Principal Technical Architect - Home Office - G6

Location

Croydon CR0 2WF, Liverpool L3 9AF, Manchester M5 3LZ, Sheffield S3 8NU, Southport PR8 2HH, Glasgow G4 0BT, Cardiff CF24 0AB.

About the job

Job summary

We’re recruiting Principal Technical Architects across four digital portfolios: Migration and Borders Technology, Police and Public Protection Technology, Data Services and Analytics and Automation and Innovation. They require strong technical leadership, the ability to work across complex technology landscapes, and the capability to drive meaningful transformation through secure, user‑centred and scalable solutions. 

Migration and Borders Technology Portfolio (MBTP) 

MBTP delivers the technology, data and cyber services that protect the UK border, support legitimate travel and trade, and enable people to prove their status to live and work in the UK. They manage high‑volume systems that handle people, passports and passenger movements, serving hundreds of thousands of users daily. 

Police and Public Protection Technology Portfolio (PPPT) 

PPPT supports critical national policing and public safety systems, including Law Enforcement Data Service; the Police National Database; Automatic Number Plate Recognition; offender and safeguarding systems; and key homeland security and international data‑sharing capabilities. PPPT designs, builds and operates modern, secure digital services at national scale that underpin millions of daily operational decisions across UK policing and help protect the public and manage risk. 

Data Services and Analytics (DSA) 

DSA is one of government’s leading data analytics centres, central to the Home Office’s data transformation. It provides strategic value by delivering innovative data insight services that help solve real government challenges, including the design and adoption of modern data architectures and medallion patterns. 

Automation and Innovation 

This portfolio turns emerging technologies into practical, high‑impact solutions by prototyping and deploying automation and advanced technologies to deliver significant efficiency savings. 

Working with the Digital Innovation Lab, you will operate at the forefront of public sector innovation, translating complex technologies into business outcomes through strong full‑stack architecture knowledge and a strategic, forward‑thinking approach. They deliver integrated, resilient services that support national security and public service transformation. 

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. Where this is the case, employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office. Applicants can raise any queries to the email address at the bottom of the advert.    

Watch this short video to hear from members of Home Office Digital talking about the projects they work on and their experience of working here: Working for Home Office Digital. 

Job description

As Principal Technical Architect, you will define and execute the technical strategy for your responsibility, collaborating with senior leadership and diverse teams to ensure alignment with organisational, cross-departmental, and government-wide objectives.

You will proactively seek opportunities to leverage emerging technologies such as cloud, AI, and IoT. You will ensure that technical solutions are secure, user-focused, and capable of adapting to evolving business needs. 

You will lead the design and review processes for complex systems and infrastructure, championing architectural best practices and governance. By bridging technical and business perspectives, you will resolve high-risk issues and shape initiatives that drive transformation.

Your role includes guiding and inspiring other architects, facilitating professional growth, and establishing an environment where innovative thinking thrives. 

Person specification

Main Responsibilities

• Own and deliver the overarching technical strategy, guiding architectural decisions that balance risk, complexity, and delivery timelines. 
• Lead governance and assurance processes, ensuring solutions remain secure, robust, and aligned with enterprise architecture principles. 
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders to advocate for digital transformation initiatives, influencing decisions through clear, data-driven insights. 
• Mentor and guide architects and engineering teams, nurturing a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous learning. 
• Oversee integration of new systems, developing detailed plans that align with broader organisational and cross-government strategies. 
• Assess current systems to identify areas for improvement, analyse potential risks, and promote emerging best practices in the field. 
• Facilitate stakeholder discussions, serving as the key escalation point for complex or high-risk design challenges. 
• Drive continuous improvement, incorporating lessons learned into future strategies and ensuring consistency in architecture across multiple domains. 

Essential Skills

• Significant experience of designing cloud platform and applications architectures, across CSPs such as AWS and MS Azure, ideally evidencing microservice and serverless architectures deployed at scale. 
• Shown leadership in delivering complex, innovative technical architectures at scale, inspiring technical excellence and forward-thinking design. 
• Strategic foresight to anticipate future technologies and identify opportunities for transformation or optimisation. 
• Experience managing diverse technology landscapes, including third-party suppliers, cloud environments, and cross-departmental teams. 
• Deep knowledge of engineering principles, agile methods, DevOps, and secure-by-design approaches, ensuring robust, resilient solutions. 
• Track record of delivering solutions on time and within scope, balancing budget, security, and quality considerations. 
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, translating complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insights. 
• Ownership of technical roadmaps and strategies, ensuring solutions align with enterprise objectives and evolving user needs.