Senior Technical Architect - Planning Inspectorate - SEO

Location

Bristol, South West England, BS1 6PN

About the job

Job summary

Are you passionate about designing technical solutions that solve real-world challenges like the UK’s housing crisis? Do you thrive on creating architecture that aligns with both user needs and strategic goals? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Join the Planning Inspectorate’s Digital team during a pivotal time of transformation. We’re at the forefront of modernising the planning system—building innovative digital services that support the delivery of quality homes and critical infrastructure such as roads, wind farms, and solar energy projects.

As a Senior Technical Architect, you’ll play a key role in shaping the systems that underpin our services. Working in a multi-disciplinary team, you’ll collaborate with digital and data professionals to design and assure solutions that support both internal operations and public-facing services. These include enabling citizens to appeal planning decisions and supporting developers applying for nationally significant infrastructure projects.

You’ll help define and evolve our technical architecture, standards, and principles, ensuring consistency across tools, platforms, and integrations. Embedded within a service team, you’ll ensure that solutions are robust, scalable, and aligned with our enterprise architecture.

We’re currently recruiting for three roles:

• Permanent: Join our Research & Development service, contributing to a range of projects and services.
• 12 month Fixed Term contract: Focus on Azure platform development within the Research & Development team.
• 12 month Fixed Term contract: Support the Appeal A Planning Decision service, including integration with Local Authority planning systems. 

The Planning Inspectorate has a long and proud history in ensuring a fair planning system for England. The work we do has a significant impact on people’s lives, the communities where they live and the economy.

We want our colleagues to be able to work more flexibly and more collaboratively, exploring new and innovative ways to improve the way we provide services. 

For further information on the Planning Inspectorate, please visit our careers page at Civil Service Careers 

Job description

You will be responsible for working collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team, providing technical assurance and solutions. As well as this you will be contributing to an environment where team members are supported and can come to you for guidance and feedback.  

As a Technical Architect you will have excellent technical knowledge to enable you to produce technical and solutions architectures to a high standard, in line with Digital strategy and guidance, considering business requirements, new technologies, and security risks.  

Your experience of complex environments will enable you to understand our environment, to review existing solutions, suggest improvements, and work on solutions to issues and for new systems; being able to explain trade-offs and considerations for different options.  

You will be keen to share your knowledge with colleagues, including your architect peers, and welcome ideas and learning from others.  

A typical week in this role will consist of a blend of responsibilities, including:  

• Working across our core casework services teams to advise on and produce architecture solutions. 
• Collaborating with a diverse range of roles, offering technical expertise on architecture and technology choices to ensure service architectures meet user and strategic needs. 
• Working with other technical team members (such as Developers, DevOps, and Infrastructure and Platform Engineers) to review ideas. 
• Working with Information Security Managers to ensure appropriate security risk controls are in place, and support security health testing. 
• Producing technical architecture documentation and guidance. 
• Providing guidance to technical and non-technical stakeholders. 

Participating in Architect’s Community of Practice meetings, sharing learning, advice and ideas.  

Role types and Salary details 

There are a number of roles available at different grades and employment types: 

1 x Permanent SEO in Research & Development Service

1 x FTC for 12 Months in Research & Development Service

1 x FTC for 12 Months in Appeals Service 

These roles attract a DDaT allowance, for details please see the section marked “Salary”. 

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. Internal rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest. 

This role is being advertised at SEO grade.

Salary range for the Grade role is £45,219 - £49,462 plus a DDAT allowance of up to £12,181 based on Capability and base salary. 

Working hours: 

Standard working week is 37 hours, flexible working hours policy available. 

Office Attendance 

This role is contractually based at Temple Quay House, Bristol which is currently out of use due to undergoing refurbishment work. In the interim, we have the use of alternative office space in very close proximity to Bristol Temple Meads railway station. We recognise and value the mutual benefits of hybrid working and have a flexible approach to in person attendance, which can vary dependent on the requirements of individual business units - the details of which can be discussed with candidates if invited to attend an interview.

Person specification

We will assess your application against the Essential Criteria and Success Profile elements listed:

Essential Criteria

• Digitally and technically literate, capable of effectively engaging with technical staff, suppliers and stakeholders to define the best solutions in line with the Inspectorate’s & Government strategy   
• Experience designing and reviewing complex technical delivery projects   
• Experience liaising with external and internal teams to ensure timely provisioning and implementation of quality, scalable and secure technical solutions   
• Experience of Microsoft cloud applications and infrastructure.    
• Experience working with suppliers to contribute to and assure detailed technical architectures and designs   
• Ability to cope in a technically complex and transformational environment, and to respond calmly and rationally to changing aspirations within constraints   
• Able to effectively articulate the trade-offs between different solution options   
• Familiar with architecture methods & tools such as TOGAF, Archimate and UML

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge of security in a UK Government context
• An understanding of commercial approaches/considerations within the Public Sector environment  

Experience

• See Essential Criteria

For guidance on how to structure your application please visit: About the application process , Civil Service Careers

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together