Lead technical architect

Band 8b · Technical architect · 613 job evaluation points

UK GDaD PCF level: Lead technical architect

Most often performed at Civil Service grade G7 or G6.

A lead technical architect works with multiple projects or teams on problems that require broad architectural thinking.
At this role level, you will:
be responsible for leading the technical design of systems and services, justifying and communicating design decisions
assure other services and system quality, ensuring the technical work fits into the broader strategy for government
explore the benefits of cross-government alignment
provide mentoring within teams
provide leadership to other architects

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

Lead the technical architecture across several services or teams, setting shared patterns and standards.
Assure the technical quality of designs at design authorities, including security, resilience, and interoperability.
Shape the organization's technology roadmap with enterprise architects and engineering leads.
Advise senior leaders on technology choices, platform investment, and technical risk.
Lead and develop technical architects.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Architect for the whole contextUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: work to support wider organisational objectives beyond your immediate goals track emerging internal and external issues over time that could affect the work of teams across the organisation take action to solve or mitigate problems by influencing colleagues across the organisation
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
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
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
Strategy designUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: define strategies or visions across teams that align with organisational objectives direct the implementation of a strategy or vision, for example, by creating roadmaps or plans define architectural principles and patterns develop or maintain strategy in response to feedback and findings
Technical design throughout the life cycleUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: create technical designs characterised by high risk, impact, and complexity lead and guide others in creating technical designs that achieve organisational objectives use feedback to optimise and refine standards for technical designs throughout the life cycle
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
Identity and access managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: design and run identity and access services review access regularly and fix problems
Medical device software regulationThis reference	Working (2)	You can: follow a software life cycle process that meets medical device standards produce the records that such a process requires
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

Typical qualifications and experience

Extensive experience of leading technical architecture for complex services.

Band 8b outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge across several disciplines or a large service.
Autonomy: Shapes policy and strategy for a large area.
Scope: Several services or teams, or a principal-level discipline.
Leadership: Manages managers, or is the principal authority in a discipline.
Accountability: Several services, their staff, and their budgets.

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	4	Plans a broad range of complex activities or strategies, adjusting them as needed.	42
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	4	Implements policy and develops policy or services for a service or several areas.	32
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	3	Manages a group of staff day to day, teaches core or specialist training, or gives core HR advice.	21
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	3	Carries out research or development within formal programs as a main duty.	21
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 8b: 585 to 629)			613