About the job

Job summary

Do you want work collaboratively designing modern IT architecture for some of the largest digital transformations in Europe?

We’re looking for outstanding Lead Solution Architects, who want to play a major role in the design and implementation of exciting modern digital services for the UK Government. You’ll be part of a team dedicated to the creation of Universal Credit and related Working Age products which are actively delivering for 5.5 million citizens every day.

We want you to take on the challenge of solving complex problems and designing services supporting some of the most vulnerable citizens in society.

We maintain and modernise services that will be used by nearly every person in the UK, at key moments in their lives.

You will join our community of Solution Architects across DWP Digital. We maintain and modernise services that will be used by nearly every person in the UK, at key moments in their lives.

You’ll act as an Architecture leader across the Universal Credit and Working Age space, with line management responsibility of Senior Solution Architects.  You will lead existing Solution Architects while increasing capability, standards, and practices across the organisation.

Job description

As a Lead Solution Architect, you will:

• Design technical solutions (products and services) to meet user needs and align with DWP technical strategy and standards.

• Provide a consistent set of solution views, that communicate and describe the construction of the solution to all stakeholders.

• Champion solution communication, making the complex simple to understand.

• Support delivery teams, blending technical (development and architecture) and behaviour (leadership and communication) skills.

• Deliver the technical and architecture design elements of services.

• Work with engineering teams, and other Digital stakeholders, to create VFM solution designs.

• Ensure technical quality and adherence of solution designs to the DWP Digital Blueprint, Enterprise Architecture and Product Roadmaps.

• Identify, capture, share, iterate, and implement architecture patterns.

• Drive resolution of technical debt, to reduce the ongoing cost of DWP IT services.

• Develop product roadmaps and represent product designs at DWP governance forums, providing clear communication of architecture design and decision making, to gain approval to proceed with designs.

• Support the development of the DWP Architecture Practice.

Person specification

When giving details in your CV you should highlight your experience in line with essential criteria below:

• Architecture design and modelling techniques, patterns, tools, and standards.

• Micro-service and API-led architecture design.

• Event-based architecture design, patterns (including pub-sub and data streaming).

• Public cloud technologies, design patterns, and best practice (e.g., Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform).

• Presenting to technical governance forums.

• Delivering Enterprise scale, multi-million-pound Payments and Accounting, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), or Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions, building on top of industry standard COTS packages.

• Relational database design/modelling, technologies, design patterns, tools, and best practice e.g., Oracle, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL.

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Isaac.morrison@dwp.gov.uk.

Benefits

• An employer pension contribution of up to 27% For further information please click here.
• Annual leave rising up to 30 days, (based on your working pattern).
• Family friendly flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid working, job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Learning and development tailored to your role this could include industry recognised qualifications, coaching and mentoring. 
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join staff networks including: Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Salary Information

Pay for this role in National Locations is from £69,869 to £77,740.

The maximum salary for the grade is £77,740, however a Digital Allowance of up to £12,255 per annum is available for exceptional candidates, based on our assessment of your skills and experience.

Pay for this role in London is from £75,810 to £83,957.

The maximum salary for the grade is £83,957, however a Digital Allowance of up to £6,038 per annum is available for exceptional candidates, based on our assessment of your skills and experience.

Our offer to successful candidates will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview.

Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer should maintain their current salary.

Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion may move to the bottom of the next grade pay scale or 10% increase in salary whichever would be the greater.

Location

Applicants should apply for suitable posts where they can travel to and from their home office location daily within a reasonable time.   

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

Hybrid Working

This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home.  This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Stage 1: Application

Applications must include:

1. A completed Personal Details application form.

2. A curriculum vitae including education, professional qualifications and full employment history, giving details of key achievements  in line with essential criteria listed in the Person Specification.

When uploading your CV, do not include personal information or links to any webpages or profiles that identifies you. This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity. Take out references to your name/title, age, sex, email address, postal address, telephone number or nationality/immigration status.

When giving details of your redacted CV, you should therefore include details of the work and projects that you have been involved in, and your role therein.

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

Important information

• Please attach your redacted CV as a separate additional document in either PDF or word format.
• If your CV contains any personal details your application may be withdrawn.

Stage 2: Interview

If you’re successful at sift stage you will be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. There, you will be assessed against the following Behaviours and Technical Skills:

• Communicating and Influencing 
• Working Together 
• Technical Breadth 
• Turning business problems into technical designs 

You will be asked to do a (5 minutes) presentation on a specific topic. Further details will be provided to candidates invited to interview. 

Interviews will take place from mid-February 2024. Interview dates to be confirmed.

Reasonable Adjustment

At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How We Recruit page

Further Information

Find out more about Working for DWP

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. 

Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location. 

You must meet the security requirements before you can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers. 

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). 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. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.