Principal Architect

Role: Principal Architect

Type: Permanent, full-time

Location: Remote (London)

Salary: Up to £120K p/a

Industry: Healthcare

Purpose:

The Principal Architect is accountable for defining and guiding the architectural vision, strategy, and governance across IT initiatives. This role requires close collaboration with senior stakeholders to ensure that technology solutions are aligned with the company’s strategic goals. The Principal Architect must exhibit strong leadership and bring deep expertise in healthcare IT systems, delivering innovative solutions that enhance operational efficiency and elevate patient care.

Responsibilities:

• Strategic Planning and Vision: Define and maintain the architectural roadmap to align with organizational objectives and industry best practices, ensuring IT systems are scalable and sustainable over the long term. Apply a broad understanding across Business, Data, Application, Technology, and Security domains.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Engage with senior leadership, clinical teams, and external partners to shape and implement the architectural strategy. Facilitate effective communication and secure stakeholder alignment, leveraging cross-domain expertise to support informed decision-making.
• Project Oversight: Lead the architectural design and delivery of IT solutions, ensuring quality execution within defined timelines and budgets. Ensure integration of Business, Data, Application, Technology, and Security considerations into all project phases.
• Governance and Compliance: Maintain architectural practices in full compliance with healthcare regulations and standards, such as GDPR, CAF, DSPT, NIST, and NHS guidelines. Routinely review and update architectural policies to reflect evolving requirements, with embedded security throughout.
• Mentorship and Leadership: Provide leadership and mentorship to technical teams and subject matter experts, promoting a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Direct line management of the Solution Architect and development of training initiatives to build team expertise.
• Risk Management: Identify architectural risks and implement strategies to safeguard the integrity, stability, and security of IT systems. Apply risk assessment frameworks and develop mitigation plans across all architectural domains.
• Innovation and Technology Adoption: Continuously monitor emerging technologies, trends, and best practices to inform the architectural roadmap. Lead proof-of-concept and pilot initiatives to rapidly validate new solutions that deliver business value.
• Technical Debt Management: Proactively manage and remediate technical debt by incorporating improvements into future architectural plans and roadmaps.
• Operational Collaboration: Work with the PMO and Service Transition teams to support the Front Door assessment process and provide architectural oversight for incoming initiatives.
• Architecture Governance: Chair the Technical Design Authority (TDA), ensuring consistent architecture governance across all projects and programs.
• Senior Leadership Collaboration: Partner with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to understand strategic challenges and clearly articulate proposed architectural solutions to address them.

Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Extensive experience in enterprise architecture, with a strong focus on healthcare IT solutions.
• Proven success in leading large-scale projects and managing cross-functional teams.
• In-depth knowledge of healthcare regulations, standards, and best practices (e.g., GDPR, CAF, DSPT, NIST).
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Relevant certifications such as TOGAF or Zachman are desirable.
• 5–7 years of experience in IT architecture roles, including time in senior or leadership capacities
• Over 10 years of technical experience in infrastructure or software development, specifically within Microsoft-based environments.
• Experience in a healthcare setting is preferred, with strong insight into clinical workflows and healthcare systems, though not essential.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex IT initiatives and guide multidisciplinary teams to successful outcomes.
• Broad expertise across Business, Data, Application, Technology, and Security architecture domains.
• Strong influencing and facilitation skills to support decision-making among stakeholders and peers.
• Ability to effectively communicate complex ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Sound business acumen, including an understanding of IT budgeting (Run/Change) and the ability to contribute to business case development.
• Capable of providing technical input into strategic planning and long-term IT visioning.
• A natural collaborator with a proactive mindset, strong problem-solving abilities, and keen attention to detail.