Job summary
- Main area
- Administration
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8d
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Job share
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 990-TDD-TA-EC3110-E
- Employer
- NHS England
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Any NHS England Office
- Town
- Nationally
- Salary
- £113,227.20 - £130,576.80 per annum (this includes a RRP payment of 20%) exclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 19/08/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Lead Solution Architect
NHS AfC: Band 8d
Our Organisation
We share the core values set out in the NHS Constitution, which all colleagues are expected to demonstrate.
We support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you and your colleagues. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement, whether that’s a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern.
Job overview
Are you looking to use your expertise to help transform digital health and care services across England? Do you want your work to have a direct and positive impact on the health and wellbeing of millions?
Do you have knowledge and experience of leading teams of architects in designing and delivering enterprise solutions across cloud services, AI, data and analytics, next-generation networks, APIs and integration platforms, and IoT?
Are you a highly experienced, strategic thinker with experience in setting out digital strategy across large and complex landscapes?
If so, then we may have a job for you…
This is an exciting time to join NHS England as one of our Lead Solution Architects as we embark on delivering against the NHS 10 year plan. 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future - GOV.UK
The Architecture Profession provides a range of services to our internal and external stakeholders. We provide architecture design, technical consultancy and architecture ownership to large scale NHS programmes and organisations.
Main duties of the job
As a Lead Solution Architect reporting into the Chief Solution Architect, you will:-
- Have responsibility for ~ 5 to 10 staff, made up of permanent, interim and suppliers, co-ordinating across multiple directorates and complex programmes.
- Hold accountability for the architecture across a portfolio of national products and programmes, delivered through a combination of internal and supplier teams.
- Drive and support your team in their decision making
- Manage and influence executive stakeholders at a board level (CxO)
- Be responsible for the NHS England technical governance, architectural roadmaps and contribute to strategic planning
- Have broad experience across technical disciplines including Data, Security, Applications and Platforms alongside specialisms.
- Develop and mentor staff in your team and more widely.
- Lead in supporting and developing the architecture function and community of practice as well as participating in departmental leadership.
- Active participation in architecture governance, including attendance at relevant Boards.
- Able to influence direction across NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, other arm’s length bodies and the wider supplier community.
The role does not have significant direct financial responsibility but will have direct influence over setting technical direction for multi-million-pound spending decisions.
Working for our organisation
NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.
If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Some of the skills and experience we’re looking for:
- Substantial industry experience within an Information Technology domain maintaining in-depth knowledge of specific technical specialisms’, provides expert advice regarding their application.
- Demonstrable evidence of taking a technical leadership role across large complex programmes.
- Sound experience of architecture frameworks, methodologies and application of appropriate architecture methods.
- Team leading experience; experience of managing resources in a matrix organisation
- Development and management of technical governance processes relevant to the entire organisation.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to build and manage relationships and to engage and lead internal and external stakeholders proactively.
Some roles may require the successful candidate to hold, or be eligible to hold, Security Check (SC) clearance.
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
The post of Lead Solution Architect has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 20% per annum.
Please be aware that RRP is non-contractual and subject to review.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Masters or equivalent qualification, specifically in a computing, scientific or mathematical subject OR equivalent experience
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of major cloud platforms including core architecture patterns, managed services, networking, identity and security controls, and cost optimisation principles, with the ability to apply this knowledge to multi-cloud and cloud-agnostic solution designs at enterprise scale
Skills
Essential criteria
- Line and activity management of technical staff including setting clear team objectives and priorities and monitoring achievement. Builds the team’s capability to match changing delivery needs
Experience
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable evidence regarding leadership in the development of architectures for complex national-scale systems, ensuring consistency with specified requirements agreed with both external and internal customers
- Evidence of providing clear direction through communicating the strategic vision, adopting a corporate approach and inspiring the SA team to achieve its goals.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Richard McEwan
- Job title
- Chief Solution Architect
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07798571984
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