Technical Architect

Day Rate: £600-£675/day Inside IR35
Duration: 12 Months (extensions likely)
Clearance: Active SC is essential. Candidates can start on BPSS while SC transfers.
Location: London preferred. Bristol and Manchester considered. Mandatory London attendance Tuesday and Wednesday, plus overnight travel approximately twice per month.

This is a major public sector transformation programme focused on improving customer-facing services across large, complex organisations.

Unlike traditional architecture positions, this role does not begin with a predefined technical solution. The successful candidate will enter complex operational environments, assess existing technology estates, understand business and service challenges, and determine whether technology can genuinely solve the problems being uncovered.

The role combines elements of Technical Architecture, consulting, service transformation, discovery, and stakeholder engagement. Working within multidisciplinary teams, you will act as the technical authority, helping organisations understand their current technology landscape, identify opportunities for improvement, and shape future-state solutions where appropriate.

This opportunity would suit somebody who enjoys ambiguity, discovery, and influencing decisions. The strongest candidates will have broad technical exposure, excellent stakeholder engagement skills, and experience contributing to transformation programmes from early discovery stages through implementation and continuous improvement.

• Act as the technical authority within transformation delivery teams
• Lead technology discovery and assessment activities
• Understand existing technology landscapes across complex organisations
• Help shape future-state technology options and recommendations
• Work closely with technology leadership and transformation teams
• Translate technical complexity into meaningful business outcomes

• Conduct technical discovery and fact-finding activities
• Assess technology estates, infrastructure, and service landscapes
• Identify constraints, risks, and opportunities
• Support development of future-state technical solutions
• Facilitate workshops and stakeholder discussions
• Present findings and recommendations to leadership teams
• Work across multidisciplinary teams to support transformation outcomes
• Contribute to evidence-based decision making

• Provide architecture expertise across transformation programmes
• Guide technical direction without being constrained by a single technology stack
• Support strategic technology decisions
• Balance technical excellence with practical delivery needs
• Ensure solutions remain aligned with customer and service outcomes

• Investigate how organisations currently operate
• Understand technology dependencies and challenges
• Assess technical debt and improvement opportunities
• Evaluate whether technology change is required
• Build an evidence base before recommending solutions

• Cloud and hosting environments
• Legacy platforms and technical estates
• Integration challenges
• Customer-facing digital services
• Operational technologies
• Service modernisation initiatives
• Technology-enabled transformation programmes

• Technical Architect, Solution Architect, Lead Engineer, or consulting background
• Strong technical breadth rather than a single technology specialism
• Experience redesigning or modernising solutions
• Strong stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills
• Ability to work effectively within ambiguity
• Experience contributing to transformation initiatives

• Fast-paced and evolving transformation programme
• Problems are often undefined at the outset
• High exposure to senior stakeholders
• Focus on customer outcomes and measurable service improvements
• Blended public and private sector expertise within teams

• Build credibility with senior stakeholders
• Facilitate conversations across technical and non-technical audiences
• Run workshops and discovery sessions
• Present recommendations confidently
• Manage competing priorities and perspectives