Enterprise Architect

In this strategic, timebound role, you will play a pivotal part in shaping how technology, data, and digital capabilities enable Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) across the whole of Essex. This is a unique opportunity to influence the future operating model for an integrated, efficient, and citizen focused local government system. As an Enterprise Architect, you will lead the development of cross organisation technical architectures, shared capabilities, and system designs that support collaboration and interoperability across councils and partners. You will help create a coherent, modern, and sustainable technology landscape that underpins a seamless experience for residents and a more connected set of public services across Essex. You will bring deep technical expertise, strategic thinking, and a strong ability to challenge assumptions and offer new perspectives. Working across organisational boundaries, you will bridge the gap between high level reform ambitions and practical delivery, enabling evidence-based decision making and systemwide change. To read more about our business area, please visit, * Act as a trusted technical advisor to senior leaders across ECC and wider Essex partners, providing expert guidance on the future technology landscape required to support Local Government Reorganisation.

• Develop an integrated, system-wide view of technology, digital capabilities, infrastructure, platforms, and data flows to inform shared planning, investment, and decision-making across LGR workstreams.
• Translate ECC's existing Enterprise Architecture principles, standards, patterns and reference models into clear guidance for LGR workstreams, ensuring all proposals and designs align with established direction.
• Review and assure LGR technical and digital proposals to ensure they are interoperable, scalable, secure, and consistent with ECC's architecture and strategic priorities.
• Develop and maintain a shared understanding of the technology, data, integration and digital capability impacts of LGR across councils and services.
• Analyse complex cross-organisation technology challenges, assess digital maturity, and recommend future-state architectures that strengthen interoperability, reduce duplication, and increase resilience.
• Shape the technical elements of high-level business cases, ensuring proposals reflect LGR priorities, shared capabilities, integration requirements, and long-term sustainability.
• Oversee the development of roadmaps that guide partners toward a consistent, modernised, and secure technology environment that enables efficient and user-centred public services.
• Work closely with ECC's BAU Enterprise Architect to ensure LGR decisions support ECC's technical roadmap and avoid duplication, legacy growth or unnecessary divergence.
• Assure the design of major digital and technology initiatives to ensure architectural conformance, simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and alignment to LGR objectives.
• Collaborate with commercial and procurement teams to ensure suppliers, products, and platforms are aligned to shared Enterprise Architecture principles.
• Engage with technical leads, programme teams, service areas and partner councils to promote consistent architecture practices and improve cross-organisation clarity.
• Contribute to the architecture community of practice, sharing insights from the LGR programme and supporting coherence across the Essex system.
• Advocate for emerging technologies and shared digital capabilities that can modernise services and reduce fragmentation across Essex.

• Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant subject, with extensive experience in business architecture within digital services or public sector environments.

• Extensive experience as an enterprise or senior solution architect, ideally within a large public sector environment or multi-organisation transformation programme.

• Accredited in TOGAF 9.2 (or similar), with working knowledge of frameworks such as ArchiMate, BPMN, COBIT, and IT4IT.

• Strong understanding of enterprise-level architecture practices, technical standards, integration patterns and how they support organisational strategy.

• Proven ability to analyse complex, multi-organisation technology landscapes and develop clear, pragmatic, scalable recommendations.

• Experience assuring or guiding major technology initiatives, programmes or business cases.

• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence, challenge constructively and explain technical concepts in accessible ways.

• Experience leading enterprise business solutions, including process reengineering and organisational design programmes.

• Knowledge of change management tools and techniques, with experience supporting transformation initiatives.

• Keen interest in emerging technologies and their application in digital service delivery.

• Committed to continuous professional development and staying current with evolving delivery models and methodologies.

Essex Digital Service is at the forefront of supporting Local Government Reorganisation across Essex - shaping how services are delivered not just within Essex County Council, but across the entire public sector landscape. We're building digital foundations and shared capabilities that make it easier, safer, and more joined up for residents and colleagues to get things done, wherever they are in Essex.