Solution Architect

On behalf of DWP we are looking for a Solution Architect for a 12 month (Inside IR35) contract. Hybrid working with 2-3 days per week required in either London, Leeds, Manchester or Newcastle.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK's biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. As such, we operate on a scale that is almost unmatched anywhere in Europe and most people in Britain come into contact with us at some point in their lives.

Working with DWP, you will be helping us to drive our priorities to:

. Help people to move into work and support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation
. Help people to plan and save for later life, while providing a safety net for those who need it now
. Provide effective, efficient, and innovative services to the millions of claimants who rely on us every day, including the most vulnerable in society
. Improve experience of our services while maximising value for money for the taxpayer.

As a Solution Architect your main responsibilities will be:

. Design application products to meet user needs and align with DWP strategy and standards.
. Provides a consistent set of application product architecture views, that communicate and describe the construction of the solution to all stakeholders.
. Solution communication champion, making the complex simple to understand.
. Supporting delivery teams, blending technical (development and architecture) and behaviour (leadership and communication) skills.
. Ensure compliance of design with approved design in the Digital Blueprint.
. Maintain Product roadmaps and help maintain the Digital Blueprint.

Essential:

. An active SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. (Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position (short-term nature of this role and speed at which we require a postholder in situ) preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active security clearance.)
. Experience of Microservice and API-led architecture and integration design tools, techniques and best practice.
. Experience of event-based architecture design, patterns (including pub-sub and data streaming), modelling techniques, tools and standards.
. Agile/DevOps delivery methodologies and best practice experience.
. Experience of Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) delivery methodologies, tools and best practice.
. Experience of shaping and supporting technology initiatives, projects, programmes and portfolios.
. Technical authoring skills, particularly for the production of technical design and specification documents.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, DWP guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant

DWP guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".