AMS PSR

Senior Technical Architect

Government Commercial Agency

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 7th June 2026

Reference number

463557

Salary

£59,877 - £66,869

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Job grade

Grade 7

Band 5

Contract type

Permanent

Type of role

Architecture and Data
 Digital

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time, Compressed hours

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

Birmingham, Liverpool, Newport (Gwent), Norwich

About the job

Job summary

This role is being recruiting via Public Sector Resourcing, please ensure you contact them with any questions.

You can apply for this role 

Ready to step up from merely managing systems to designing the future of our entire technology ecosystem? We're seeking a Senior Technical Architect to drive our next generation of scalable, resilient, and innovative solutions. You will directly translate business strategy into technical reality, ensuring every architectural decision delivers maximum value for the nation. Do you possess the deep technical mastery to mentor a high-performing engineering team while navigating the complex trade-offs between speed, cost, and quality?

Job Summary

We seek a visionary Senior Technical Architect to own, evolve, and drive our enterprise-wide DDaT technical strategy and architecture. Operating within a unified, high-performing team (scaling up to 5) that blends Enterprise and Technical Architecture expertise, you will serve as a defining authority, responsible for architecting scalable, secure, and resilient solutions that directly impact public service delivery. In this role, you will lead technical governance, mentor engineering teams, and translate national strategy into robust technical reality. While we leverage supplemental support from preferred partners, our internal architects always maintain full control—establishing the critical guardrails and steering the strategic direction of our complex digital transformation journey.

Job description

• Own the Technical Vision: Define the 'how' for all strategic change, ensuring solutions align with the long-term enterprise architecture.
• Lead Technical Governance: Champion and implement architectural standards, including Secure by Design, across high-impact projects.
• Mentor and Guide Teams: Provide technical leadership and guidance to engineering and architecture teams on complex design decisions.
• Manage Architectural Risk: Identify and clearly articulate technical debt and architectural risks early in the investment process.
• Ensure System Integrity: Verify that new High-Level Designs (HLDs) are scalable, secure, and fit within the broader CCS technology ecosystem.
• Drive Strategic Alignment: Collaborate with Business Architecture to translate strategic goals into practical, resilient technical blueprints.
• Review Supplier Capability: Assess the technical viability and integration methods of solutions proposed by market suppliers (e.g., for the Self-Serve programme).
• Document Architecture: Lead the creation of clear, concise architectural documentation suitable for senior leadership.

Person specification

• Enterprise Architecture Governance: Proven experience in defining and enforcing architectural standards (e.g., through an Architecture Review Board or similar forum) to manage technical debt and ensure system integrity.
• Secure & Scalable Design: Deep expertise in designing and leading the implementation of highly scalable, resilient, and secure solutions, including applying Secure by Design principles to large-scale platforms (e.g., IDAM or high-volume transactional services).
• Strategic Technical Alignment: Ability to translate abstract business or policy strategy into concrete, actionable technical blueprints, and effectively articulate risks to senior stakeholders (e.g., GCF architecture presentation at 'level zero').
• Complex Integration & Trade-offs: Demonstrated experience navigating and making complex technical trade-offs (e.g., speed vs. cost vs. quality) and defining integration strategy for major enterprise systems.
• Leadership Experience in providing technical mentorship and coaching to technical teams.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Architecture communication (presentation sent 24 hours in advance)
• Architect for the whole context (presentation sent 24 hours in advance)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £59,877, Government Commercial Agency contributes £17,346 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Valuing our people:

• Competitive salary 
• Generous pension scheme
• A discretionary non-contractual performance related bonus 
• Working remotely in addition to working in advertised office location
• Flexi time scheme (available for B1-B6) - 
• Minimum 25 days annual leave to a maximum service related 30 days excluding bank holidays

Want to make a difference? Find out more about the rewarding work that we do in our candidate pack. 

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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

We want to make our recruitment process accessible to everyone, so if there is any way that we can support you, please contact recruitment@gca.gov.uk

Working flexibly, delivering outcomes

GCA operates a smarter working model that balances flexibility with collaboration. Successful candidates are expected to spend at least 26 days per quarter (approximately 2 days per week, pro-rata) at their contracted office, another GCA site, or off-site for meetings. For the remainder of the time, you may work from home or another suitable location that meets business needs.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

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

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitably similar vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview. Should you be placed on a reserve list and want to be removed please contact recruitment@gca.gov.uk.

Please note that as part of this recruitment process, if you are unsuccessful at the interview stage but are close to the benchmark score you may be considered for and offered a role at a lower pay band within the same job family.

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.

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).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name :Recruitment team
• Email :recruitment@gca.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email :recruitment@gca.gov.uk

Further information

Our recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles details of which can be found at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk
 If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@gca.gov.uk in the first instance.
 If you remain unsatisfied with the response you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk

https://www.gca.gov.uk/careers-with-gca

Attachments