Job Introduction
Role:
Technical Architect (PO8)
Hours:
35 hours/ week
Salary
- Paying up to £74,000
- Generous Local Government Pension Scheme
- This salary is based on the range of £61,980 to £65,478 for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Any offer made above £65,478 will be made up with a market supplement allowance.
Summary
Royal Greenwich is a vibrant borough, with a rich history and diverse community. We’re mission-led around our Corporate Plan Our Greenwich to make Greenwich a happier, healthier and more connected borough.
We are investing heavily in our digital and design functions to enable the Council’s mission. Our ambition and plan has been outlined in our first digital strategy. You can find out more about what we do by reading our Digital Blog.
Our Technology Architecture Community plays a vital role in ensuring the Council’s technology is fit for purpose, economical and continues to deliver reliable, trustworthy and impactful services.
It’s an exciting time to join our Digital Team and Technology Architecture Community. There's plenty of opportunity for you to shape our technical strategy and approach in line with modern practices.
Our Technology Ecosystem
We have already invested heavily in our cloud infrastructure, micro-services, modern coding languages and framework. We work with an extensive range of modern, integrated technologies to deliver scalable, secure, and adaptable solutions. Below are some of our technology in use:
- Cloud Infrastructure: Primarily AWS, supplemented by Azure for specialized data or high-demand workloads.
- Coding Languages and frameworks: PHP, Python, JavaScript, SQL (MySQL, Postgres, Microsoft SQL), HTML, CSS, Twig, Symfony PHP framework, yaml, Ansible, Terraform
- Core Applications: AWS (Microservices, App services, EKS & ECS, ASGs, Cloudfront, Route53), Docker, Gitlab CI/CD, Local Gov Drupal (including webforms). Jadu CMS, Azure, APIM, PowerApps, PowerAutomate, Logic Apps
- System Integrations with council’s line of business systems:We are building microservices-based solutions to integration to our vast ecosystem of back-end systems, including:
- CRM used by Customer services
- Financial and revenue management system
- Income management and card payments system
- HR and payroll system
- Housing management
- Waste collection system
- Planning System
- Document management system
- Street name and numbering
- Other third-party APIs and legacy platforms
The Role
What You’ll Do
As part of our Digital team, you’ll hold the vision of council-wide architectural design and recommend which platforms, tools, techniques, languages & frameworks to adopt, trial, assess or hold.
You’ll own Royal Greenwich’s technology strategy, solution architecture and implementation plan for multiple products across services to deliver service and organisational outcomes. You will do this by convening and facilitating major technology decisions. This will involve working as part of multi-disciplinary team to advise, recommend and support with delivery of products and major system procurements, as well as hands-on ‘proof of concept’ development to test architectural designs and communicate technical designs to developers.
You’ll have oversight of the Council’s major technology ecosystems to ensure they continue to serve existing service needs, yet active plan is in place to improve usability, security and value for money.
You’ll embed and develop modern software engineering practices in conjunction with our community of software developers and QA engineers. You’ll identify opportunities to introduce new working practices as technology changes, and ensure the right tooling and processes are in place to support them.
You’ll work in partnership with service and system teams to influence technology choice, purchase by exploring the market and the trade-offs between buy or build.
You’ll advise and work with senior leaders across the council to help them understand technology, risks, trade-offs and values.
You’ll take an active role in technology options appraisal and procurement, considering both technical and commercial options to meet requirements in accordance with the organisation’s procedures.
You’ll work with suppliers to influence their designs and roadmap, ensuring we are meeting resident outcomes, and the council can get value for money in the long term.
You will take a key role in developing and growing our Technology Architecture Community of Practice, codifying ways of working.
You’ll line manage, mentor and coach more junior members of the team.
Who You Are
- We are looking for people who understand the public sector and are experienced professionals in making complex change happen.
- You have extensive cloud-first software development experience and knowledge in:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Microservices deployment with Kubernetes, Containers, Lambda and others
- Git-based version control, DevOps methodologies, and Git CI/CD pipelines
- System integration using REST and SOAP
- Twin-tracking new technology with legacy systems
Desirable additional experience in:
- Microsoft Azure
- Drupal
- You can identify target architectures to achieve the desired product outcomes, weighing up the risks and benefits of different options and building consensus around a recommendation.
- You can use architectural governance and assurance to make design decisions and manage technical and security risks.
- You have real life examples of leading complex and sustainable technology change and decision-making.
- You are relational and dynamic and can navigate power dynamics and build strong relationships with people. You are able to influence both people’s ways of working and how they see their work.
- You are a pragmatist who listens to and values the opinions of others and work well with people from different disciplines in your team and colleagues from across the council, to create the conditions for the best decisions to be made.
- You are a good listener and communicator with strong emotional intelligence.
- You are able to communicate complex work in a clear and compelling way to connect, inform and activate change in your audience.
- You have experience of introducing modern software engineering and infrastructure practices in large organisations, and developing new skills in others. You can identify the people, skill and process implications of architecture choices you recommend.
- You are curious about technology and people, and not afraid to try new things.
- You are passionate about developing your skills and coaching, mentoring, and managing others to do their best work.
We are looking for people who share our values and principles:
- Committed to improving Residents’ lives and opportunities
- Demonstrating respect and fairness
- Taking ownership
- Thrive to do things better
- Can work together across the council
- Naturally curious – you keep on top of your own learning and development and are up to date with the latest practices in your field.
- An advocate for user-centered practices, embedded within agile delivery.
These values are incredibly important to us, as is building an environment that promotes knowledge, empathy, equality, and skill sharing.
What we offer
- 28 days’ annual leave.
- Local Government Pension scheme. The council contribute a generous amount of pension on top of your own contribution. More information can be found here.
- Flexible and partly remote working arrangements
- Mental health support, including an external counselling service
- Learning and development opportunities, including apprenticeships
- Cycle to work scheme
- Reduced-rate gym membership
- Vouchers for free eye tests
- Annual season ticket loans
- Childcare voucher scheme
- Greenwich One Card which entitles you to discounts at local businesses
- Long service awards
- Staff networks for mental health, LGBTQ+ support, racial equality and more
At Royal Greenwich we want our staff to thrive professionally. We are a business that that recognises and supports transferable skills and ambition So if you think you have what it takes, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description please still get in touch. We’d love to have a chat and see if you’d be a good fit.
We are passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender and gender presentation, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, and religion.
As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview.
Apply for this role
To apply for this role, you must:
- Upload a CV
- Write and upload a cover letter
Things to consider when making your application
We want to give you the best opportunity to show off your career and skills in the best way possible. Please consider the following:
- Your cover letter is a great way to help bring your CV to life. Think of it like a trail of breadcrumbs to lead us to want to interview you. It is unlikely that we’ll shortlist you for an interview without a cover letter. This is your first opportunity to show us why you’re right for this role, and your letter can show us how you fit the personal specification.
- Your CV should be up to date, in a readable and accessible format and pertinent to the role.
- Use your cover letter to talk about work that you are proud of, your values and your expectations.
We are working with a recruitment partner, Starfish Search to support the recruitment to this role. For more information or to apply, please visit Starfish Search
