22037 - Lead Enterprise Architect (National)


Company:	Ministry of Justice
Salary:	£58,511 to £70,725 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	National, NP10 8FZ
Working pattern:	Hybrid - 2 days remote
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	9 Sept 2026
Closing date:	30 Sept 2026

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Summary

We are looking for an experienced Lead Enterprise Architect to provide strategic architectural leadership across HMCTS. You will be working to a Principal Enterprise Architect, as part of the Digital Architecture, Strategy and Innovation function (DASI). As a Lead Enterprise Architect, you will help to shape the future direction of digital services, technology and organisational transformation across HMCTS.

Working across a diverse portfolio of programmes, products and services, you will provide strategic architectural leadership, ensuring that business, data, application, technology and security decisions align with organisational priorities and long-term objectives. You will work with senior leaders, delivery teams and architects to guide complex decision-making, provide governance and assurance, and help develop sustainable solutions that deliver lasting value.

You will be a trusted adviser, able to communicate complex ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences, influence senior stakeholders and help teams understand how their work contributes to wider organisational goals. You will play a key role in developing enterprise strategies, target architectures and roadmaps, while identifying opportunities for simplification, reuse and continuous improvement.

In this role you will:

Your role as Lead Enterprise Architect will encompass several key responsibilities listed below (but not limited to):

• Provide enterprise architecture leadership, governance and assurance for significant, complex or high-risk business and technology initiatives.

• Develop and maintain enterprise architecture strategies, principles, standards, target architectures and roadmaps.

• Guide architectural decision-making across programmes, products and services, ensuring alignment with organisational strategy and long-term objectives.

• Identify strategic risks, dependencies and opportunities, advising senior stakeholders on appropriate actions.

• Drive adoption of common platforms, shared capabilities, reusable architectural patterns and strategic technology choices.

• Ensure architectural advice and assurance aligns with HMCTS, MoJ and wider government standards relating to security, privacy, accessibility, interoperability, service design and reuse.

• Provide architectural input to commercial and supplier decisions, including sourcing strategy, procurement, build-versus-buy assessment, whole-life value and vendor lock-in risk.

• Collaborate with business, technical, security, data and solution architects to ensure joined-up decision-making.

• Represent HMCTS in cross-government and Ministry of Justice architecture communities and forums.

• Build capability through mentoring, coaching and supporting the wider architecture profession.

Essential skills

Experience operating in an enterprise architecture or senior architecture leadership role within a complex organisation.

• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture across business, data, application, technology, security and operational domains.

• Experience in strategy design, including developing enterprise strategies, target architectures, architectural principles, standards and transformation roadmaps.

• Ability to frame complex problems, assess options and guide architectural decision-making across programmes, products and services.

• Strong architecture communication skills, with the ability to explain complex issues clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

• Experience providing governance, assurance and architectural oversight across complex or high-risk delivery portfolios.

• Understanding of commercial and supplier considerations, including sourcing options, procurement, whole-life value, interoperability, supportability and lock-in risk.

• Experience of applying modern enterprise architecture approaches, including cloud and platform strategy, integration, data, AI, automation, sustainability, reuse and common capabilities.

• Ability to balance strategic direction with practical delivery constraints, user needs and organisational priorities.

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