Lead Technical Architect

Apply before 11:55pm on Sunday 10th August 2025

The IPO is a modern organization that relies heavily on its IT services to operate and innovate, providing up-to-date services to our customers, both nationally and internationally. Systems must be architected and maintained to meet their needs with the use of automation to drive the overall user experience

As part of our team, you will have the opportunity to apply your knowledge to solutions utilizing Azure cloud technologies, employ modern delivery processes, and work on innovative projects. Collaborating with experts in their fields, you will make valuable contributions and drive our technology and services forward. Your experience of developing API based solutions will be essential to improve our integration with both internal and external interfaces.

This role requires you to take ownership and have a strong appetite for learning and applying new technologies and methodologies to deliver high-quality IT services. You will lead on designs for solutions for the IPO platforms, considering industry best practices while adhering to IPO standards and policies.

You are expected to be proactive and take accountability for various architectural deliverables within IPO. Additionally, as a Lead Technical Architect, you will contribute to the technical strategy of the organization.

Working Style

This role will be carried out in-line with IPO Hybrid working arrangements where staff are currently expected to spend at least 20% of their time working onsite from one of our offices. This role is based in our Newport Office.

The requirement for attendance at an office location can vary by role so we would encourage candidates to discuss working arrangements with the recruiting manager to agree a reasonable balance between working from home and the office.

Main duties consist of but are not limited to:

• You will work with service squads, project and operational teams, leading and owning elements of the technology architecture with a focus on Microsoft Azure.
• Provide technical leadership and expertise, identifying, selecting and creating appropriate technical solutions based on user needs and business requirements.
• Build Cloud solution designs.
• Where appropriate, act as a solutions architect to be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of the solution.
• Provide technical leadership to project delivery teams, identifying and selecting appropriate technical solutions based on user needs and business requirements.
• Producing and assuring technical and solution designs based on business needs and providing justification for decision-making in chosen technical design.
• Analyse the needs of large deliveries, breaking them down into smaller manageable components ensuring appropriate software, hardware and integration methods are employed.
• Participate where required to support the building of requirements.
• Design and build technical solution meeting requirements.
• Provide technical governance, ensuring technical solutions and decisions adhere to quality, principles, policies and standards.
• Create and present relevant and appropriate documentation at governance boards such as the Technical Design Authority and Solution Design Authority.
• Own the technical roadmaps for allocated capabilities ensuring ongoing deliveries consider business needs, technology updates and changes and the wider impact on the technology estate.
• Liaise with architects from other areas and disciplines to ensure alignment of architectures across your areas of responsibility.
• Work with Strategic Delivery Partners to ensure the requirements of the IPO are met and delivered in line with statements of work, the organisations strategic direction, principles, policies and standards.
• Act as a critical friend to stakeholders ensuring decisions are understood and consider risk, cost, time and quality.
• Horizon scanning and continuous research on emerging technologies and services that would benefit IPO.

Behavioural

• Understanding yourself to be a leader and the impact of your behaviour on others.
• Continually develop expertise in architecture disciplines and technologies to ensure knowledge is kept relevant.
• Coordinates activities to deliver solutions across multiple teams ensuring engagement of stakeholders.
• Takes responsibility for architectural elements within their allocated area or areas.
• Takes a ‘Security by Design’ approach for all considered options.
• Coordinates and facilitates technical discussions that ensure solutions are appropriate and all required parties are engaged.
• Recognises architectural skill and knowledge gaps and ensures appropriate resources are identified to fill them.
• Shares knowledge and expertise with your wider team, becoming a role model within the organisation, champion our culture of learning, development, cross-company collaboration, and teamwork.
• Able to communicate in a succinct, engaging manner.
• Contribute to the creation and adoption of best practice across the architecture profession and promotes the capability across the IPO.
• Support and promote the Architecture community across the IPO.
• Coach and mentor colleagues.
• Promote and display the IPO and Civil Service Values.

Essential criteria

• Strong and demonstrable technical architecture experience, turning business problems into technical designs.
• Cloud platforms, specifically Microsoft Azure and related technologies.
• Solution Design in an Azure Cloud environment
• Strong understanding of relational database structures and data modelling generally.
• In depth understanding of the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Experience of API-driven architecture, extensible, loosely coupled systems
• API Design using Swagger or Postman
• Creating and applying technology strategies using technical standards, policies and patterns.
• Experience of creating technology roadmaps.
• Strong communication skills, especially clearly communicating technical material to non-technical audiences.
• Knowledge of Software development life cycle and corresponding methodologies.
• Experience supporting agile delivery working practices and working within agile teams for rapid delivery.

Benefits

Alongside your salary, Intellectual Property Office contributes £18,563 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

• Unlimited Pluralsight video learning access
• Access to Microsoft’s ESI training suite
• Hybrid working with no core hours
• Substantial support for career progression
• 25 days annual leave moving to 30 days in annual increments
• You will also get 8 days public leave and 1 day privilege leave

Additional details on security and vetting

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check and if successful you must also hold, or be willing to obtain, a higher Security Clearance.

For meaningful checks to be carried out individuals will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, depending on the level of clearance, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. For this role the successful individual will need to have consistently lived in the UK for a minimum 5 years in order to meet the relevant security clearance.