Key Responsibilities include:

Leadership and Direction:

• Work with the Senior Leadership Teams (SLTs) of the relevant Director General to provide leadership and direction in aligning business and technology architecture
• Drive the alignment of business and technology architecture to ensure cohesive and effective strategic change.

Strategic Understanding and Translation:

• Gain a deep understanding of relevant operational and policy strategies.
• Translate these strategies into effective IT changes that support HMRC's goals.

Influence and Improvement:

• Understand and influence operational and policy strategies to promote improved processes.
• Develop appropriate IT Strategy responses to ensure alignment with HMRC's objectives.

Validation and Alignment:

• Validate that HMRC's IT Strategy remains aligned with the appropriate operational and policy strategies.
• Provide an improved business context to support the development of application architecture.
• Identification and Reuse of Services: Increase the identification and reuse of common services to enhance efficiency and reduce redundancy.

Cross-Government Engagement:

• Engage with other IT Leaders and the wider government community to develop a cross-government perspective for domain areas.
• Ensure HMRC interests are represented and opportunities for HMRC are exploited.

Effective Business Change:

• Support the delivery of more effective business change by leveraging IT architecture to drive strategic initiatives.

Person specification

The successful applicant will need to demonstrate relevant experience and effective delivery of the following essential criteria:

Proven Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement:

• A strong leader and manager with a successful track record of building and leading high-performing technical IT teams, driving cultural change, and influencing senior stakeholders across internal and external environments. Able to communicate complex technical issues clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Extensive Infrastructure Architecture Expertise:

• Demonstrable experience in all aspects of Infrastructure Architecture, including End User Computing, Hosting and Storage, Networks, Cloud Computing (e.g. AWS, Azure), and IT Service Management. Strong understanding of commercial cloud environments, development methodologies, and disaster recovery.

Strategic Direction and Governance:

• Accountable for the design, delivery, and promotion of infrastructure architecture principles, standards, and roadmaps. Experienced in technology selection, architectural governance, and expertise in supporting initiatives in application architecture and integration.

Hands-on Technical and Delivery Experience:

• Skilled in the technical implementation of IT infrastructure projects, with experience working alongside outsourced service providers and IT service delivery teams. Proven ability to lead teams of infrastructure and enterprise architects.

Certifications and Technical Breadth:

• Ideally TOGAF 9/10 certified or able to demonstrate equivalent experience. Familiarity with SAP, Oracle, and a broad range of infrastructure technologies including databases, middleware, security, and cross-functional services.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Pension

Your Civil Service pension is a valuable part of your total reward and is one of your biggest benefits.

When you join the Civil Service, you get access to the alpha pension with a generous employer contribution of 28.97% and some of the lowest member contributions in the public sector.

Please visit Civil Service Pension Scheme for more information.

Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance

25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years' service (allowance pro-rata for part-time colleagues).

This is complemented by one days paid privilege leave to mark the King's Birthday and is in addition to your public holidays.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service values and supports all its employees.

At HMRC we want to create great places to work that are welcoming to all - where there is a strong sense of belonging and community.

Our HMRC equality objectives 2024-2028 describe how we are working to become a more inclusive and representative organisation reflective of our values.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How to Apply

This campaign is being managed by HMRC's Executive Resourcing team. All a pplications should be submitted via Civil Service Jobs no later than 23:55 on Monday 30th June 2025 and must include:

• A CV detailing your career history, key responsibilities and achievements accounting for any employment gaps within the last two years.
• A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 2 pages) demonstrating how your experience meets the essential criteria.

Your CV and suitability statement will be assessed against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please include your full name on both documents.

For all campaign queries including assistance with your application or if you need to discuss a reasonable adjustment, please contact Jashim Ahmed, Head of Executive Resourcing at scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk

Diversity and Inclusion

HMRC is a great place to work and champions diversity and inclusivity in its workplace.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a diversity questionnaire. If preferred, you may select 'prefer not to say'.

All data is treated confidentially and will not be disclosed to the selection panel.

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to support job applicants and ensure that you are not disadvantaged in the recruitment and assessment process.

Reasonable adjustments could include; allowing extra time during selection tests; ensuring that information is provided in an accessible format or; by providing training.

If you feel you may need a reasonable adjustment or require a hard copy of the information, or in an alternative format (e.g. Audio, Braille or large font) please contact scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk

Selection Panel

• Tom Skalycz, Chief Digital Technology Officer and vacancy holder, HMRC
• Varsha Gulabivala , Head of Solution Architecture , HMR C
• Mark Swann, Platform Owner for Modern Workplace , HMRC
• Fourth panel member - To be confirmed

Shortlist

The panel will assess the evidence provided in your CV and statement. Candidates whose applications best meet the essential criteria will be selected for interview.

HMRC is a Disability Confident leader and guarantees to interview candidates applying under the Disability Confidence Scheme who successfully meet the minimum selection criteria outlined in the person specification.

Due Diligence

Candidates should declare any perceived conflicts of interest at application, and this may be discussed with you at interview.

Informal Conversation

Shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to speak to Tom Skalycz prior to interview. This is an informal discussion to allow you to learn more about the role and is not part of the assessment process.

Assessment

If shortlisted, you will take part in the following assessments:

• Individual Leadership Assessment - a combination of psychometric assessments
• Staff Engagement Exercise - a presentation and Q&A with a representative staff group from across HMRC.

Assessments are designed to support the panel's decision making and highlight areas for further exploration at interview and do not result in a pass or fail decision.

Interview

You will attend a panel interview for a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence. This will include a 5-minute verbal presentation (further information will be issued in advance).

Interviews are expected to take place in person at Bristol .

Offer and Feedback

Unfortunately, due to the anticipated number of applicants for this role, we are unable to provide feedback to those not successful at shortlist stage.

Candidates who are shortlisted and attend an interview will be offered feedback from a member of the interview panel. We will also send you a copy of the report for any assessment you have undergone.

All Criminal Record Checks applications are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window) .

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window) .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Jashim Ahmed, Head of Executive Resourcing
• Email : scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk

Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission.

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied after departmental investigation, for further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/

Attachments
SCS1 Chief Infrastructure Architect - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 979kB)