Senior Solution Architect

On behalf of DWP, we are looking for a Senior Solutions Architect for a 6 months Inside IR35 contract based Hybrid Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham, Blackpool, Sheffield

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK's biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. As such, we operate on a scale that is almost unmatched anywhere in Europe and most people in Britain come into contact with us at some point in their lives.

Working with DWP, you will be helping us to drive our priorities to:

. Help people to move into work and support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation
. Help people to plan and save for later life, while providing a safety net for those who need it now
. Provide effective, efficient, and innovative services to the millions of claimants who rely on us every day, including the most vulnerable in society
. Improve experience of our services while maximising value for money for the taxpayer.

As a Senior Solutions Architect, your main responsibilities will be:

. Lead the architecture, design and implementation of large-scale Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.
. Define end-to-end solution architectures that align with business needs and technical standards.
. Produce and maintain clear architecture artefacts and solution views for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
. Design integration solutions leveraging microservices, APIs, event-driven architectures and file-based data exchanges.
. Support delivery and engineering teams throughout the full project life cycle.
. Develop technology roadmaps that support long-term business and digital transformation goals.
. Present and defend architectural decisions at governance and design authority forums.
. Identify opportunities to reduce technical debt and improve value for money.
. Collaborate with senior stakeholders across business and technology functions to achieve successful outcomes.
. Ensure solutions are aligned with public cloud best practices and modern architecture patterns.

Essential Skills & Experience
. Proven experience working as a Solutions Architect on complex enterprise programmes.
. Strong track record of SaaS product selection, implementation and integration.
. Experience designing solutions using microservices, APIs, event-driven architecture and enterprise integration patterns.
. Ability to create comprehensive architecture documentation and solution views.
. Experience engaging and influencing senior stakeholders.
. Knowledge of public cloud technologies and architecture best practices.

Highly Desirable
. Previous experience working within a UK Government department or public sector organisation.
. Experience operating within organisations of 100,000+ employees.
. Background delivering solutions across functions such as HR, Finance, Commercial or Estates.
. Familiarity with government governance, assurance and architecture standards.

What We're Looking For
. An architect who can communicate complex technical concepts in a clear and engaging way.
. Someone with a strategic mindset who can balance business outcomes with technical excellence.
. A collaborative leader who can work effectively across architecture, delivery and engineering communities.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, DWP guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant

DWP guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".