Lead Technical Architect

CJS Spine

Location: National*

Closing Date: 28 February

Interviews (subject to change): 25, 26, 27 March

Grade: 6

(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)

Salary (for more information, please refer to the T&Cs at the bottom):

London: £75,674 - £87,875 (which may include an allowance of up to £12,201)

National: £71,381 - £83,700 (which may include an allowance of up to £12,319)

Working pattern: full time, part time, flexible working

Contract Type: Permanent

Vacancy number: 14799

*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP

About The Role

We are recruiting a Lead Technical Architect to provide technical leadership for the CJS Spine across the Ministry of Justice and the wider Criminal Justice System.

This is a senior, high-impact role working across organisational boundaries, technologies and teams. You will set direction, shape and assure technical approaches, and help turn complex, cross-system problems into clear, credible solutions.

You will work closely with policy, operational, data and digital leaders, acting as the technical authority for the CJS Spine, and ensuring that technical decisions support both strategic goals and real operational needs.

You’ll be part of Justice Digital and Data. We pride ourselves on being a collaborative, multidisciplinary place to work where user needs, operational reality and technical quality all matter. We support flexible and part-time working wherever possible and value diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

To help picture your life at MoJ please take a look at our blog and our Digital and Technology strategy 2025.

This role aligns to the Lead Technical Architect role from the Government Digital and Data Framework.

About the CJS Spine

The CJS Spine is a shared set of capabilities that will enable secure, efficient and trusted flows of data across the CJS. It provides the foundations that allow organisations to work together effectively and deliver a seamless end-to-end service.

The CJS Spine will provide:

• A single view of a person, enabling us to reliably identify the same individual, whether they are a defendant, offender, victim or witness, so the right information follows them through the system.
• Connected systems across policing, courts, prisons, probation and victim services that can exchange information quickly and securely so it’s available at the point of need.
• High-quality, trusted data that stays that way, supported by clear standards, governance and provenance so confidence is maintained as data flows across organisations and over time.

Together, these foundations support faster, fairer and more joined-up justice. They enable better decision-making, reduce unnecessary duplication, and create the conditions for transformation through digital, data and AI.

The CJS Spine will play a critical role in enabling the Ministry of Justice’s strategic priorities, including protecting the public, reducing reoffending and ensuring swifter justice for defendants and victims through a modern and efficient criminal courts system.

This is an opportunity to work on a major, cross-system capability that will have a lasting impact on how the criminal justice system operates.

Key Responsibilities

Technical leadership

• Set and own the technical direction for the CJS Spine across the Ministry of Justice and partner organisations.
• Act as the technical authority for the programme, accountable for the quality, coherence and integrity of technical work.

Architecture and strategy

• Define and maintain the end-to-end architecture for the CJS Spine, balancing long-term ambition with practical, incremental progress.
• Ensure technical approaches align with the national Digital ID programme and wider government standards, while meeting the specific operational, legal and ethical requirements of the justice system.

Cross-system working

• Work with technical leaders across the Criminal Justice System to build shared understanding, alignment and agreement on technical approaches.
• Influence decisions beyond formal authority, clearly explaining trade-offs and implications to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Interoperability and data foundations

• Lead the technical approach to interoperability and person data improvement, ensuring systems can work together effectively and consistently.
• Provide direction on how identifiers, data standards and integration approaches support a single, joined-up view across services.

Assurance and governance

• Provide architectural assurance and constructive challenge, ensuring designs are robust, secure and fit for purpose.
• Support and contribute to cross-system technical governance and decision-making.

Enabling delivery

• Guide delivery teams on technical choices, sequencing and dependencies to support effective and sustainable delivery.
• Identify risks, constraints and opportunities early, supporting informed planning and decision-making.

People and capability

• Mentor and support other architects and engineers, contributing to a strong technical community.
• Support recruitment and capability development across architecture and engineering roles.

Person Specification

You will have:

• Significant experience as a technical architect or similar, providing technical leadership on large and complex projects.
• A strong track record of defining and communicating technical strategy and architecture.
• Experience working across multiple teams or organisations on shared technical problems and influencing beyond formal authority.
• The ability to assess options and trade-offs and clearly justify decisions.
• Confidence working with senior stakeholders, both technical and non-technical.
• A broad understanding of modern digital technologies and architectures.

Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for SC clearance.

We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.

Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

How to Apply

1. You must submit a CV and a statement of suitability of no more than 1000 words that demonstrates how you meet the following criteria:
   1. Significant experience as a technical architect or similar, providing technical leadership on large and complex projects.
   2. A strong track record of defining and communicating technical strategy and architecture.
   3. Experience working across multiple teams or organisations on shared technical problems and influencing beyond formal authority.
   4. A broad understanding of modern digital technologies and architectures.

Please note, failure to provide both documents will result in your application being rejected.

2. A diverse panel will review your application against the criteria above.
3. If you meet the required standard, you will be invited to a panel interview held via video conference, which will include:

• 1 hour session focused on your technical skills, assessed through technical questions and a scenario-based exercise that will be shared in advance
• 15-minute break
• 45-minute session focused on your behaviours and experience

Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift based on “Significant experience as a technical architect or similar, providing technical leadership on large and complex projects” will be conducted before the sift.

In Justice Digital, we recruit using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks.

During the interview, we will assess your technical skills and the following behaviours:

• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the big picture
• Working together
• Delivering at pace

Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we may discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.

Application Guidance

You may want to use this guidance on how to apply for roles within the civil service and how to write a personal statement.

Benefits

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please Note

Recruitment Process Notice
This role is being delivered in partnership with PeopleScout, our managed recruitment service provider. As part of the recruitment process, your personal data will be shared with PeopleScout for the purposes of candidate assessment, communication, and selection.
PeopleScout will process your data on behalf of the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Your data will be handled securely, used only for recruitment purposes, and retained only as long as necessary.
The Ministry of Justice processes your personal data under the lawful bases of:

• Contractual necessity – to assess and progress your application,
• Legal obligation – for checks such as right to work,
• Legitimate interest – to improve recruitment processes and ensure fair selection.

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data,
• Request correction or deletion,
• Restrict or object to processing,
• Request data portability.

Your data will be retained for up to 12 months following the recruitment process or the duration of the appointment, whichever is shorter, after which it will be securely deleted.
For more information on how your data will be used and your rights under data protection law, please refer to our https://justice.gov.uk/privacy or contact the MoJ Data Protection Team at data.protection@justice.gov.uk

Terms & Conditions

Please review our Terms and Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact digitalanddatarecruitment@justice.gov.uk