Principal Technical Architect

MI6
Department

IT / Information Technology

Location(s)

London

Hours of Work

Full Time

Salary

£82,262 to £100,001 dependent on skills and experience

Job description

Flexible Working: We support full-time, part time, compressed, and flexible hours. We’re committed to offering remote working across our organisation, however, our ability to do this is dependent on role requirements and business needs.

About Us

We’re MI6, also known as SIS. Our mission is to protect the security and economic wellbeing of the UK from overseas threats such as regional instability, terrorism, and cyber-attacks. Working across the globe and in close partnership with MI5 and GCHQ, we help the Government to counter these threats through the provision of secret intelligence. A role in MI6 will see you providing vital support to this work, within a supportive and encouraging environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.

The Role

Architecture and technology are core to MI6’s successful operations and intelligence delivery. There is a constant need to develop and maintain capabilities that provide us with mission advantage in a rapidly changing, technology and data driven world. So we use agile and lean methodologies to innovate, deliver and upgrade products. Whether you work on data analytics, knowledge systems, communications or technical operations capabilities, the nature of our work presents unique and fascinating architecture challenges, the likes of which you will never have seen before.

We build products that provide capability across MI6. Our multi-disciplinary teams are made up of architects & engineers who work alongside product owners, business analysts and delivery colleagues to ensure MI6 gets what it needs by balancing tactical and strategic goals and objectives. And as a Lead Solution Architect, you will be responsible for overall systems architecture, blending business, technical and data architecture perspectives.

This role is specifically concerning the area of the business that creates technology and infrastructure enablers for other areas such as Platforms, Gateways and the Cloud. You’ll lead the design and systems engineering approach for this area, creating new products or working to continually improve the capabilities of our existing ones. You’ll own the technology strategy and roadmap across a number of technical or business capabilities, and govern and assure all product designs, experiments and lifecycles. Plus, you’ll manage solution architects and contractors supporting the development and delivery of one or more systems.

About You

As well as having experience leading technical teams, you’ll have also led significant product and system delivery and change. Having already worked as a Solution Architect you’ll have been responsible for the design of sizeable solutions. You’ll also have knowledge of multiple architecture and delivery frameworks and experience of embedding such tools and techniques.

On top of that, you will ideally have

• experience as a technical domain subject matter expert;
• experience of the application of enterprise and domains architecture;
• experience of influencing stakeholders; and
• experience conducting trades across requirements and solution spaces.

You’ll also have a range of soft skills to support communication and decision-making including curiosity, teamwork and problem solving.

You’ll be a sound communicator and influencer, having successfully negotiated trades across requirements and solution spaces. Plus, you will have a pragmatic and balanced approach, understanding the constraints of working in an enterprise organisation, but the expertise, experience, and enthusiasm to continue to drive new capability in the most effective way.

Training and Development

At MI6, we’re proud to offer an inclusive and supportive working environment. As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we are committed to helping you fulfil your potential. In fact, you could spend up to a third of your time on training and development. We’re committed to developing our staff and recognise this will look different for everyone, so we’ll work with you to build your skills and help you plan your future career path.

When you join, you’ll have an induction so that you can settle in and get a full understanding of how your work will impact our mission. Then, there will be continuing opportunities to receive tailored training, coaching, and mentoring. And throughout your career with us, you will have access to a wide range of online and classroom learning, as well as external accredited training options. These can include industry recognized qualifications such as CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) or similar.

Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £82,262 to £100,001, dependent on skills and experience .

Other benefits include:

• 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years’ service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bar at some locations
• Paid parental and adoption leave.

Salary Detail: Most new starters can expect to start at the lower end of our pay range. Candidates who both meet our higher competency requirements and can demonstrate evidence of our very specialised technical work can expect to receive a higher starting salary which will include pensionable and non-pensionable elements

Equal Opportunities

At MI6, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:

We’re Disability Confident

MI6 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Being Disability Confident, we aim to offer a person-to-person interview to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role. This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:

• Demonstrate experience in a senior position within architecture or systems engineering functions – measured at application sift
• Motivation for applying to work at the organisation and the particular role – assessed at application sift
• Demonstrate a level of experience developing technology portfolios and/or playing a leading role in digital transformation programmes – measured at application sift

What to Expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• Application sift, looking at motivation, technical aptitude, skills and experience for the role and the organisation
• Telephone technical interview.
• Technical and HR interview.
• If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 – 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before You Apply

To work at MI6, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

The role is based in Central London so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. A loan is available to support people relocating to London.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

Right to Withdraw Statement:
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