DDAT - Lead Technical Architect
Ministry of Defence
Apply before 11:55 pm on Thursday 31st October 2024
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Digital
Information Technology
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About the job
Job summary
Defence Digital ensures our Armed Forces remain among the most technologically advanced in the world. We do this by putting innovative and effective technology into the hands of over 200,000 users, from the boardroom to the front line.
We lead on cutting-edge data science, automation, and cyber security at scale. Our mission goes beyond the battlefield by leading humanitarian efforts and driving digital innovation that impacts lives across the globe.
Defence Digital forms part of Strategic Command which manages the MOD’s joint capabilities for the Army, RAF, and Royal Navy.
Passionate about using your skills to make a critical difference? Your next career move could be here!
This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.
Strategic Command is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to improve the way the Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, all posts within Strategic Command Headquarters and in time the wider organisation, are/will be subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities. Throughout, the Command’s transformation programme is committed to following the MOD’s framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Command’s personnel and Trade Unions.
Job description
A Lead Technical Architect plays a high-level role in ensuring technical strategies are developed, agreed, and followed, and works across the business with multiple teams on problems that require broad architectural thinking.
As a Lead Technical Architect, you will proactively and holistically lead and support activities that develop and maintain Technical Reference Architectures and patterns used to ensure solutions and services fit into the broader strategy for Defence and wider government. Working alongside other technical specialists, you will lead activities supporting the technical direction, target architectures, roadmaps, policies and standards which drive coherence and align with Defence’s evolving strategies.
You will be responsible for building a technical understanding of Defence’s diverse Connectivity ecosystem, which includes Networking Infrastructure, Gateways and PKI, AI, Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing and immersive experiences technologies. You will also explore the benefits of NATO federated and cross-government alignment of systems and services.
Responsibilities
- Iteratively create optimal technical reference architecture principles, policies, patterns and standards for Gateways and interoperability services, and organisational objectives, to support Defence’s Digital Backbone.
- Contribute to the overall Technical Architecture (TA), development of enterprise architecture vision, strategy and roadmaps, for Gateways and interoperability services, from a business, technology and data perspective, including ‘as-is’, ‘to-be’ and transitional states.
- Present to senior management and wider stakeholders architectural and technical recommendations which improve or enhance Defence’s Connectivity estate, and which support strategic goals.
- Contribute to the development of architectural practice, ensuring coherent and consistent strategies are developed across business, cyber, cloud, data, networking, and digital workplace architecture.
- Collaborate and advise partners across Defence, Government, NATO Allies, and Industry to ensure business, technology and data decisions are aligned with current Defence strategy.
- Develop, lead, and participate in architecture communities as required, including the Architecture Reference Authority (ARA) for Gateways and PKI and various NATO working groups. National and International travel will occasionally be required to support these engagements.
- Carry out horizon scanning across industry, identifying emerging trends and their potential impact and opportunity, updating technical strategies and roadmaps, as appropriate.
- Development of, and participation in, the architecture community, and Gateways Architecture Coherence Group. (ACG)
- Manage, coach and mentor more junior Technical Architects within the Connectivity team.
For more information on Technical Architects please see the Government Digital and Data Framework;
Person specification
A successful Technical Architect would have experience of the following;
- Strong understanding of operating system principles, network fundamentals, and cloud computing concepts.
- Proven ability to design, build, and evaluate network architectures.
- Knowledge of networking protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP, DNS, etc.) and industry standards.
- PKI - Be able to demonstrate the ability to understand workings of PKI and the technical interfaces it requires.
- Familiarity with antivirus principles, VPNs, and firewalls.
- Exposure to ITIL, TOGAF, and ArchiMate frameworks.
- Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and troubleshooting skills.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Architect for the whole context
- Architecture communication.
- Community collaboration.
- Making architectural decisions.
- Strategy design.
- Technical design throughout the life cycle
Benefits
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• 25 days annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service
• Ability to roll over up to 10 days annual leave per year
• In addition to 8 public holidays per year you will also receive leave for HM The King's birthday
• Minimum of 15 Days Special Leave in a rolling 12-month period to for volunteer military or emergency service reserve commitments
• Special Paid Leave for volunteering up to 6 days a year
• Enhanced parental and adoption leave
• Employee Assistance Programme to support your wellbeing
• Most sites have good travel links with free car parking; many also have other facilities such as a Sports & Social Club and Gyms
• A highly competitive pension scheme.
Discover my benefits for more information
Learning & Development
In Defence Digital we have a strong learning and development ethos, supporting you to fulfil your potential by providing –
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• Professional and Personal Development of skills
• Access to thousands of training courses through Civil Service Learning, some free or paid by MOD
• Ability to obtain industry recognised qualifications supported by MOD
Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.
The post does not offer relocation expenses.
External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.
Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.
Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.
Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.
MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
To apply, please complete the CV and personal statement template provided on the CS Jobs dashboard. It is essential that your personal statement includes evidence of the following essential criteria and is no more than 1250 words.
Each one will be scored 1-7 and make up part of your overall score to assess your suitability to be invited to interview.
At interview, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours;
- Seeing the Bigger Picture
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
Your personal statement should provide a paragraph on each of the following, detailing your experience and suitability for each:
Essential Criteria
- Describe your understanding of how operating systems are built and managed
- Detail your knowledge of the fundamentals of computer networking & cloud computing
- Expand on your knowledge of protocols and standards
- Demonstrate your ability to understand workings of PKI and the technical interfaces it requires.
Equality and Diversity
Our people are at the heart of everything we do at Defence Digital. It’s vital that our workforce reflects the diversity of both our audience and the wider society in the UK, so we’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and we actively seek candidates from diverse backgrounds and communities. We also recognise the importance of a good work life balance, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including part-time and job shares for all our roles. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process if this is something you want to explore.
AI Usage in Job Applications
We encourage the use of technology to streamline the job application process. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be helpful in generating ideas, improving writing style, and increasing efficiency. However, it is essential that any content submitted as part of a job application is truthful, accurate, and a genuine reflection of the applicant’s qualifications and experiences. Any use of AI should be supplementary to your own knowledge and abilities. Ultimately, the application should demonstrate your unique skills and suitability for the role.
Professional Framework Statement
Defence Digital operates an organisation model in which every individual belongs to a Government Profession. The successful applicant will be posted into one of the defined Government Professions on Standard Terms of Reference for the grade. Defence Digital reserves the right to move individuals between roles, within their allocated profession, to meet the needs of the business and in support of agile resourcing. Within Defence Digital each profession is led by a Professional Head of Community who will lead professional development and support the Continuous Professional Development path for their group.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .
As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.
Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Defence Digital Talent Acquisition Team
- Email : ukstratcomdd-hr-talentacqdel@mod.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk
Further information
info@csc.gov.uk.
