whilst working unsupervised in a dynamic environment with fluid priorities and high levels of uncertainty. 
5. Able to balance potentially conflicting requirements and interests, negotiate a consensus and justify your architectural design decisions.  

The closing date for applications is Sunday 2nd June at 23:55

 
Interview/Assessment Information  

If you are invited to attend an interview this will include a DDaT Technical Skill Assessment and the following competencies:- 

• Leading Others 
• People Management 
• Analysis & Use of Evidence 
• Financial Management 

More detail on these competencies can be found in the Person Specification – Band C 
 
We recommend reviewing the following links:- 

How to apply for Digital roles with Scottish Government   

Additional Information for applicants 

If you have any additional questions, please email digitalcareers@gov.scot 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £73,757, Scottish Government contributes £21,367 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How To Apply  

To apply for this post, you will need to provide the information requested below via the online application process. 

Panels sift applications purely based on evidence provided against the essential criteria. We recommend considering how your skills, qualities and experience relate to these and tailoring your both your CV and Personal statement to provide this evidence.  

• A CV (no longer than two A4 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. 
• Personal Statement (no longer than 750 words).   

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.