Principal Technical Architect

Job summary

Please find a candidate pack attached at the bottom of the page.

What is Government Digital Service?

Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We set, lead and deliver the vision for a modern digital government, harnessing technologies and talent to make a serious impact across the public sector. We employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol. We’re home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI) and the world-leading GOV.UK website.

Where you'll be working

You'll join the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), the directorate responsible for delivering key government technology strategies and initiatives, like the market-shaping Cloud Challenge Book and public sector technology learning through Get Tech Certified.

Led by the Government Chief Technology Officer, OCTO sets cross-government technology strategy, technical standards, and shared architectural patterns to drive digital transformation and interoperability across public services.

We lead the Engineering, Architecture and IT Operations professions across the public sector. We provide the guidance, tools, methodologies, communities, events and research that thousands of technology professionals rely on to do their jobs throughout their careers.

The problems we're solving

Government runs on technology the public relies on every day, but much of it is ageing, fragmented, and at risk.

While government technology has real strengths, its maturity varies significantly across teams, services, and organisations. Some areas are modern, well-run and highly capable; others are still dependent on old systems, fragile infrastructure, and accumulated legacy and technical debt.

That's where we come in: our mission is to build Firmer Foundations for Government, a core pillar of the Government's Blueprint for Modern Digital Government. We're working with leaders across government and the wider public sector to mitigate the risks of legacy and ageing technology.

New and emerging technologies are part of the answer. They offer better ways to design, build and run services and improve resilience for the public. But they also make the need to act more urgent: government needs stronger foundations now if it is to adopt new technologies safely, responsibly and at scale.

Join OCTO, and you'll help shape how government tackles the challenge of legacy technology and harnesses the power of emerging technologies. You will also have the opportunity to support and influence thousands of technology professionals across the public sector who are building the services the public relies on every day.

Job description

Please Note - Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

What you’ll do as a Principal Technical Architect

This is not your normal Architecture role; it offers the opportunity to make an impact at a serious scale. You may be asked to work across a range of technical disciplines and opportunities, and be responsible for solving some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges. You will help millions of people in government and the public sector to access services they need.

Our teams in OCTO are routinely involved in critical, flagship activities such as:

• the creation of market shaping material like the Cloud Challenge Book
• providing free digital, data and technology learning and certification opportunities for the whole public sector through Get Tech Certified
• authoring assessments into how effectively the public sector uses digital technology such as the State of Digital Government Review
• enabling the government and public sector to harness the power of AI technology safely, effectively and responsibly through the AI Playbook for the UK Government
• supporting commercial engagements worth billions of pounds
• providing policy decisions and advice based on the most current market trends, such as guidance on AI, open code and vulnerabiity risk in the public sector
• providing advice and thought leadership to other international governments, our suppliers and other policy areas across government
• responding to pan-government technology questions from ministers and support committee hearings

This is a role with unlimited space to grow and make a major impact on the UK’s digital strategy.

Your responsibilities include:

• building a decade-long strategy in your field / specialism that’s truly yours
• identifying and promoting best practice across government and the public sector
• delivering technologies that have a positive impact on users
• developing a network of peers, building credibility and improving communication
• maximising the offer from vendors to the public sector

You may also have the opportunity to manage and mentor a Lead Technical Architect who will support you in your role and develop their own processes and technologies.

Person specification

You should work in a technical profession aligned to the Architecture, Data, IT Operations or Software Development specialisms, either within the Government Digital and Data Framework, or in a similar large-scale digital-first commercial environment. You should also hold relevant industry certifications for your technical specialism.

Your skills

• you must have experience setting a vision and leading digital and data change across complex and decentralised organisations
• you must have experience designing and building technology characterised by high levels of risk and complexity and embedding it at scale
• you should have experience engaging with suppliers both formally and informally
• you should be comfortable communicating with technical stakeholders such as Chief Technology Officers / Chief Digital Officers across government, as well as non-technical stakeholders, including ministers and permanent secretaries
• you should be able to share learning and mentor others, adapting feedback to ensure its effective and lasting
• you should have experience in driving efficiency and lowering costs

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for the King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Townhall event

We are hosting a Townhall event to discuss this role, and the wider work undertaken in OCTO on Thursday 17th September 2026, from 11:00 - 12:00. Joining details below.

Microsoft Teams meetingJoin: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/344946563086875?p=A4CDGl57z8N2auWtACMeeting ID: 344 946 563 086 875Passcode: AT33jB9Y

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and to answer 3 application questions
• A Video Submission Stage
• a 60 minute video interview which will feature a presentation, details of the presentation will be shared with invited candidates prior to the interview

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is: Describe a time when you identified a strategic technology issue, risk or opportunity that had implications beyond your own team or programme. How did you track its development over time, assess its impact across the wider organisation, and influence others to act?

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• Seeing the big picture
• Communicating and influencing
• Making effective decisions
• Working together

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Principal Technical Architect role:

• Architect for the whole context
• Making architectural decisions
• Strategy design
• Architecture communication

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here

Recruitment Timeline

Townhall Event: 19/9/2026 - 11:00 - 12:00

Sift completion: 5th October 2026

Video Submission Stage: 6th - 13th October 2026

Panel interviews: Starting from 20th October 2026

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk
• Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact gds-complaints@dsit.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: info@csc.gov.uk Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.

Attachments

OCTO Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 4761kB)