Warwickshire County Council

Job description Warwickshire County Council is looking to appoint two Solution Architects to help guide the future direction of ICT in the council.  About the team    Warwickshire County Council has a dedicated ICT Strategy and Commissioning Service which is responsible for developing our ICT strategy and vision.  The function of the Solution Architecture team is to provide strategic guidance on business decisions about technology. This could be through working on established projects, or through early conversations with business stakeholders about potential areas for development. The architects assess options for achieving business outcomes, engage the right operational ICT colleagues in discussions, and ensure that ICT risk is identified and considered in all conversations.  The Service also manages a strategic commissioning programme which provides a governance framework and reporting capability for the work that the ICT delivery teams do. This enables a data-informed approach to solution design.   About you Risk management is an important part of the role, and the Solution Architects must be able to provide insight on threats and opportunities when ICT risks are identified. You will have a general understanding of ICT security practices to enable you to ask the right questions about proposed solutions.   The Solution Architects’ remit is consultative and therefore does not require day-to-day operational access to systems. However, you will have a background in ICT Applications or Operations and the ability to draw on this to inform conversations with technical staff.    You will have an analytical mind and to be able to assess the available data for any given question, identify where there are gaps and build an assumption base.  You will work collaboratively with the operational delivery teams towards an agreed outcome. Thoughtful and clear communication skills are essential in this role.  Experience of migration from on-premise to cloud-based datacentre or storage systems would be helpful. This is a great opportunity to support data-informed migration within our application, data and technology domains.  What you’ll be doing   We are using Microsoft 365 across the council. We have transitioned elements of our datacentres to Azure and migrated our existing SharePoint platform from on-premise to online, and we are about to begin the deployment of a Dynamics platform for customer relationship management. We are actively seeking ways to optimise our use of cloud technology.  Over the next year we will be focusing on four primary areas for technological change:   Applications and Technology Baselining and Rationalisation  Business Systems Optimisation Cloud Adoption Customer Experience Improvement Projects  As a Solutions Architect you will be guiding ICT through these changes using an architecture-led approach. You will work collaboratively with our technical experts to develop policy and guidance which supports the work. We will also be developing commissions covering the services that ICT provide to the business, including: End User Compute Public Digital Services Digital Workplace Core Infrastructure Security Services Service Management  You will play an active role in defining and developing these, working with ICT colleagues and with stakeholders across the business.     For further information please see the Job Description and Person Specification.   Additional Information To discuss the role please contact Claire Darling –  clairedarling@warwickshire.gov.uk Closing date: 6 June 2023.  Interview date: w/c 19 June 2023. To apply, please visit our website.  Our method of application is online, please note, CV’s should not been submitted unless asked to do so.  If you are unable to apply using the 'Apply' button please contact the Recruitment Centre on hrandpayroll@warwickshire.gov.uk including your contact details and any relevant screenshots.  You will be notified of our shortlisting decision via email, so please check your email on a regular basis after submitting your application.   Warwickshire County Council (WCC) is committed to equality of opportunity for all employees and is keen to address areas of under representation in its workforce, this is because we really understand the importance of different voices, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds within our workforce. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups. WCC has a number of staff network groups which provide peer support and safe spaces for employees who hold these and other identities. See  more .