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Job summary

As a Lead Business Architect, you operate at a strategic level within the Digital and Information Directorate (DID), reporting to the Principal Technical and Enterprise Architect. The role is pivotal in shaping the technical direction of digital services across multiple teams and projects. Its primary purpose is to ensure that systems are robust, scalable, secure, and aligned with organisational and government standards.

Key responsibilities include guiding technical design, making critical architectural decisions, and assuring solution quality through reviews and adherence to architecture principles. The role promotes reuse, interoperability, and cross-organisation and cross-government collaboration, identifying opportunities for shared platforms and services to deliver better value.

Beyond technical oversight, you play a leadership role in mentoring other architects and technical staff, fostering continuous learning and professional development. You will be a leader in the architecture community, embedding best practices and driving innovation and architectural alignment across delivery teams.

Strategically, the position requires maintaining awareness of emerging technologies, government digital strategies, and socio-political trends to ensure architectural decisions remain forward-looking. The architect will engage senior stakeholders to influence strategic direction and inform planning and investment decisions.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 16 or over at the point of starting in this role. The expected start date is approximately 8–12 weeks after the application closing date. Candidates are expected to commence employment as soon as possible following the expiry of their notice period. Requests for significantly later start dates may not be accommodated.

As part of this role, you are expected to undertake direct line management responsibilities.

Job description

Your roles and responsibilities:

• Define and own technical architecture for complex digital services, ensuring alignment with organisational and government standards (e.g., GDS framework).
• Provide strategic technical leadership, influencing design decisions and guiding delivery teams across multiple projects.
• Assure solution quality through architecture reviews, governance, and adherence to enterprise principles such as scalability, security, and interoperability.
• Promote reuse and shared platforms, identifying opportunities for cross-government collaboration and cost-effective solutions.
• Mentor and develop technical staff, fostering a culture of continuous learning and professional growth within the architecture community.
• Engage senior stakeholders, translating technical concepts into business value and influencing investment decisions.
• Stay ahead of emerging technologies and trends, ensuring architectural decisions remain innovative and future-proof.
• Lead on risk management and compliance, including security standards and technical assurance processes.
• Champion best practices, embedding agile and DevOps principles into architecture and delivery approaches.

A copy of the full job description is attached.

Person specification

To be eligible to apply, you need to:

• Have substantial experience in technical architecture, including designing and assuring complex digital services that meet organisational and relevant sector standards, preferably HMG standards.
• Demonstrate strategic thinking, with the ability to see the bigger picture, align technical decisions to long-term organisational goals, and anticipate emerging technologies and trends.
• Show leadership capability, including mentoring technical staff, fostering professional development, and leading architecture communities to embed best practices.
• Possess strong stakeholder engagement skills, able to influence senior leaders and communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical audiences.
• Be adept at promoting reuse and interoperability, identifying opportunities for shared platforms and cross-organisation and cross-government collaboration to deliver value.
• Have a proven ability to assure solution quality, through governance, reviews, and adherence to enterprise architecture principles such as scalability, security, and sustainability.
• Understand agile and DevSecOps practices, working with these principles in architecture and delivery approaches.

You also need to demonstrate the following technical skills:

• Business architecture

• Communicating information

• Consultancy

• Making and guiding decisions

• Methods and tools

• Strategic thinking

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• Business Architecture
• Communicating Information
• Consultancy
• Making and Guiding Decisions
• Methods and Tools
• Strategic Thinking

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,330, Crown Prosecution Service contributes £16,898 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Join the Crown Prosecution Service and find your purpose.

The Crown Prosecution Service is passionate about ensuring that we're a top performing organisation and a great place to work. We're a committed equal opportunities employer, creating a culture where you can bring your whole self to work, and individuality is truly appreciated.

This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our staff networks covering disability, faith and belief, LGBTQI+, race, social mobility alongside our mental health first aiders programme and wellbeing sessions.

The Crown Prosecution Service commits to offer its employees the following experience.

• You can do impactful, purposeful work that’s making a difference to your local communities.
• You are able to learn and grow, with access to the right opportunities and resources.
• We care about your wellbeing.
• We want you to feel valued, trusted and included.

We also offer the following range of benefits:

• Civil Service contributory pension of up to 28.9%
• 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years
• £350 each year to spend on personal development
• lawyer training programme for all new prosecutors
• an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• flexible working including flexitime, and a family friendly approach to work
• Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings.

Diversity at the Crown Prosecution Service is about inclusion, embracing differences and ensuring our workforce truly reflects the communities we serve. We want you to feel that you belong and can thrive, whatever your background, identity or culture. As a Disability Confident employer, we're happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments and improve your recruitment experience. If you'd like any reasonable adjustments made to our recruitment process, let us know within your application or contact benjamin.ross-russell@cps.gov.uk

We want to ensure our employees can thrive at work and home and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment. We offer a hybrid working policy. You must spend at least 40% of your contracted hours over a four-week period at court, in an office or another official workplace depending on business need and the kind of work you're doing.

The Crown Prosecution Service also has a range of development programmes to support all aspiring, new and experienced managers with developing the skills, behaviours and knowledge to build their confidence and capability. Our Manager Induction Programme is mandatory for all newly appointed managers. This is a fantastic opportunity to support all our new Crown Prosecution Service managers with the tools required to perform effectively in their roles.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Recruitment process

The recruitment process consists of an online application, interview and assessment. These are expected to take place on w/c 17 August 2026.

Your interview takes place online through Microsoft Teams. A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact benjamin.ross-russell@cps.gov.uk

You should keep this date free or notify us if you're not available. We'll make every effort to accommodate your date preferences but we can't guarantee it.

Assessment

We ask you to complete an assessment as part of the recruitment process for this role. We will provide details immediately before your interview.

Personal statement

We ask you to complete a personal statement of no more than 1,250 words. You need to address the core behaviours for this role, which are:

1. Seeing the Big Picture (Lead Behaviour)
2. Changing and Improving
3. Communicating and Influencing

You also need to demonstrate the following experience required for this role:

• Have substantial experience in technical architecture, including designing and assuring complex digital services that meet organisational and relevant sector standards, preferably HMG standards.
• Demonstrate strategic thinking, with the ability to see the bigger picture, align technical decisions to long-term organisational goals, and anticipate emerging technologies and trends.
• Show leadership capability, including mentoring technical staff, fostering professional development, and leading architecture communities to embed best practices.
• Possess strong stakeholder engagement skills, able to influence senior leaders and communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical audiences.
• Be adept at promoting reuse and interoperability, identifying opportunities for shared platforms and cross-organisation and cross-government collaboration to deliver value.
• Have a proven ability to assure solution quality, through governance, reviews, and adherence to enterprise architecture principles such as scalability, security, and sustainability.
• Understand agile and DevSecOps practices, working with these principles in architecture and delivery approaches.

You also need to demonstrate the following technical skills:

• Business architecture

• Communicating information

• Consultancy

• Making and guiding decisions

• Methods and tools

• Strategic thinking

In addition, you need to demonstrate the Crown Prosecution Service or Civil Service values.

The panel has the right to assess the lead behaviour ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ first. If the standard on this behaviour isn’t met, the other behaviours won’t be considered and your application won’t progress. The panel also has the right to raise the minimum standard pass mark. The panel may also refer to the lead behaviour at the interview stage to determine merit order.

Interview/Assessment

We use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to see if you're a good fit for the role. You are assessed against G7 in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 3 behaviours at interview / assessment stage:

1. Seeing the Big Picture - interview
2. Making Effective Decisions – interview
3. Managing a Quality Service – interview

Essential Experience/Technical Skills will be assessed through the assessment

CV

You’re not required to upload your CV. However, when submitting your application there is a ‘CV section’. You are required to provide information about your employment and/or academic history for the past three years. The CV section will be used as supporting evidence, it won’t be assessed.

It’s your responsibility to provide the specified information in the requested format to ensure that you're considered for the post.

If you're unable to cover three years through employment or academic history, you must provide a character reference for clearance purposes.

Strengths

Strengths are tested at interview stage - the strengths tested are not shared before the interview.

Other

This is a full-time post. We do consider requests for flexible, part-time working and job share, always considering the operational needs of the department.

Please note that the CPS is unable to offer visa sponsorship. Therefore, if you require visa sponsorship to work in the UK, you will not meet the eligibility criteria for this role.

Clearance

If successful, you are required to securea Security Check clearance, for which you must have a current valid UK address.

If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form, nationality and immigration questionnaire, and national security vetting form.

If you're a Crown Prosecution Service member of staff, you won’t need to do a Disclosure and Barring Service check as you already hold this clearance.

The job you’re applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act doesn’t apply.You’re required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions including spent convictions. Failing to make a full declaration will result in withdrawing your offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that haven’t been disclosed.

To be cleared to Security Checkclearance level, you have to be able to meet the residency requirement in the Cabinet Office guidance. For the Crown Prosecution Service, this is three years within the last five years.

Reserve list

If you're recommended by the selection panel but not appointed to the current vacancy, you’re put on a reserve list for 12 months. You may be offered another Lead Business Architect post in the CPS if a vacancy comes up during this period. We may also approach candidates on the waiting list to fill other roles that require similar knowledge and experience.

Fraud check

The Crown Prosecution Service provides a Fair Processing Notice to all new applicants after they’ve been successful at interview. These candidates are informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details – name, National Insurance number and date of birth – are checked against the Internal Fraud Database. We won't employ anyone included on the database unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.

The Strategic Resourcing team in the Crown Prosecution Service will, on behalf of the vacancy holder, inform applicants when they are refused employment because of their inclusion in the Internal Fraud Database.

Civil Service Commission

If you’re dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact Strategic.Resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns.

If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commission complaints page Recruitment Complaints - Civil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/

Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Candidates are subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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.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 : Ben Ross Russell
• Email : benjamin.ross-russell@cps.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk

Attachments

CPS Terms and Conditions Opens in new window (docx, 255kB)NEW CPS Personal Statement Guidance 2023 Opens in new window (docx, 269kB)JD Level D - Lead Business Architect Opens in new window (docx, 43kB)