Senior Technical Architect

• Rapidly develop an understanding of technologies in use and HMRC's overarching architecture strategy.
• Collaborate closely with Innovation scrum teams, business partners and IT colleagues to design and deliver innovative, operationally sound solutions that align with strategic end-to-end functional design.
• Demonstrate flexibility, initiative, attention to detail and a strong commitment to quality.
• Deliver customer-focused technology change, articulating complex technical detail in a manner accessible to non-technical audiences.
• Establish credibility and influence, communicating confidently and effectively with diverse stakeholders.
• Work creatively on inception and discovery projects, embracing a "fail fast" approach even where requirements and scope are undefined.
• Interpret and respond to challenges of varying scale, while identifying future opportunities through emerging technology and data, always considering user needs.
• Develop and test innovative concepts and solutions, supporting colleagues with technical and architectural expertise, and designing proof of concepts for future services.
• Engage with internal groups, third parties, external suppliers and academia to develop concepts and MVPs, and run proof of value exercises to demonstrate impact.
• Contribute to business cases and provide compelling recommendations for future direction, influencing policy and strategy at senior levels.

Person Specification

We are seeking an experienced Senior Technical Architect who can:

• Lead technical discussions between internal teams and external stakeholders, communicating concepts clearly and driving continuous improvement.
• Evaluate products and tools, delivering enterprise-appropriate recommendations.
• Develop a strong understanding of user needs, designing user-centred technical service propositions.
• Identify business problems and recommend technical solutions and designs.
• Undertake structural analysis of technical issues, translating these into solution-focused technical designs.
• Build collaborative relationships across teams and services.
• Compellingly articulate technical requirements and implications to technical and non-technical colleagues, senior leaders, business partners and customers.
• Work with innovators to design aspirational concepts for future services and processes.
• Mentor colleagues and contribute to the professional development of the team.

Essential Criteria

• Govern high and low-level designs across the full lifecycle, from requirements management to supporting operations teams with service introduction.
• Demonstrate effective, proactive and reactive communication with colleagues, business partners, customers and senior leaders.
• Bridge the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders, translating technical concepts for universal understanding.
• Provide technical governance and ensure service assurance.
• Guide and make effective decisions, clearly explaining the rationale behind choices.
• Apply technology strategy to meet business and customer needs, creating, refining and challenging standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements.
• Translate business problems into technical designs, working across multiple services or complex, large-scale projects.
• Remain informed of trends and practices outside HMRC, understanding their impact and integration into broader strategy.
• Look beyond immediate technical problems to identify wider implications and context.

• Software development experience and technical architecture expertise.
• Knowledge of innovative and emerging technologies (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Geospatial and Synthetic Data, Cryptocurrencies, Open Banking).
• Cloud computing experience, including design and implementation (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or hybrid environments).
• Demonstrable understanding of agile methodologies and principles. Join the HMRC Innovation Team and help shape the future of public services through technology, collaboration and forward-thinking solutions.