Head of enterprise architecture - Chief operating office - #192537

Job Title: Head of Enterprise Architecture
Salary: c£75,000 per annum negotiable depending on experience
Jisc grade: TGE5
Job Type: Permanent
Hours: 35 hours per week
Reports into: Director of Technology Strategy
Working style: Hybrid - A blend of working from home and your nominated hub office. We have hubs located in London, Bristol, Manchester and Oxford.

About Jisc:
For 30 years Jisc has pioneered digital solutions for UK education and research, transforming how knowledge is created, shared and used.

We are uniquely positioned to protect, promote and lead the sector in digital and data transformation, making a difference to students, communities and society. Together, we are
working to build a better digital future for education and research.

Raise your potential through our culture of lifelong learning. At Jisc, we're all about growth, so embrace new challenges, sharpen your skills and shape a career that excites you.

The team:
This role leads the Enterprise Architecture team within the Group CTO directorate, shaping and guiding how technology and data architecture underpin Jisc’s strategic ambitions. The team is responsible for defining and evolving target architectures, roadmaps, blueprints, and architectural strategies that enable and govern change delivery across transformation programmes and the wider organisation. It also oversees the Jisc Design Authority, ensuring that technology decisions are aligned to organisational priorities and that change is delivered in a coordinated, consistent, and strategically aligned way.
Working across a diverse and complex technology landscape, the team supports services spanning security, networks, licensing, and authentication—core capabilities that directly enable the UK’s academic and research community. Through providing expert technical leadership and architectural guidance, the team plays a central role in shaping digital transformation initiatives, designing scalable and sustainable technology and data solutions, and ensuring that change is delivered in line with Jisc’s long-term strategic direction.

The role:
As Head of Enterprise Architecture, you will lead and shape a high-performing EA function, guiding a diverse team of Enterprise, Data, and Solution Architects. This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of Jisc’s strategic delivery, where you will influence how technology and data enable our long-term ambitions and drive meaningful outcomes for the organisation and the sectors we support.
You will set the architectural vision and provide clear direction across a broad and evolving stakeholder landscape, supporting decision-making and design activities that underpin transformation and change delivery. Working collaboratively across IT, Security, Customer Experience, EPMO, Finance, Governance, and wider directorates, you will play a key role in shaping organisational strategy and ensuring our technology and data platforms evolve in line with it.
A central part of the role is chairing the Jisc Design Authority, bringing together senior stakeholders to agree and guide the strategic direction of our architecture. You will lead architectural activity across digital transformation and wider change programmes, ensuring initiatives are aligned to our enterprise architecture framework, governed effectively, and prioritised to deliver maximum business value.
This is an opportunity to make a real impact—driving innovation, ensuring coherence across a complex landscape, and helping to deliver strategic outcomes that support the UK’s academic and research communities.

What you’ll be doing:

• Own and develop the Enterprise Architecture Framework consisting of target architectures and blueprints, principles, guidelines, design patterns, standards, and other artefacts to shape the EA practice.
• Own and chair the Jisc Design Authority as a design governance and collaborative architectural decision-making board covering all architectural change across the enterprise.
• Mature the Enterprise Architecture practice through managing and developing the team’s competencies and ways of working in line with business need and strategic OKRs.
• Empower and enable the EA function to influence and support delivery of transformative change efforts toward target architectures and capabilities.
• Take a leading role on stakeholder management across the enterprise, acting as a conduit between GCTO’s technology functions and business leaders.
• Coordinate governance and design change with CABs and other design forums across the enterprise.
• Develop and publish architectural roadmaps and blueprints governing our technology and data platforms.
• Evaluate and support teams in maturing their own business functions, operating models, and capabilities around our core technology and data platforms.
• Support business leaders in building investment cases to drive change initiation.
• Act in a ‘trusted advisor’ capacity surrounding technology and business trends relevant to our sector, supporting platform teams, business leaders, and change delivery programmes.
• Lead on shaping architectural initiatives to evolve our technology estate in line with cost optimisation, strategic direction, and investment roadmaps while reducing cost and risk attached to legacy platforms and technical debt.

What we are looking for:

• Proven experience building managing and developing an Enterprise Architecture team in a data- and technology-focused environment.
• Proven experience running architectural design and governance functions (DA/TDA/ARB etc).
• Substantial experience working with diverse technology stacks, including across multiple public and hybrid clouds, networking/telecoms technologies, cyber security services, and in-house developed products.
• Substantial experience having managed a team budget within tight financial constraints.
• Substantial experience working with senior stakeholders to shape and influence business change initiatives.
• Substantial experience building business cases, working with vendors, and working with business stakeholders to drive technology procurement activities.

It’s a bonus if you have

• Experience working across the academic and research sector.
• Experience with building and supporting value-stream focused operating models.
• Experience supporting and developing ITIL-based ITOMs.
• Experience building architectures that support both internal capabilities and external product/service offerings.
• A solid understanding of project management and software development methodologies, particularly in developing associated capabilities.
• Experience working in and supporting large scale digital transformation programmes.

Skills and personal qualities

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Excellent team and budget management skills.
• Excellent writing, documentation, and architectural modelling skills.
• Good understanding of current and emerging technology trends, transformation and change delivery methodologies, and industry best practice in architectural design.
• Ability to self-organise and prioritise one’s own team activities.
• TOGAF or equivalent architectural qualification.

It’s a bonus if you have

• Solid understanding of cloud, networking, and security technologies.
• Good understanding of Salesforce (including Communications Cloud), Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, MuleSoft, Tableau, and a diverse range of data storage technologies.
• Operational experience working with service delivery teams aligned to ITIL.
• Good understanding of financial awareness and a commercial mindset.
• Good understanding of both agile and waterfall change delivery models.
• Ability to drive pace and motivate others to align around agreed designs, roadmaps, and delivery schedules.

Don’t meet every single requirement?
We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they think they can’t tick every box, so we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet 100% of the requirements, but if you feel this role is perfect for you. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles!

Hybrid working:
Specific patterns for working in the office are not mandated, and the frequency of time worked in the office is agreed with your manager. Meeting in person is something we value, so you may need to travel on occasion to any of our hub offices.

Why work for us?
At Jisc, every role is meaningful, and every individual is valued. We foster a culture of continuous learning and personal growth, offering opportunities to develop new skills and make a real impact in education and research. With a strong focus on work-life balance, we embrace flexible working that prioritises outcomes over hours, empowering you to create a rhythm that energises both your professional and personal life.

Our Guiding Principles:
Jisc’s culture is powered by our four guiding principles: putting customers first, driving innovation, creating impact, and championing inclusive collaboration to deliver sustainable outcomes and shape a better future.

Discover the amazing benefits we provide! Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Flexible work pattern, which can adapt to suit your schedules and personal commitments
• 31 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) that includes three closure days over Christmas
• Buy up to an additional 5 days leave during the flexible benefits window
• Generous flexible pension schemes
• A range of wellbeing lifestyle benefits including company paid health care cash plan, mental health first aiders and support
• A company culture of continuous learning with access to thousands of LinkedIn Learning courses, and lots of resources and opportunities to support your development
• Allocated allowance of up to £250 to equip your home office
• Financial well-being support including access to preferential loan and savings plans, mortgage advice, will writing tools and support and resources to help you make the most of your money
• A wide range of discounts and cashback from retailers and big-name high-street stores
• Family friendly policies including enhanced parental, maternity and paternity and co-parental leave as well as opportunity for career breaks
• Support your volunteering with up to 3 days volunteer leave

Equity, diversity and inclusion:
Jisc believe our people make all the difference in cultivating an inclusive culture that welcomes ideas, encourages innovation, and values belonging.

We work hard to create an equitable experience for our candidates and workforce which embraces all aspects of their identity including race and ethnicity, religion and belief, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, trans identities, age, class, disability, neurodivergence, or veteran status.

Application process:
Please let us know how we can best accommodate you throughout the recruitment process. We’re committed to making our process accessible and comfortable for everyone - just tell us what works best for you.

Just so you know, we review CVs as soon as we can and aim to provide an update on your application within 4 weeks of receiving it. However, you may hear from us a lot sooner, so please keep an eye out for our emails or calls!

We’re really looking forward to getting to know the real you. While we encourage the use of AI tools to help you get started on your CV or cover letter, we encourage you to review your application before submitting. Make sure it truly reflects your own voice, experiences, and personality.

If you are currently a Jisc employee, please apply through your Dayforce Employee profile.

We have a thorough background screening process that verifies the details you share with us in your CV and your application. Any inaccurate information supplied during the application stages can lead to a job offer being withdrawn.

Sponsorship:
Jisc has an active sponsor licence to recruit on a Skilled worker visa basis. Candidates wishing to apply who require sponsorship should determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the role by assessing their circumstances against the relevant Home Office criteria. Jisc does not offer any financial re-imbursement towards the applicant costs, such as re-location, skilled worker visa and dependant costs or the immigration health charge.

No agencies please.