Lead Technical Architect - Ministry of Justice - G6

Lead Technical Architect - Ministry of Justice - G6

Full-time (Permanent) National £71,381 - £83,700 London: £75,674 - £87,875 plus additional allowance
Published on 18 February 2026

East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, Scotland, South East England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the Humber

About The Role

We are recruiting a Lead Technical Architect to provide technical leadership for the CJS Spine across the Ministry of Justice and the wider Criminal Justice System.

This is a senior, high-impact role working across organisational boundaries, technologies and teams. You will set direction, shape and assure technical approaches, and help turn complex, cross-system problems into clear, credible solutions.

You will work closely with policy, operational, data and digital leaders, acting as the technical authority for the CJS Spine, and ensuring that technical decisions support both strategic goals and real operational needs.

You’ll be part of Justice Digital and Data. We pride ourselves on being a collaborative, multidisciplinary place to work where user needs, operational reality and technical quality all matter. We support flexible and part-time working wherever possible and value diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

The CJS Spine is a shared set of capabilities that will enable secure, efficient and trusted flows of data across the CJS. It provides the foundations that allow organisations to work together effectively and deliver a seamless end-to-end service.

The CJS Spine will provide:

• A single view of a person
  , enabling us to reliably identify the same individual, whether they are a defendant, offender, victim or witness, so the right information follows them through the system.
• Connected systems
  across policing, courts, prisons, probation and victim services that can exchange information quickly and securely so it’s available at the point of need.
• High-quality, trusted data that stays that way
  , supported by clear standards, governance and provenance so confidence is maintained as data flows across organisations and over time.

Together, these foundations support faster, fairer and more joined-up justice. They enable better decision-making, reduce unnecessary duplication, and create the conditions for transformation through digital, data and AI.

The CJS Spine will play a critical role in enabling the Ministry of Justice’s strategic priorities, including protecting the public, reducing reoffending and ensuring swifter justice for defendants and victims through a modern and efficient criminal courts system.

This is an opportunity to work on a major, cross-system capability that will have a lasting impact on how the criminal justice system operates.

Key Responsibilities

Technical leadership

• Set and own the technical direction for the CJS Spine across the Ministry of Justice and partner organisations.
• Act as the technical authority for the programme, accountable for the quality, coherence and integrity of technical work.

Architecture and strategy

• Define and maintain the end-to-end architecture for the CJS Spine, balancing long-term ambition with practical, incremental progress.
• Ensure technical approaches align with the national Digital  and wider government standards, while meeting the specific operational, legal and ethical requirements of the justice system.
• Work with technical leaders across the Criminal Justice System to build shared understanding, alignment and agreement on technical approaches.
• Influence decisions beyond formal authority, clearly explaining trade-offs and implications to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Interoperability and data foundations

• Lead the technical approach to interoperability and person data improvement, ensuring systems can work together effectively and consistently.
• Provide direction on how identifiers, data standards and integration approaches support a single, joined‑up view across services.

Assurance and governance

• Provide architectural assurance and constructive challenge, ensuring designs are robust, secure and fit for purpose.
• Support and…