Digital
architecture

As a business architect, you’ll help organisations understand how they work and plan the changes they need to make. You’ll map out how teams, processes and technology connect, then advise senior leaders on the best way to put their strategy into practice.

You might suit this role if you:

• enjoy working with people to find out what they need from services
• are interested in using technology to solve real problems
• communicate complex information between different people and teams

Where you could start

You could start as a trainee business architect, where you support more senior colleagues to help organisations make strategic decisions.

Many people in business architect roles have a background in IT service delivery. This is also a common career move for experienced business analysts and delivery managers.

Where it can lead

You could progress to senior or lead business architect, working on strategy and policy across an organisation.

Some business architects move into more specialist roles like technical architect or solution architect.

As an enterprise architect, you’ll make sure an organisation’s technology, data and processes work together. You’ll help senior leaders understand how different systems connect, and plan changes that support the organisation’s long-term goals.

You might suit this role if you:

• enjoy solving problems with lots of different parts
• are curious about how new technology can help in real world situations
• communicate complex ideas or situations in ways everyone can understand

Where you could start

Some people move into this role after gaining experience in service design, software development or business analysis.

Where it can lead

You could progress to senior or lead enterprise architect roles, planning how entire organisations use technology to achieve their goals.

Some enterprise architects move into more specialist technical architect roles or senior digital leadership roles.

As a security architect, you’ll design the security that protects government systems and data. You’ll assess threats and risks and recommend ways to keep services safe. You’ll make sure teams build security into everything from the start.

You might suit this role if you:

• are curious about how to use technology in a safe way
• can see how things could go wrong and help ensure they do not
• enjoy problem-solving and communicating with a large team of people

Where you could start

Many security architects have experience in software development, infrastructure engineering or cloud computing.

Where it can lead

You could progress to lead or principal security architect roles as you gain experience in this role.

Some security architects move into other specialist architecture roles, or specialist areas like infrastructure and cyber security.

As a solution architect, you’ll design technology solutions that solve specific problems for the government. You’ll work with teams to understand what’s needed and choose the right approach. It is important to make sure the solution works within the organisation’s existing systems and budget.

You might suit this role if you:

• keep up to date with new technology and how organisations use it
• help technical and non-technical colleagues communicate effectively and understand each other
• find creative solutions to problems and help teams achieve their goals

Where you could start

You could start as an associate solution architect supporting the work of senior colleagues to design solutions.

Some people move into this role from other roles such as business analysts or data engineers, or from other digital architecture roles.

Where it can lead

Many people in this role move into senior, lead or principal solution architect roles as their experience grows.

You could also move into other architecture roles or senior digital leadership roles, working on policy and strategy for a whole organisation.

As a technical architect, you’ll support teams when they’re building or changing systems. You’ll design how systems should work and review what teams are building. You’ll help them choose the right tools and approaches across many services.

You might suit this role if you:

• are curious about how systems work and like getting into technical detail
• can explain complex technical ideas to people with different backgrounds
• want to shape how technology is used across many teams, not just one

Where you could start

You could start as an associate technical architect supporting the work of more senior architects. 

Many people also move into this role after gaining experience in software development, infrastructure engineering or business analysis.

Where it can lead

You could progress to senior, lead or principal technical architect, taking on wider responsibility for how technology is used across an organisation. 

Some technical architects move into enterprise architecture or a specialist area like security or infrastructure.