About the job

Job summary

At the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), we encourage applications from everyone, particularly groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. We pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has and promote inclusivity and equality of opportunity for all. Our recruitment process is anonymised, which means that your name, date of birth and other personal details will not be seen by the sift panel.  

The DVLA deliver wide reaching digital services to the UK public and industry. We maintain the national record of vehicles and drivers which means we reach over 50 million people a year. If you have applied for a driving licence, changed vehicle, taxed your vehicle, or completed a vehicle enquiry you would have used one of our services.

You’ll get to work alongside our business service designers and agile software development teams and use modern and exciting technologies. Right now, we're rebuilding our services on a cloud-first platform using Containers and Serverless technologies as well as modern CI/CD tooling, so it’s a great time to join.

Do you have an understanding and experience working with cloud technologies?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

Job description

We are looking for a Lead Technical Architect to join our dynamic and innovative workforce at an exciting and challenging time.  

The role holder will need to demonstrate the appetite and commitment to help drive the organisation through a significant transformation programme.  

If you would like to find out more about the role, the digital team and what it’s like to work at DVLA, we are organising a familiarisation session for this role where you can virtually 'meet the team' on Thursday 18th January at 12:00pm.

Please click here to book on.  

Responsibilities 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:  

• Being responsible for leading the technical design of systems and services, justifying and communicating design decisions
• Assuring other services and system quality, ensuring the technical work fits into the broader strategy for government
• Exploring the benefits of cross-government alignment
• Providing mentoring within teams
• Providing leadership to other architects

Additional information  

This role will be based in Swansea, and we will be operating a hybrid working model that allows you to work between home and on-site giving you greater flexibility about where and when you work, subject to business needs and this also allows for ongoing support, development, and collaboration with colleagues.  

Therefore, the expectation is that you will spend a minimum of 60% of your working time based at your principal workplace (DVLA). We would encourage you to discuss the working arrangements for this role with us during the recruitment process. 

Person specification

You will have an Architectural / Engineering background having worked in an architect or engineering lead role delivering enterprise and cloud-based software systems.

You will also hold the following skills and experience: 

• Knowledge of designing / building cloud native software on a platform such as AWS
• Experience with data security principles and systems designed to protect sensitive data
• Desire to create and maintain solution designs in an iterative and collaborative manner
• Ability to think strategically about business, product and technical challenges
• Excellent technical skills with the experience to be held accountable for technical aspects of delivering complex solutions, including end-to-end solution design, delivery governance, assurance and support for Engineers and Delivery Managers
• Great interpersonal skills allowing you to work with technical and non-technical stakeholders alike
• You will be able to drive discussions with senior leaders across the agency as well as having the technical background that will enable you to easily interact and give guidance to software developers, testers and engineers

We strive to ensure that DVLA is a great place to work where everybody can be their true self, be treated with dignity and respect, and according to their individual needs. We have a number of staff network groups run by staff to support their colleagues. 

Working for the DVLA Digital Team 

At the DVLA our work matters. We’re at the forefront of digital within government, providing new and improved services that are reliable, easy to use and offer value for money for our customers. With over 50 million driver records and over 40 million vehicle records, the opportunity to work at this scale is unrivalled across the region. Our services generate billions in revenue and make a difference to the lives of 9 out of 10 households in the UK. 

If you would like to read more about the great opportunities with the DVLA Digital Team then click here. 

Our people are transforming our digital services, head over to our DVLA Digital Services Blog to read about what we have been up to. 

Benefits

• Best in class learning and development tailored to your role  
• An environment with flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance  
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues  
• Generous employer contribution of at least 26.6%, depending on rate of salary and chosen pension scheme 
• Digital communities with clear career frameworks 
• On-site gym plus personal training available 
• On-site nursery, restaurants and coffee bar  
• 25 days holiday, increasing by 1 each year (up to 30) 
• Free parking  
• Ability to buy and sell annual leave  

Visit our careers website or to find out more about the great opportunities and benefits of working at DVLA. 

  

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.

Technical skills

• Government Digital and Data Framework – Lead Technical Architect – Communicating between the technical and non-technical (technical architect) You can mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels (Skill level: Expert)
• Government Digital and Data Framework – Lead Technical Architect – Making and guiding decisions. You can make decisions characterised by medium levels of risk and complexity and recommend decisions as risk and complexity increase. You can build consensus between services or independent stakeholders (Skill level: Practitioner) 
• Government Digital and Data Framework – Lead Technical Architect – Turning business problems into technical design. You can design systems characterised by high levels of risk, impact, and business or technical complexity (Skill level: Expert) 
• Government Digital and Data Framework – Lead Technical Architect – Governance and Assurance You can evolve and define governance. You can take responsibility for working with and supporting other staff in wider governance. You can assure services across sets of services. You can use tools such as standards, guardrails and principles to effectively govern delivery (Skill level: Practitioner) 

How to Apply  

To apply please click 'Apply at advertiser's site' at the bottom of the page. You will be required to submit a CV providing detailed evidence of your experience of the following essential criteria:    

• Experience of creating and maintaining solution designs in an iterative and collaborative manner
• Excellent technical skills, with the ability to demonstrate accountability for end-to-end solution designs and stakeholder management
• Experience with architectural governance processes and practices

Please note that any part of the role profile could be tested at sift/interview.  
   
If invited to interview, this may consist of a range of question types. These could include questions around behaviours and how you would respond in any situation as well as specific examples of things you have done. 

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:

•  an interview and assessment (whiteboard activity)  

Assessment and Interview 

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a CV to Inspire People (our Recruitment Partners) which outlines your experience and suitability for the role (based on the experience points outlined in the essential criteria on this advert).   

On receipt of your CV, DVLA Hiring Managers will complete a sift. Please note; the sift will be completed on a rolling basis whilst the campaign is still live and so there is potential for feedback to be shared with you (on your application) before the advert closes.  

If at sift your application is successful, you will be invited to the first stage of the interview process (hosted by inspire people), where you will be asked to complete a pre-recorded video interview (this again will be based on the experience points outlined in the essential criteria on this advert).   

If you are successful at this stage, you will be invited to a final stage interview (which will include an assessment) and be conducted by DVLA Hiring Managers.  

Final stage interview/assessments will take place from Monday 19th February 2024.

At the final interview stage, you will be assessed against various Behavioural and Technical elements. (Find more information around these elements by following the Success Profiles and Technical skill links in the advert).   

This interview will be conducted via a video, details of which will be provided, should you be selected for interview. 

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.   

Please familiarise yourself with the Government Digital & Data Framework as you will be tested on elements of this during the interview stage. 

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.     

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.    

Please take note that DVLA does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.    

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. 

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact dvla@inspirepeople.net as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Should your application be successful to interview stage, you should contact dvla@inspirepeople.net  to advise upon any reasonable adjustment requirements you may need for the interview or presentation stage.

Document Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

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

Security

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.