Senior Solution Architect

As a Senior Solution Architect you will lead architecture for national systems, designing secure, scalable & interoperable solutions. Duties include creating end-to-end architectures, advising delivery teams, producing artefacts such as roadmaps, HLDs & patterns, ensuring alignment with standards & supporting governance. You will also mentor less experienced architects.

We recruit across several domains and will align you to the area best suited to yourexpertise.

Applications

• Shape national services such as NHS App, NHS.uk, UEC & GP digital tools, focusing on user-centred design & integration

Security (Cyber Architecture) subject to Security Check clearance

• Design secure-by-default systems, develop threat-informed patterns, support NHS cyber maturity & protect critical services

Infrastructure

• Lead hybrid cloud strategy, network design, Microsoft 365 services & collaboration platforms underpinning secure NHS operations

Platforms

• Design shared APIs, event-driven systems, registries, data services & cloud-native components enabling interoperability & safety

You will help national digital services evolve sustainably, strengthening digital foundations, improving resilience & supporting innovation across the NHS. This role offers the chance to shape national digital services, influence major programmes, and ensure technology supports patients, clinicians and staff across England, contributing to safer, more efficient & future-ready healthcare delivery nationwide., Full details of responsibilities, skills, and criteria are available in the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

The post of Senior Solution Architect has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 20% per annum.

Please be aware that RRP is non-contractual and subject to review.

Some roles may require the successful candidate to hold, or be eligible to hold,Security Check (SC)clearance.

To meet National Security Vetting requirements, SC clearances require 5 years continuous UK residency. In certain cases, this can be reduced to three years continuous UK residency, with additional overseas checks for the previous two years.

Candidates who were posted abroad for service with HM Government, Armed Forces or within a UK government role will still be considered.

For further advice please check https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels#security-check-sc.

• Degree in a computing, scientific or mathematical discipline or equivalent professional experience (Experience is weighted more heavily than formal qualifications, in line with the Government Digital and Data (GDD) profession approach).

Desirable

• Postgraduate study (e.g., Master's degree) is welcome but not required.
• Professional certifications (TOGAF, cloud, cyber, etc.) are useful but not essential -- practical architectural delivery experience is more important.

Knowledge

Essential

• Deep understanding of enterprise-level architecture principles, integration patterns, security considerations, standards and governance.
• Broad knowledge of modern digital delivery approaches including cloud architectures, API design, event-driven systems, data services, DevOps and automation.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly, tailoring messages for senior, executive and non-technical audiences.
• Strong stakeholder leadership skills, with experience influencing delivery teams, suppliers and senior decision-makers.
• Skilled at producing high-quality architectural artefacts (models, patterns, options analyses, roadmaps, ADRs) that support transparent decision-making.
• Ability to work across organisational boundaries, understanding constraints, user needs, policy and technology landscapes in order to design viable solutions.

Experience

Essential

• Extensive hands-on experience designing and delivering solutions within complex IT environments, ideally at enterprise or national scale.
• Proven experience providing architectural leadership across major programmes, ensuring alignment with strategy, standards, service needs and technical constraints.
• Significant experience applying architectural frameworks or structured approaches (e.g., capability modelling, integration patterns, domain-driven design, reusable patterns).
• Evidence of owning and leading architecture for a specific domain (applications, cyber, platforms, data, cloud, infrastructure), producing coherent end-to-end designs.
• Experience guiding or assuring supplier designs, participating in technical reviews, shaping proposals and ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture and security standards.
• Demonstrable experience working in multidisciplinary teams across discovery, alpha, beta and live phases -- consistent with GDS ways of working.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree in a computing, scientific or mathematical discipline or equivalent professional experience (Experience is weighted more heavily than formal qualifications, in line with the Government Digital and Data (GDD) profession approach).

Desirable

• Postgraduate study (e.g., Master's degree) is welcome but not required.
• Professional certifications (TOGAF, cloud, cyber, etc.) are useful but not essential -- practical architectural delivery experience is more important.

Knowledge

Essential

• Deep understanding of enterprise-level architecture principles, integration patterns, security considerations, standards and governance.
• Broad knowledge of modern digital delivery approaches including cloud architectures, API design, event-driven systems, data services, DevOps and automation.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly, tailoring messages for senior, executive and non-technical audiences.
• Strong stakeholder leadership skills, with experience influencing delivery teams, suppliers and senior decision-makers.
• Skilled at producing high-quality architectural artefacts (models, patterns, options analyses, roadmaps, ADRs) that support transparent decision-making.
• Ability to work across organisational boundaries, understanding constraints, user needs, policy and technology landscapes in order to design viable solutions.

Experience

Essential

• Extensive hands-on experience designing and delivering solutions within complex IT environments, ideally at enterprise or national scale.
• Proven experience providing architectural leadership across major programmes, ensuring alignment with strategy, standards, service needs and technical constraints.
• Significant experience applying architectural frameworks or structured approaches (e.g., capability modelling, integration patterns, domain-driven design, reusable patterns).
• Evidence of owning and leading architecture for a specific domain (applications, cyber, platforms, data, cloud, infrastructure), producing coherent end-to-end designs.
• Experience guiding or assuring supplier designs, participating in technical reviews, shaping proposals and ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture and security standards.
• Demonstrable experience working in multidisciplinary teams across discovery, alpha, beta and live phases -- consistent with GDS ways of working.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

NHS England is seeking Senior Solution Architects to shape the next generation of national digital services. Whether your strengths lie in applications, platforms, cloud, data, security, or infrastructure, there is an opportunity here to contribute at exceptional scale. Digital transformation is a core priority for the NHS, this is a unique moment to influence technology that supports clinicians, empowers patients, and improves the operation of health and care services nationwide. Our Architecture function provides architectural leadership, technical assurance, and strategic direction across major national programmes. You will lead architecture for a domain or national system, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, interoperable, and aligned with NHS England's strategic vision and standards. The role is aligned with Government Digital Service (GDS) principles and expectations for modern, user-centred public service design. What's in it for you * Join a collaborative, expert team committed to transforming digital health and care * Work on services with real-world impact for patients, clinicians and NHS staff * Access extensive professional development and learning opportunities to grow your career * Work in a hybrid model with opportunities to collaborate across national teams, NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS. Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services. In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department. If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process. Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices. Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.