Lead Technical Architect

Pay up to £96,683, plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, hybrid working, flexible hours, and great work life balance.

DWP. Digital with Purpose.

We are looking for Lead Technical Architects with expertise in application architecture and AI to join our AI & Innovation team.

DWP Digital is delivering one of Europe's largest digital transformation programmes, creating services that support millions of people every day.

We are designing modern technology solutions at scale, shaping the future of public services through AI and digital innovation.

The scale of what we do is extraordinary, and our purpose is unique. We'd love you to join us.

What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?

• Architecture design across on-prem, cloud and hybrid environments involving networking, security, presentation, middleware, database, and integration aspects.

• Architecture design informed through use of principles, patterns, technical radars, practices and standards.

• Architecture design working with project delivery teams within agile, waterfall and hybrid environments throughout the lifecycle - from concept to go-live.

• Translating business requirements into technical solutions with traceability that can be demonstrated to stakeholders.

• Architecture design through use of architecture modelling techniques and tools to devise and represent.

• AI enterprise products: Experience of assurance for enterprise AI productivity tooling. Enterprise products such as Copilot (including Agent Builder & Copilot Studio) and Claude Desktop. Best practice for using model harness such as Claude Code or Codex. Best practice for Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools within an large organisation.

• AI solution evaluation: Implement frameworks and approaches to evaluate model performance against business objectives, through the full lifecycle (including Business KPIs, Hallucination rates, Safety testing, Bias testing, Cost evaluation). Technology experience might include tools such as Promptfoo, Ragas & Langfuse.

• AI security: Governance, Compliance, Threats & mitigations : Experience of security governance and assurance for AI solutions, including data protection, privacy, model governance.
  

You and your role

Our Architects lead the design and governance of strategic technology solutions, working with senior stakeholders across DWP Digital to drive innovation, influence technology choices, and deliver user-centred digital services.

You'll provide architectural leadership for complex programmes, developing practical solutions that balance business needs, security, scalability, and long-term value.

As part of DWP's Corporate Innovation Unit, you'll help accelerate the adoption of AI and automation technologies that improve internal processes and empower colleagues to focus on higher-value work.

This includes leveraging Microsoft 365 AI capabilities, Microsoft Copilot Studio and agentic AI technologies, while exploring opportunities to develop secure, scalable AI solutions on cloud platforms where needed.

Details. Wages. Perks.

Location: You'll join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Blackpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield, whichever is most convenient for you.

Hybrid Working: We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face to face in a hub.

Pay: We offer pay up to £96,683. That's £75,026 salary plus a Government Digital and Data Allowance of up to £21,667 subject to our assessment of your capability at interview.

Pension: You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97%, worth up to £21,735 per year.

Holidays: A generous leave package starting at 26 days rising to 31 days over time.

You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi-time. You'll also get all the usual public holidays.

We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies

• Time off volunteering and charitable giving

• Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'

• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more

• Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference

• Sports and social activities

• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.

And we have an award-winning environment and culture:

• DWP have been recognised as 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year at the Computing Women in Tech Excellence awards

• Diverse and Inclusive Leadership at Digital Leaders Awards 2024

• Commended as Best Place to Work in Digital category in the Computing Digital Technology Leaders awards 2025

• Recognised as one of the Best Public Sector Employers at 2025 Women In Tech Employer Awards

Process

We know your time is valuable so our application and selection process is just two stages:

Apply: complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There'll be full instructions when you click through.

Interview: a two-stage interview online.

Click APPLY for more information and to start your application.