Lead Technical Architect

Location: Remote

Contract: Inside IR35, 6 Months Initially

Clearance: Candidates should be eligible to work within a secure government environment with current SC

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Lead Technical Architect to play a pivotal role in a major AI transformation programme within a central government environment. This is a highly strategic and hands-on position, responsible for identifying, designing and delivering AI-driven solutions that enable the transition towards AI-assisted and agentic workflows.

The successful candidate will combine deep cloud architecture expertise with a strong understanding of AI platforms, security controls and governance frameworks. You will be expected to identify AI opportunities, shape the technical vision, and lead the end-to-end execution of solutions from concept through to delivery and assurance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the architectural strategy and technical direction for AI platform development and adoption.
• Identify high-value AI opportunities and translate them into scalable, secure, production-ready solutions.
• Design and implement cloud-native architectures that support complex AI workflows and services.
• Establish secure Cloud Landing Zones and technology-agnostic integration frameworks.
• Develop modular architectures and AI platforms that integrate enterprise software with custom-built applications.
• Define and implement AI guardrails, human-in-the-loop controls, privacy protections and security baselines.
• Lead architectural governance, ensuring solutions meet security, compliance and assurance requirements.
• Guide systems through technical design reviews, security assessments and approval processes.
• Provide technical leadership across architecture, engineering and delivery teams.
• Communicate architectural decisions, risks and trade-offs to both technical and senior business stakeholders.
• Drive alignment with wider enterprise technology strategies and roadmaps.

Essential Skills & Experience

Cloud Architecture

• Proven track record delivering enterprise-scale cloud architecture solutions.
• Strong multi-cloud architecture experience, particularly across:
  • Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Expertise in designing secure cloud landing zones and enterprise cloud environments.
• Strong understanding of cloud networking, identity management and security best practices.

Google Cloud Security

• Hands-on experience configuring and managing:
  • VPC Service Controls
  • Identity and Access Management (IAM)
  • Workload Identity Federation (WIF)
  • Security perimeter controls
• Experience implementing secure-by-design cloud architectures within regulated environments.

AI Architecture & Delivery

• Demonstrable experience identifying AI opportunities and delivering practical AI solutions.
• Experience designing architectures for AI-assisted workflows, automation and agentic capabilities.
• Knowledge of AI governance, model risk management, prompt protection and data privacy controls.
• Strong understanding of AI integration patterns and API-led architecture.

Enterprise Architecture

• Expertise designing:
  • Microservices architectures
  • Event-driven platforms
  • API-driven integration layers
  • Modular and vendor-neutral systems
• Ability to design solutions that integrate seamlessly across large enterprise environments.

Governance & Stakeholder Management

• Experience navigating complex governance and assurance processes.
• Ability to present technical strategy, risks and architectural decisions to senior stakeholders and governance boards.
• Strong leadership skills with experience mentoring architects, engineers and delivery teams.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a strategic thinker who can operate comfortably at both enterprise and technical depth. You'll have a proven ability to define architecture roadmaps while remaining capable of making detailed technical decisions and guiding delivery teams through implementation.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• A security-first mindset.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
• Strong leadership and influencing abilities.
• The confidence to challenge, innovate and drive AI adoption in a complex environment.
• A proven record of delivering large-scale cloud transformation programmes.

Desirable Experience

• Central Government or public sector experience.
• Experience working within highly regulated or security-conscious environments.
• Familiarity with AI governance frameworks and emerging AI technologies.
• Experience supporting architectural approval boards and security assurance processes.

Keywords: AI Architect, Lead Architect, Enterprise Architect, Cloud Architect, Google Cloud, GCP, AWS, Multi-Cloud, AI Platforms, AI Governance, VPC Service Controls, Cloud Security, Enterprise Integration, Government, Digital Transformation, Technical Architecture.