Principal Application Architect in Birmingham

Job Title: Principal Application Architect

Grade:

Salary: £, to £,

Closing Date: //3

About Us

West Midlands Police is England’s second largest police force. Together we serve the 2.9 million people who call the region home - one of the youngest and most diverse populations in Europe.

The shared vision of our , officers, staff and volunteers is to be recognised as a police service that is big enough to cope with everything that is asked of us, while showing we are small enough to care about the things that really matter to people.

This vision is built on three strategic priorities :

·A service that works for local people

·Engaged communities

·Employer of choice

We will achieve each of these goals to enable us fulfil our mission of working in partnership, making communities safer.

West Midlands Police have completed a large-scale digital transformation programme, and therefore technologies such as Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Mobility are no longer visionary – they underpin policing today. The next stage in our technology ambition is focused around the concept of Synergy and delivering amazing User Experiences. This role will help focus and shape our path in the Synergy strategy – and thus drive real-world impact on policing technology, therefore allowing us to excel at our vision; to prevent crime, protect the public and help those in need.

As the Principal Application Architect, you sit within the Architecture Management function of the IT & Digital department. Your team will lead on the design and modelling of strategic and tactical architectures for delivery, development and support of projects. You will also work closely with the User Experience team and function (a new entity) within the department – which will identify Synergy Opportunities for improving User Experiences across our organisation.

Alongside creating standards and guidelines in architecture, you will also be responsible for the quality of designs created, that are submitted to technical governance boards for successful adoption. You will have a big influence on technology choices, and our technology architecture – which underpins all areas of policing.

Leading a team of supporting senior architects, you will be a principled expert in application technology, and will be comfortable providing a clear path on this technology moving forward. The role will manage the workload across the architecture team, ensuring technology solutions are designed against our end-state blueprints and requirements.
Reporting to the Head of Architecture, the Principal Application Architect is responsible for the following key areas;

• Lead the design and modelling of strategic and tactical architectures for delivery, development, and support of projects.

• Build the long-term strategic roadmap for application architecture. Therefore, prioritising the removal of our Technical Debt.

• Lead a team to develop End to End Solution Designs to meet business objectives and great customer outcomes. Ensuring they adhere to all architectural, security and quality standards.

• Work alongside the User Experience team, to identify ways we can improve on existing solutions/systems/processes for the benefit of the organisation and the public we serve.

• Engagement with business stakeholders when ideas are conceived; and lead in shaping them into deliverable outcomes.

• Develop and maintain policies, standards, and guidelines to ensure that a consistent framework is applied across the organisation.

Key Responsibilities:

- Lead on architecture for applications and security, including the capture of existing as-is architecture state, and the evolution/transition states required to achieve the to-be future state.

- Be accountable for the design/architecture deliverables created by the team – Thus ensuring that design deliverables are fit for purpose in scheduled governance meetings. Also ensuring they meet our high quality standards and align to our end-state blueprints.

- Manage the Architecture Repository, ensuring that roadmaps for as-is, and to-be states are created/maintained/reportable/measurable.

- Ensure that design deliverables are tracked throughout the lifecycle of the department.

- Work alongside the User Experience team within IT&D to ensure Synergy opportunities are identified and prioritised for implementation.

- Ensuring that Architecture Governance is followed as designs progress through the departmental pipeline of Design > Build > Run operating model.

- Managing and mentoring a team of application architects and supporting staff, including the management of workload, demand and performance measurement/reporting.

- Management of the Application Portfolio and its continual evolution.

- Leading on the creation and review cycle of standards/blueprint documents, and responsibility for all associated architecture templates.
- Management and Oversight of the “Front Door” for new technology requests and associated staff within the department (Our Business Link function).

- Ensuring evolution of our Vendor & Marketplace engagement activity.

- Leading on the pipeline of new application architecture work within the department.

- Keeping up-to-date with regards to new technology as it relates to application architecture and design.

- Promote and champion the Force’s diversity agenda; 

- Provide an escalation route for issues; 

- Negotiate with partner agencies, suppliers and contractors in order to achieve desirable outcomes; 

- Plan and organise individual or team activity with an appreciation of longer term issues; 

- Provide specialist information and/or advice to assist and influence senior colleagues/customers to make decisions relating to significant business issues; 

- Assist the Head of Architecture in formulating strategic direction for the team and unit; 

- Provide reports and comprehensive working papers including making recommendations for improvements or amendments to architecture and designs. 

- Ensure the team continually promote the department through engaging with operational staff wherever possible; 

Vetting:

Successful applicants will be required to pass Management Vetting and Security Clearance scrutiny prior to commencing their role, this will include a full background & financial disclosure as part of the vetting process.

Medical:

Appointment to this role will be dependent upon successfully medical checks, which may include a drugs test and if required a fitness test.

Probation Policy

Under the Probation Policy, if you are currently in your probation period, “during your probationary period you will not be permitted to apply for alternative police staff roles within the Force unless there are exceptional circumstances. In such cases, you would require the support of your line manager prior to applying for alternative roles, and if successful, your probationary period will start over.”-

West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader - the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions. As part of our commitment we operate a ‘Disability Confident Interview Scheme’ - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview.

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job, as they would do for non-disabled applicants.

"Diversity and Inclusion Vision: Maximise the potential of people from all backgrounds through a culture of fairness and inclusion to deliver the best service for our communities"