Lead Tech Architect

Contract: Initial contract until April 2027
Rate: Up to £850 per day (Inside IR35)
Location: Hybrid/UK Wide
Security Clearance: Active SC Clearance Required

We are seeking an experienced Lead Technical Architect to provide technical leadership for a large-scale AI and cloud transformation programme within a major UK government organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Define architecture vision, principles and technology roadmaps for AI-enabled platforms and services.
• Lead the design of secure, scalable cloud-native and microservices-based architectures.
• Establish architecture standards, patterns, guardrails and best practices.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple workstreams and delivery teams.
• Lead architecture governance and assurance activities through Design Authority and governance forums.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, security requirements and strategic objectives.
• Drive architecture decisions relating to cloud platforms, integrations, identity management and AI services.
• Produce high-level designs, architecture artefacts and target-state roadmaps.
• Manage architectural risks and communicate technical decisions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience working as a Lead Technical Architect, Enterprise Architect or Senior Technical Architect.
• Strong experience designing enterprise-scale cloud architectures using AWS, Azure or GCP.
• Experience defining architecture roadmaps, standards, patterns and governance frameworks.
• Proven background delivering architecture assurance through Design Authority, Architecture Review Boards or equivalent governance forums.
• Experience designing secure cloud platforms, landing zones and enterprise integration architectures.
• Strong understanding of identity and access management, authentication and authorisation frameworks.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior technical and business leaders.