Telecoms Architect

About the Role

Salary for UKTL specialist roles are benchmarked against the external market and may include additional compensation to recognise in‑demand technical expertise.

Shape the Future of Telecoms Security

At UK Telecoms Lab (UKTL), we're building the UK’s leading capability for telecoms security testing and research. As a Telecoms Architect
, you'll play a pivotal role in identifying, evaluating, and shaping the technologies that will underpin the future of communications.

This is more than a traditional architecture role.

You'll be at the forefront of emerging telecoms technologies, working across industry, government, vendors, operators, and academia to understand what's next, assess security implications, and help define how the UK's telecoms ecosystem can be made more secure and resilient.

If you're passionate about telecoms innovation, enjoy solving complex technical challenges, and want the opportunity to influence the industry's future direction, we'd love to hear from you.

As our Telecoms Architect, you'll become a trusted technical authority across UKTL, providing architectural leadership and helping shape our technology and security research roadmap. You'll:

• Identify and evaluate emerging telecoms technologies for future security testing and research programmes.
• Mentor colleagues and help develop technical capability across the wider organisation.
• Work closely with Research, Testing, Engineering, and Programme teams to bring new technologies into the lab environment.
• Evaluate new products, technologies, and vendor solutions through proof‑of‑concept and assessment activities.
• Design secure, scalable, and resilient architectures that support UKTL’s testing and research objectives.
• Define and maintain the technical roadmap for systems under test, ensuring UKTL remains at the cutting edge of telecoms security.
• Lead architectural governance activities, including design reviews and technical assurance.
• Analyse new technologies and identify potential vulnerabilities, security challenges, and research opportunities.
• Build strong relationships with operators, vendors, researchers, standards bodies, and partner laboratories to support collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Produce technical papers, reports, and presentations for both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Represent UKTL at conferences, industry forums, and customer engagements, sharing insights and influencing industry thinking.

Successful Applicants must be able to commute to the UKTL offices in Birmingham at least twice a week.

We strive to offer a great work‑life balance - if you are looking for full‑time, part‑time or flexible options, we will try to make this work where business possible. This will be dependent on the kind of role you do and part of the business you work in.

We're looking for someone who combines deep technical expertise with curiosity, strategic thinking, and a passion for emerging technologies.

• Significant experience in telecommunications architecture across mobile, fixed, and emerging network technologies.
• Strong knowledge of technologies such as 4G, 5G, RAN/Open RAN, Fixed Broadband, Private Networks, eSIM, and Non‑Terrestrial Networks (NTN).
• Experience defining technology roadmaps and influencing strategic technical decisions.
• A strong understanding of cloud‑native architectures, microservices, APIs, virtualisation, automation, and orchestration technologies.
• Experience designing secure, scalable, and highly resilient architectures.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly and confidently.
• Experience leading architecture reviews, governance activities, and technical assurance processes.
• Excellent analytical and problem‑solving skills, particularly within complex technical environments.

• Experience with in telecoms security, assurance, testing, or research environments.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity frameworks and secure‑by‑design principles.
• A recognised Solution Architecture certification.
• Experience with Enterprise Architecture frameworks such as TOGAF or Zachman.
• Experience…