Lead Technical Architect - Government Digital Service - G7

Lead Technical Architect - Government Digital Service - G7

£58,063 - £79,094 (national) Based on capability.
Published on

Full-time (Permanent) £58,063 - £79,094 (national) Based on capability.
Published on 27 February 2026

Manchester

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government — we are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading  and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need

App

The  App is a new channel for  The app combines mobile-native features with AI technologies and functionality provided by other GDS products to offer a proactive and more personalised experience of  on your phone. The app makes it easier for citizens to interact with government and helps government offer more proactive support to citizens

This role will focus specifically on developing the  app and its seamless integration with existing  services and other government departments. Reporting into the Head of Architecture, you’ll work within and support the wider  app architecture team and collaborate with peers including the Head of Mobile Engineering to deliver a user-centric, highly scalable, resilient, and performant app experience.

It is expected that this role will involve outreach to other government departments, so an ability to communicate to a wide set of stakeholders, along with the ability to manage many work streams concurrently is a must.

As a GDS Lead Technical architect, you’ll share the responsibility for the digital transformation of government. You will help design and drive the technical strategy for the area you work in while ensuring alignment with broader GDS standards and goals. You’ll hold the vision for technical architecture best practice in building resilient and reliable government services and communicate this to technical and non-technical audiences alike.

Lead Technical Architects often work across different teams and services. You’ll ensure that technical designs meet user needs and acceptance criteria, whilst conforming to time and budget constraints. You’ll thrive using agile methods and enjoy working collaboratively with departments and multidisciplinary teams. Above all, you’ll want to make government better, which may sometimes involve challenging the status quo.

As a Lead Technical Architect, you’ll:

• lead by example, be a visible leader who takes responsibility and acts as a role model
• contribute to the development and iteration of GDS architectural and engineering practices, principles and standards
• design technical services or plan system integration, selecting necessary platforms and technologies to meet project requirements and user needs
• provide technical leadership and consultancy to both internal and external development teams, ensuring designs & solutions are fit for purpose, whilst meeting time and budget restraints
• build and maintain technical roadmaps, looking ahead for future…