A role within the Central Digital and Data Office comes with responsibility for driving the creation of standards and guidance for digital infrastructure, and implementing them across the public sector

The government is seeking to recruit a senior manager to oversee planning and delivery of shared digital architecture across departments and the wider public sector.

The role as principal enterprise architect for government digital architecture is based in the Central Digital and Data Office, and is expected to come with a “base salary” of between £64,700 and £68,790. But this figure could rise to as much as £98,975 via the use of Whitehall’s specialist pay framework for digital and data professionals.

The position sits within the enterprise architecture function under the chief technology officer’s directorate.

The remit of this architecture unit is “to define how technology will be used to transform the UK public sector: ensuring that common tools, standards and shared services exist to reduce duplication and improve efficient use of technology; providing the guardrails that enable government departments to innovate the future safely; and to provide the roadmaps of core foundational technologies that are common across central and local government, the NHS, police, as well as 400-plus agencies and other bodies”, according to the job advert.

The successful applicant for the principal architect post will be expected to play a central role in delivering the objective to “set a 10-year intent and strategy for our future digital architecture, and how departments systems will interact or share from each other”.

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This will involve work to establish guidelines and governance measures for tech platforms, as well as creating and leading “a group of technologists from across the UK public sector to embed these”.

The postholder will also work closely with tech manufacturers – and procurement experts from the Crown Commercial Service – to develop buying agreements and support “a vibrant market of shared capabilities”.

Other duties of the position include promoting the work of the architecture team through activities such as public speaking and publishing blogs on GOV.UK, as well as undertaking efforts to “upskill others in CDDO”.

The job advert adds: “Unlike many others, our roles have a scale and impact: we are routinely involved in commercial engagements worth billions of pounds, respond to pan-government technology questions from ministers, and provide advice to other international governments.”

Applications for the role are open until 11.55pm on 4 August.

CDDO currently sits within the Cabinet Office but, after the new government announced a major shake-up of government’s technology landscape, is shortly to be moved to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Its sister unit, the Government Digital Service, and the recently created Incubator for Artificial Intelligence are to make the same move.