Lead Technical Architect - HMRC - G6

Location

Birmingham Regional Centre - Arena Central
Cardiff Regional Centre - Ty William Morgan
Edinburgh Regional Centre - Queen Elizabeth House
Leeds Regional Centre - Wellington Place
Manchester Regional Centre - Three New Bailey
Telford - Plaza 1 and 2
Worthing - Teville Gate House
Stratford Regional Centre - Westfield Avenue

About the job

Job summary

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

We're seeking a Lead Technical Architect (Innovation) who is not only a proven leader and vendor manager in multi-supplier environments, but also an expert and thought leader in their technology or business domain. A strong customer ethos and deep understanding of market dynamics are essential.

HMRC is transforming the way it does business with its customers, and CDIO’s Chief Technology and Design Office is at the forefront of much of this change. Around us the technical landscape is rapidly changing, with new innovative emerging technologies offering significant improvements to the way that HMRC operates. These new technologies are changing customer expectations and the way customers engage with HMRC services.

The Innovation team works closely with HMRC partners and industry-leading SMEs to identify and evaluate technical opportunities that offer significant potential in HMRC, conducting proof-of-concept and proof-of-value exercises, which can then help inform decision-making and future strategies.

This role sits in the CDIO Chief Technology and Design Office, acting as the main conduit with the CDIO Customer Group verticals, strategy and innovation groups across HMRC, leading on opportunities to explore the use of new technology.

You will have the unique opportunity to lead on investigating new technology and IT developments to support, influence and shape significant future HMRC policies and strategies. The role will involve understanding and translating technology advancements into HMRC concepts and building evidence via a user centred approach to demonstrate how technology can shape and transform policy or ways of working in HMRC.

The products you and your team will work on will be identified by direct engagement with the technology market and academia, and through analysis of business problems that will benefit from a technology approach.

The successful candidate will work closely with the other Innovation Leads and support the Deputy Director of Innovation. This is an exciting time to be joining an area that can have a huge influence on how HMRC operates and transforms to meet the needs of the economy.

Job description

Working directly with senior leaders across HMRC and across government, you will:

• Understand business problems, challenges and how technology can transform policy or ways of working to meet strategic objectives.
  
  
• Explore how the economy and working practices are changing, working collaboratively with policy, strategy futures and OGD colleagues to bring together user needs, design and technology that demonstrate how HMRC can transform.
  
  
• Lead multi-disciplined teams, investigations, research and analysis i.e. through proof of concepts, hackathons, etc, you will demonstrate how technology solutions (including new and unconstrained) can be applied in an HMRC environment.
  
  
• Ensure the Innovation team deliveries value-focused, with a clear, prioritised backlog to achieve the vision of each initiative. You will provide direction to rapidly deliver and using agile methodology to adapt to user needs.
  
  
• Lead engagement with HMRC IT partners and industry leading SMEs to get a solid understanding of the value offered by emerging technologies, being able to expertly communicate this potential to influence directors, strategy and policy makers.
  
  
• Demonstrate an understanding of the strategic direction and the key challenges facing HMRC and customer needs as the economy develops and ways of working change.
  
  
• Identify and prove that technology can provide appropriate solutions enabling HMRC to continuously adapt and stay up to date with technology advancements.
  
  
• Stakeholder Engagement & Innovation Leadership:
  
  
• Act as the key liaison for senior leaders and directors across customer and functional units within CDIO.
  
  
• Translate business needs into technology solutions, providing evidence-based recommendations that influence departmental strategy and service delivery.
  
  
• Lead innovation engagement by fostering a culture of experimentation, providing access to tools and resources, and guiding ideas from concept to implementation through appropriate delivery teams.
  
  
• Represent HMRC in engagement with academia, technology companies, events and groups to understand technology advancements and to encourage organisations to engage with HMRC to drive transformation.

Develop innovative ideas in to propositions that demonstrate an understanding of the actions required (i.e. analysis, trials, proof of concepts, supplier input) leading a team to develop recommendations on how to proceed or deliver a viable solution.

Person specification

The successful applicant will need to demonstrate relevant experience and effective delivery of the following:

Essential Criteria

• Strategic Thinking: Understand key challenges and constraints, and explore innovative solutions to support HMRC’s transformation. Thrive in fast-paced environments, embrace experimentation, and make decisions grounded in user needs and value.
  
  
• Innovation Experience: Hands-on experience with emerging technologies such as AI, Cloud, Geospatial, or Synthetic Data. Make informed tech choices balancing user needs and value for money, with awareness of digital contexts and the wider tech landscape.
  
  
• Leadership and User-Centred Delivery: Translate user needs into deliverables, define MVPs, and prioritise effectively. Proven ability to maintain momentum, resolve blockers, and coordinate across teams and departments to meet commitments.
  
  
• Tech-Driven Alignment: Align business needs with technology services using product management principles to maximise value.
  
  
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work effectively with multidisciplinary teams, stakeholders, and service providers, with strong communication across boundaries.
  
  
• User Advocacy: Build trust through clear communication, manage competing priorities, and engage meaningfully with users based on evidence.
  
  
• Vision & Influence: Gather broad requirements, identify problems, and shape ambitious strategies that gain organisational buy-in and translate into actionable goals.
  
  
• Team Leadership: Lead multi-functional teams effectively, champion cultural change, and act as a credible, influential role model.
  
  
• Team Collaboration: Skilled in building and motivating high-performing teams, fostering transparency, and promoting a collaborative, adaptable work culture.
  
  
• Product Management: Proficient in product ownership, translating user needs into deliverables, defining MVPs, and prioritising effectively.

 Desirable Criteria

• UK Tax Domain Insight: Understanding of HMRC tax regimes to identify opportunities for tech-driven solutions.
  
  
• Software Development: Knowledge and practical skills of software development and Cloud platforms.
  
  
• Agile Expertise: Apply agile methodologies and user-centred design to enable rapid, iterative delivery.

Transitional Sites Information

If your location preference is for one of the following sites, it’s important to note that these are not long-term sites for HMRC and we will require you to move to a new building in the future, subject to our location strategy and the applicable employee policies at that time.

For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations (opens in a new window)

These sites are:

• Telford Plaza, Telford - moving to Parkside Court, Telford

Leeds Locations

Moves Adjustment Payment will be available for this role, provided the successful applicant is a current HMRC colleague and meets the eligibility requirements outlined in the HMRC’s Moves Adjustment Payment guidance.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing