G7 Lead Technical Architect (Applications) £57,515 - £82,430

The DVLA deliver wide reaching digital services to the UK public and industry. We maintain the national record of vehicles and drivers which means we reach over 53 million people a year. If you have applied for a driving licence, changed vehicle, taxed your vehicle, or completed a vehicle enquiry you would have used one of our services.

You’ll get to work alongside our business service designers and agile software development teams and use modern and exciting technologies. Right now, we’re rebuilding our services on a cloud-first platform using Containers and Serverless technologies as well as modern CI/CD tooling, so it’s a great time to join.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Leading the technical design of systems and services, justifying and communicating design decisions.
• Assuring other services and system quality, ensuring the technical work fits into the broader strategy for the agency and wider government.
• Exploring the benefits of cross-government alignment.
• Providing mentoring within teams.
• Providing leadership to other architects.
• Communicating the shared vision effectively to stakeholders of a technical and non-technical nature
• Getting to understand the code and embrace new techniques such as AI coding assistants and tooling that can be used to further the architecture community at the agency with wider industry best practice, Please note that the technical elements of the role will be assessed against Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (Skills) which you will be able to access here.

This interview will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site .

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

Further information on the selection process

Feedback on your application can only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for.

Appointments for this position will be made in order of merit. If you are successful in the selection process but there are no further available posts for the advertised role, you may be contacted to discuss an offer for a lower graded role (with similar experience and responsibility requirements). If you are unsuccessful in the selection process, your application may be considered for a lower graded position if your demonstrated skills and experience meet the requirements of the alternative position. Candidates will be considered in order of merit.

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

• Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
• Threats or acts of violence
• Illegal activity or substance misuse
• Sexually explicit material
• Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .

See our vetting charter . People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks., * 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)
• 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

Can you demonstrate a strong understanding of, and hands-on experience with, cloud technologies?

Have you worked in a lead or senior technical role within a dynamic and innovative environment?

Can you show the appetite and commitment required to help drive an organisation through a significant transformation?, You will have an Architectural / Engineering background having worked in an architect or engineering lead role delivering enterprise and cloud-based software systems.

You will also hold the following skills and experience:

• Knowledge of designing / building cloud native software on a platform such as AWS.
• Experience with data security principles and systems designed to protect sensitive data.
• Desire to create and maintain solution designs in an iterative and collaborative manner.
• Ability to think strategically about business, product and technical challenges.
• Excellent technical skills with the experience to be held accountable for technical aspects of delivering complex solutions, including end-to-end solution design, delivery governance, assurance and support for Engineers and Delivery Managers.
• Great interpersonal skills allowing you to work with technical and non-technical stakeholders alike.
• You will be able to drive discussions with senior leaders across the agency as well as having the technical background that will enable you to easily interact and give guidance to software developers, testers and engineers.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public., Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, candidates will be required to have at least 5 years continuous residency in the UK. All applicants for this role must ensure that they meet this minimum residency requirement - if you do not, your application will be withdrawn., This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., * Experience of creating and maintaining solution designs in an iterative and collaborative manner.

• Excellent technical skills, with the ability to demonstrate accountability for end-to-end solution designs and stakeholder management.
• Experience with architectural governance processes and practices., Technical – Technical design throughout the life cycle (expert) – Presentation
• Architecture communication (expert)
• Making architectural decisions (Practitioner)
• Strategy design (Practitioner)

Pulled from the full job description

• Annual leave
• Free parking
• Company pension
• On-site gym, * Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!, We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Technical design throughout the life cycle (expert) - Presentation
• Architecture communication (expert)
• Making architectural decisions (Practitioner)
• Strategy design (Practitioner), Alongside your salary of £57,515, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency contributes £16,662 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .

This role is part of the Government Digital and Data profession and utilises an enhanced Capability–Based Pay Framework which provides access to a Digital and Data allowance.

The base pay is £57,515. In addition to this the role includes a Digital and Data allowance of up to £24,915., Alongside your salary of £57,515, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency contributes £16,662 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Passionate, reliable and always willing to push yourself and those around you, you’ll continue to seek improvement in your own role and challenge us too. Because we pride ourselves on how we approach your development. From training courses to specialist skills workshops and opportunities to grow your expertise, we thrive when you thrive. You can find out more about all of the above here alongside a full list of our benefits:

• Best in class learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues
• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• Digital communities with clear career frameworks
• On-site gym plus personal training available (membership applies)
• On-site nursery, restaurant and coffee bar
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Free parking

There are many more opportunities and great benefits of working at DVLA, visit our Careers website for further information.

The value of allowance awarded will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated through the selection process. Here are more details on the pay framework.

At DVLA, licensing is just the start. Every project you implement, touch and deliver has a ripple effect that’ll wash across the nation. Here the work you’re doing has the capacity to change the way 53 million people interact with our services. As we aim to keep our roads some of the safest in the world, our innovative, transformative digital-led services help optimise a nation of individuals and business every single day.

To see how our people are transforming our digital services, head over to our DVLA Digital Services Blog and, to understand more about the great opportunities and benefits of working at DVLA read our Inside DVLA blog.