Overview
Lead Solution Architect – Unity Technical Services – Bristol Regional Centre – 3 Glass Wharf
About the job
Job summary
Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you’re seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.
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The Lead Solution Architect (LSA) works within the HMRC CDIO Chief Design & Information Office team and will be matrixed managed into the Unity Technical Services team. By collaborating with a team of Architects to ensure consistent implementation of architecture decisions and internal and external technical experts they will ensure that the Unity shared service business and IT strategy is delivered. Providing Architectural support, guidance and design for the Unity technical service once live they will also take an active role in the design and delivery of other ERP related initiatives for HMRC and work across the other cluster departments (DfT and MHCLG).
They research, design and propose IT architecture solutions across various domains, collaborating with business functions, technology teams, and delivery partners to design architecture that adheres to standards, meets strategic goals and integrates with other processes. The LSA oversees integrated systems analysis, assessment and recommendation of hardware and software to best achieve UTS strategic objectives. The LSA may also matrix manage application domain specialists to maintain alignment with business and IT strategies.
Job description
At this role level you will be expected to:
- Provide leadership and vision to the UTS architecture, including providing architecture strategy, direction, guidance and vision and championing leading practice, and be central to assuring services.
- Regularly collaborate and find agreement with senior stakeholders, providing direction and challenge.
- Be proactive in identifying problems and translating these into non-technical descriptions that can be widely understood.
- Lead the definition of conceptual and logical architecture specifications (e.g. data architecture, application architecture, technical architecture) for UTS.
- Own and ensure that technical architecture decisions are consistent across the enterprise and leverage opportunities for common approaches.
- Lead efforts to develop technical architecture approach for all layers of a solution within UTS, including solution estimations and consulting on programme delivery planning, delivery models, and forming deliverables.
- Lead efforts to assess and recommend infrastructure and application solutions for upgrades to meet business needs.
- Lead effort to support lines of business, support staff and technology areas, who are implementing projects that impact the technical architecture.
- Work collaboratively with the wider HMRC Solution and Enterprise architect teams to facilitate and lead. continuous improvement activities within HMRC, share/collaborate on best practice and develop others.
Person specification
The right candidate will be able to demonstrate their ability to:
- Understand, and convey the agreed strategic view across all architectural domains, platforms, portfolios and programmes, within a Business Domain / Cluster. This includes applying a good understanding of the organisation’s ecosystem and its interdependencies.
- Provide proactive consultation to a range of Change and Architecture stakeholders, providing expert advice on specific enterprise level ambitions in respect of capability impact that help to inform the production of more detailed architectural designs in a strategically aligned manner.
- Understand and be able to create “As Is” and “To Be” capability-based technology impacts that strategically shape enterprise level transformational change. Then use this to help define our I.T Strategy, inform IT Platform roadmaps, supports early delivery planning and ensure alignment with relevant business, Product and Commercial strategies & roadmaps.
- Be responsible for socialising and promoting our strategies and enterprise-level impacts with peers and senior managers across multiple stakeholder communities.
Essential Criteria
1. Leadership in Architecture
- Proven experience in leading architecture and solution design functions
- Ability to provide architectural strategy, direction, and assurance across programmes
- Proven record of building and managing stakeholders across organisation boundaries and be able to upwardly mange stakeholder along with external IT suppliers
- Experience in the use of modelling tools and documenting “As Is” and “To Be” processes and architectures aligning to business and technology strategies.
- Develop, document and establish Reference Architectures
- Simplify and explain complex and technical information by using appropriate and accessible language for non-technical audiences.
- Clearly articulate enterprise level impacts across technology domains, including risks and assumptions based on the inputs provided and prepare briefings, findings, options & recommendations.
- Look beyond the immediate problem and identify the wider implications across the enterprise, in both the short, medium and long term.
2. Stakeholder Engagement
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to influence senior stakeholders (e.g. director level and above)
- Ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences
3. Technical Expertise
- Extensive experience at a senior level technically of several ERP IT domain systems for example SAP ERP, S4 HANA, Success Factors and BTP with experience in network design and interconnect designs for large scale deployments, describing how each components relate and support each other.
- Experience leading CRM or ERP transformations
- Familiarity with corporate services domains (e.g. Finance, HR, Commercial, Estates)
- Demonstrable experience designing IT solutions that deliver tangible business benefits
- Familiarity with a range of technologies and architectural styles (e.g. Azure, AWS, microservices, SaaS/PaaS/IaaS)
4. Strategic Thinking
- Ability to align solution designs with organisational strategy and IT roadmaps
- Experience driving technological change in complex environments
5. Collaboration and Governance
- Experience working across business and technical teams to ensure architectural coherence
- Understanding of architecture governance and compliance with standards
- Experience of working in transformational change using Agile methodologies
- Be able to work collaboratively with colleagues to secure the results required, be able to set own direction to deliver the business strategy
- Have experience with 3rd party technical supplier commercial frameworks and agreements. A proven ability to manage third parties in structured governed manner.
Capability Allowance
The advertised role is part of the Government Digital and Data Profession and has access to a Capability-Based Allowance. Applicants who are successful at interview will be invited to complete a Capability and Skills Assessment post-interview. Any allowance awarded will be based on the assessment of your capability against the skills advertised for this role. Please see the attached candidate pack for more information.
The allowance values are set by HMRC, subject to remaining in a qualifying role, and are non-pensionable. This allowance is non-contractual, subject to an annual review and could be withdrawn at any time.
For both new entrants and existing civil servants, the total compensation offer is a combination of base salary and, if applicable, a capability-based allowance. New entrants to the Civil Service will start on the pay range minimum. For existing civil servants, our policies on level transfer and promotion will apply.
For more information please visit the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (opens in a new window)
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £68,966, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £19,979 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.
We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.
- Pension – We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
- Family friendly policies.
- Personal support.
- Coaching and development.
To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service
Things you need to know
Selection process details
How to Apply
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
A curriculum vitae including education, professional qualifications and full employment history, giving details of key achievements for each role/job.
When giving details in your CV you should highlight your experience in line with the Essential Criteria listed in the advert, including details of the work and projects that you have been involved in, and your role therein.
Important information
- Please attach your CV as a separate additional document in either PDF or word format no bigger than 5MB.
- Personal details that could be used to identify you including your name, contact details and address must be removed for your application to be considered.
- Please do not include any personal details in your document title.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Sift
At full sift your CV will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.
We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.
Interview
During the panel interview, you will be assessed against the Essential Criteria, your Experience and a Technical presentation. Details of the presentation will be provided to successful candidates prior to interview.
Interviews will take place via video link. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Eligibility
Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days(Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’.
To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.
Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Merit List
After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.
Criminal Record Check
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact the UBS Recruitment team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Assistance required” 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.
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers
This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you can travel to.
Terms and Conditions
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.
Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.
Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
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.
New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.
Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.
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
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.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
