Lead enterprise architect

Band 8c · Enterprise architect · 658 job evaluation points

UK GDaD PCF level: Lead enterprise architect

Most often performed at Civil Service grade G7 or G6.

A lead enterprise architect plays a high level role in ensuring the strategy is developed, agreed and followed.
At this role level, you will:
network and communicate with senior stakeholders across enterprises, and seek opportunities for improvement
support at least one community or team, or a combination of both
find and use best practice and emerging technologies and approaches
lead teams including enterprise architects and help them understand how to deliver the team’s objectives to meet organisational goals
horizon scan for influences or risks
support successful delivery of the long-term strategy
take a leading role in the overall direction of business and digital capabilities

Contains public sector information from the UK Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.

Responsibilities

Own the enterprise architecture for a major part of the organization, such as clinical systems or shared infrastructure.
Chair or lead the architecture design authority and set the standards that projects must meet.
Advise directors on investment priorities, supplier strategy, and technology risks.
Work with partner organizations to align architectures across care pathways and shared records.
Lead and develop enterprise architects and grow the architecture community of practice.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Architect for the whole contextUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: assess how trends in society and industry practices might impact the organisation work with people outside of your organisation to inform policies, strategies and standards anticipate changes to policy and build resilience through your architectural work coach others in identifying important trends
Architecture communicationUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels, and across organisations, using architecture communication techniques mediate between people in difficult architectural discussions gain support from business and technical stakeholders for architectural initiatives with high levels of risk, impact and complexity coach and support others in architecture communication
Commercial perspectiveUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: identify appropriate contractual frameworks and approaches identify, evaluate and select appropriate suppliers
Community collaborationUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: work collaboratively in a group, actively networking with others adapt feedback to ensure it’s effective and lasting use your initiative to identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them identify issues through Agile ‘health checks’ with the team, and help to stimulate the right responses
Enterprise architectureUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: design an architecture that defines the technology, people, process and other elements needed to achieve organisation objectives work with others across the organisation to ensure your design is used to achieve the organisation’s objectives
Making architectural decisionsUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: make and guide architectural design decisions characterised by medium risk and complexity identify and address architectural risks that affect multiple teams or domains use architectural governance and assurance to make design decisions and manage technical risks at the appropriate level contribute to the development of architectural governance and assurance
Problem definition and shapingUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: lead the framing of a problem characterised by high complexity, complication, or risk so that a solution can be created coach others in defining problems and describing appropriate options for solutions help others challenge requirements and assumptions, and identify opportunities when defining problems and solution options
Strategy designUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: define and connect strategies or visions across the organisation or wider government enable the implementation of strategies or visions across the organisation or wider government, for example, by advocating for resources and removing blockers
Understanding health and care servicesThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyze how a service fits into care pathways across organizations work with clinicians, care staff, and patients to shape digital services explain the effect of digital decisions on care, safety, and staff workload
Health data interoperabilityThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: design and build integrations using FHIR, HL7 version 2, and messaging patterns write and profile FHIR resources and implementation guides resolve complex mapping and data quality issues between systems
Information governance and data protectionThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead data protection impact assessments and information sharing agreements advise teams on lawful basis, consent, confidentiality, and retention investigate incidents and recommend improvements
Clinical risk managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead hazard identification and risk assessment for a product or change write and maintain hazard logs and clinical safety case reports agree risk controls with product teams and check that they work advise teams on applying clinical risk management standards
Organizational risk managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: run the risk process for a directorate or program assess risks against the risk appetite and escalate them report on risks to committees
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession
Budget managementThis reference	Working (2)	You can: track spending against a small budget and raise variances authorize spending within your limit

Typical qualifications and experience

Extensive experience of enterprise architecture in a complex organization.

Band 8c outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge, and wide organizational and sector understanding.
Autonomy: Sets strategy for a function; accountable to a director.
Scope: A function or department.
Leadership: Leads a function through several management layers.
Accountability: A function's performance, workforce, and budget.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	8	Advanced knowledge (doctorate plus further training or equivalent), or specialist knowledge across more than one discipline built over a long period.	240
Analytical and judgmental skills	5	Judgments on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organizational skills	5	Forms long-term strategic plans, with uncertainty and effects across the organization.	60
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	5	Implements and develops a range of policies or services for a directorate.	45
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	3	Authorizes payments, buys some assets or supplies, monitors or holds a delegated budget, or maintains assets.	21
Responsibility for people	4	Line manages a function or department, designs training programs as a main duty, or delivers a full range of HR services.	32
Responsibility for information resources	6	Manages and develops information systems across the organization as the main duty.	46
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	4	Frequent prolonged concentration, or occasional intense concentration.	18
Emotional effort	1	Rare exposure, or occasional indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	5
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8c: 630 to 674)			658

Banded above the UK GDaD PCF grade suggestion (Band 8b): health-sector adverts place this role at Band 8c. Information resources is level 6 because the job manages the architecture of information systems across a major part of the organization; policy and people are above the Band 8b profile because it sets standards for all projects and leads enterprise architects.