Solution Architect (Public Sector)

5-month contract, renewable Government project Hybrid work arrangement

About the Role

We are seeking a Solution Architect to work closely with clients, delivery teams, and technology partners to design and deliver robust, scalable digital platforms and data products. In this role, you will guide organisations from problem definition through to implementable solution designs, across both greenfield initiatives and existing platform modernisation.

You will play a trusted advisory role, balancing business needs, data design, engineering quality, security, performance, and cost considerations. This position offers exposure to a diverse range of enterprise solutions, including data platforms, data products, APIs, analytics, and AI-enabled systems, and the opportunity to shape solutions from early concept through to implementation.

This is a hands-on senior role suited for architects who enjoy working upstream with clients, influencing design decisions, and partnering with engineering teams to deliver high-quality, outcome-focused solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Advise clients and delivery teams from problem definition through solution and data product design, across both new system builds and enhancements to existing environments
• Design end-to-end solution architectures across application, data, integration, and infrastructure layers, translating concepts into implementable designs
• Lead the design of data products, including data domain modelling, ingestion and transformation pipelines, storage, and consumption via APIs, analytics, or downstream systems
• Develop current-state, target-state, and transition architectures to support platform evolution, data modernisation, and integration strategies
• Produce and maintain Solution and Infrastructure Bills of Materials (BOMs), ensuring components, including data and platform services, are well-rationalised and cost-effective
• Champion architecture, data, and engineering best practices, ensuring designs are maintainable, traceable, and aligned with industry standards
• Serve as the lead solution architect working with delivery teams and vendor partners to ensure a smooth transition from design to build, owning architectural outcomes end-to-end
• Review and provide guidance on source code review outputs, identifying architectural, data, quality, or security risks
• Review software composition analysis (SCA) findings, assess dependency and vulnerability risks, and recommend mitigation approaches
• Review performance test plans and results, including data-intensive workloads, providing recommendations on scalability, resilience, and performance tuning
• Assess solution and data-related change requests, advising on architectural impacts, trade-offs, and downstream implications
• Collaborate closely with infrastructure, platform, data, and engineering teams to validate and implement approved architectures
• Contribute to cross-cutting architecture topics such as availability objectives, resilience design, data governance considerations, and technology standards
• Mentor and influence teams on architectural thinking, data design, and engineering quality

Requirements

Solution & Data Architecture

• Demonstrated experience designing end-to-end solution architectures, including data-centric systems and platforms
• Strong understanding of data product design, data flows, and consumption patterns
• Ability to design for scalability, performance, resilience, and security

Platform & Infrastructure

• Practical knowledge of cloud and infrastructure design, including networking, security, and availability considerations
• Experience producing architecture artefacts and decisions that support implementation

Engineering & Quality

• Ability to review and advise on source code review outcomes and software dependency risks
• Experience assessing performance test results and recommending architectural improvements and/or remediations
• Knowledge of secure system and data design principles

Cost & Sustainability

• Experience architecting cost-efficient, operationally sustainable cloud solutions, including cloud BOM development and rationalisation of cloud services and resources

Communication & Leadership

• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to lead architecture and design discussions without formal authority
• Trusted advisor able to work effectively with clients, vendors, and delivery teams

Problem-Solving & Ways of Working

• Structured, analytical approach to complex problems
• Ability to evaluate multiple solution and data design options pragmatically
• Comfortable managing multiple initiatives and influencing outcomes

Experience

• Preferably 7–10 years of relevant experience in solution architecture, data platform design, system design, or senior engineering roles
• Proven experience delivering data-driven or platform-based solutions in complex, multi-system environments
• Demonstrated experience working directly with clients, vendors, or delivery partners
• Track record of carrying solution and data product designs from concept through to implementation

/Ref: T24-211