Head of IT Service Architecture & Delivery

Location: Cardiff

Salary: £65,000 + Bonus + Full Benefits

Security Clearance: SC required (must hold or be eligible) - DV desirable

We are recruiting for an experienced and influential technical leader to head up Service Architecture & Delivery for a secure Defence communications and infrastructure programme.

This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for the technical design, governance and operational assurance of a complex, secure IT service. You will act as the senior technical authority, ensuring the service is secure, resilient, compliant and continually improved in line with Defence requirements and contracted SLAs.

The Role

You will:

• Lead all architectural, technical and operational elements of a secure IT service
• Chair the Technical Design Authority and own the service blueprint and roadmap
• Maintain governance across service design, transition and operational delivery
• Own non-functional requirements including performance, resilience, recoverability and security
• Provide L4 technical oversight and assurance across infrastructure, networking, virtualisation and secure environments
• Act as the primary technical interface to senior Defence stakeholders and accreditation bodies
• Lead multi-disciplinary technical teams and specialist suppliers in a "one team" delivery model
• Drive continual improvement across automation, monitoring and service efficiency

About You

You will bring:

• 5+ years' experience in related position. Ideally a senior technical leadership role (Head of Technical Services, Principal Architect, Programme Technical Lead or similar)
• Proven experience delivering secure IT services within the MOD
• Strong background in service architecture, technical governance and ITIL-based service delivery
• Experience leading technical transitions, onboarding or complex service integrations
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills at senior and executive level
• Knowledge of Defence security standards (JSP 440 / JSP 604 desirable)

This is a high-impact role for someone who combines architectural credibility with operational leadership and the confidence to engage at senior Defence level.

If you hold (or are eligible for) SC clearance and are looking to take ownership of a mission-critical technical service and have a strong MOD background, please get in touch for a confidential conversation.