Technical Architect - GPA - G7

Location

Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham

About the job

Job summary

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate. 

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team. 

Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading significant transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme. We are also delivering cost- effective property services such as asset management, lifecycle replacement and workplace services. 

Innovation and progress underpin our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. Our four core values are at the heart of everything we do. They shape our culture and guide how we work, lead and grow together: 

• Striving for excellence- We always aim to deliver great results 
• Empowering through respect- We insist on fair treatment for all, always 
• Acting with integrity- We consistently do the right thing 
• Succeeding together- We rely on each other to achieve success 

We are committed to representing the communities we serve by making Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) part of everything we do. Our strong emphasis on EDI is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces. To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth.

We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

Job description

As well as the exciting UK-wide property agenda we are delivering a leading-edge technology programme. We’re looking for an exceptional Technical Architect to ensure the successful delivery of this technology programme in the GPA’s property portfolio. We want someone who will seize the challenge and own the role, with energy and a commitment to quality.

Our teams work on exciting projects to deliver new and refurbished Government Buildings across the whole of the country. You will work with colleagues who manage the construction project and with the GPA’s technology specialists and suppliers to ensure the successful delivery of our services in these buildings.

Your role is to tailor our standard designs to meet the needs of the project, and to oversee and assure suppliers whilst they deliver to meet our standards.

We expect that you will have a strong background in IT Infrastructure with demonstrable experience in network implementation.

In particular we are seeking people with strong experience of Wi-Fi implementation and experience of integrating other IT systems onto a network.

As a project architect you will meet the following DDaT role profile:

https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/role/technical-architect 

Technical Architect - Project Delivery (Networks)

A Technical Architect is accountable for the delivery of network architecture in different GPA buildings and representing their business area.

At this role level, you will:

• be consulted about network design and provide design patterns
• identify deeper network issues that need fixing
• look for opportunities to collaborate and reuse components, communicating with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• have  a good understanding of most network technologies  including LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network), WIFI, data centre LAN, SD (software-defined) networks, telephony, mobile solutions infrastructure, unified comms, network management solutions, and network specific security and remote access technologies and approaches
• champion new technologies and solutions
• be a strategic thinker who can communicate network concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders

Key responsibilities: 

• Contributing to updating the network high level design (HLD) based on project experience
• Tailoring the HLD to meet specific project requirements
• Liaising with other technical specialists to understand requirements and integrate IT systems onto the shared networks.
• Assurance of supplier delivery throughout the project lifecycle including coordination of all technical integrations for our customers.
• Facilitating the network handover, including overseeing early life support during transition to the IT support partner
• Ongoing support to problem solving and technical incident resolution of live services
• Working alongside other technical project managers and often across multiple concurrent projects. 
• Frequent travel  to different sites across  the UK in order to carry out technical  delivery assurance activities with our strategic partners and suppliers.

Person specification

We are looking for resourceful individuals, capable of working to hard project deadlines.

You should have a range of IT infrastructure engineering experience, with a focus on the delivery of end user networks.

Essential criteria:

• Experience of multi-tenant network and IT infrastructure delivery
• Wifi networking experience
• Experience of IT delivery in new build and refurbishment construction projects in accordance with RIBA stage lifecycle.

Desirable criteria:

• Good communication 
• Documentation 

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Customer Perspective
• Commercial Accumen
• Property Market Knowledge
• Innovation