Head of Service Architecture & Tooling

Location: Bristol; Elgin Ave., London W9 2NR, UKSalary: 76,879 - 88,967 per yearEmployment: Full timeCategory: ITPosted: 2026-08-03Valid to: 2026-08-29Employer: Home OfficeJob summaryThe Home Office is here to make our country safer. As well as working to reduce crime and enforce the law. We also work to protect the most vulnerable and have a proud history of providing refuge to those who have been displaced or are seeking asylum. Whether it is fighting crime, protecting our borders or combating slavery, the Home Office is at the cutting edge of public policy in this country, and our work is some of the most challenging and rewarding in government.The Public Safety Group’s role is to keep the public safe by cutting crime, disrupting the highest harm criminals, protecting the vulnerable and ensuring that our police service is as efficient and effective as it can be in delivering front line public services. We work with our partners in other government departments, local government and the voluntary sector to develop and implement policy, provide funding, and deliver legislation.The people in our Group develop and implement policy, provide funding, and deliver legislation. We make the most of innovation, data, and partnerships to prevent crime, protect the vulnerable, and tackle the highest harm crimes. We work with our partners in law enforcement, establishing governance arrangements at a national, regional and local level.Job descriptionThis role offers you the opportunity to join an exciting, fast-paced environment working hard to deliver ministerial commitments for the benefit of the public. As Head of Service Architecture and Tooling, you will be a key decision maker and liaise with the most senior internal and third party, stakeholders who are involved in some of the most cutting-edge skills and topics within information technology.You will lead a matrix team of civil service and contract Service Design and Transition managers. You will design and deliver services that support business needs reusing existing service components where appropriate; that are proportionate and affordable; and span multiple suppliers, components, and support levels. You will lead on the production of comprehensive service designs, incorporating the entire end-to-end eco-system that includes business requirements, wider standards, enterprise services capabilities, and external suppliers and consumers. You will also lead on programmes and projects of work, acting as a subject matter expert and ensuring the design meets user and wider Home Office needs. Whilst working within the Service Design and Tooling team, you will work closely with Live Services, ESN Service Operations, and the wider ESMCP programme workstreams as well as our suppliers and representatives from the Emergency Services organisations. You will promote a team culture that embodies the Civil Service values and rewards teamwork, client-orientation, delivery focus and technical excellence. Key Responsibilities:Leading the development of end-to-end service design for new and evolving services, ensuring alignment with organisational strategy and the wider service ecosystem.Providing strategic oversight of service design and transition activity, ensuring services are supportable, sustainable, and deliver value.Engaging senior stakeholders across ESMCP, suppliers, and partner organisations to shape requirements, influence decisions, and resolve complex delivery challenges.Overseeing the production and quality of key service artefacts, including Service Design Packages, ensuring consistency with best practice and governance standards.Leading service readiness and transition planning for new services, ensuring effective integration into live operations and alignment with existing capabilities.Driving continuous improvement across service management, identifying opportunities to modernise processes, improve tooling, and increase automation.Establishing and promoting best practice within the IT Operations and service management community, building organisational capability.Maintaining oversight of the transition pipeline, forecasting demand and ensuring effective resource planning.Leading, developing and managing a multi-disciplinary team, fostering a high-performing and inclusive culture, supporting professional development and succession planning.You may be required to undertake other duties within the scope of the grade and their skills, competence, and training. The role will transition over time from hands-on delivery to a predominantly assurance-focused function, with greater emphasis on oversight and performance.Working PatternDue to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis. However, job-share and compressed hours are available. Person specificationEssential Criteria Providing strategic and technical leadership, driving high-quality, innovative service solutions and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.Navigating complex delivery environments, working across supplier networks, internal teams, and wider government stakeholders to achieve outcomes.Delivering robust, resilient services within time, cost and quality constraints, ensuring effective implementation, testing and documentation.Shaping and defining standards, contributing to service strategies and technical roadmaps aligned to organisational priorities.Anticipating future technology developments and advising on opportunities to enhance services and capability.Communicating clearly and influencing senior stakeholders, adapting style and approach to meet diverse needs and manage expectations.Applying a flexible, pragmatic approach to delivery, operating across agile, DevOps and traditional methodologies where appropriate.Desirable CriteriaDrive process improvement, establish best practice, promoting consistency, innovation and continuous improvement across teams, with strong knowledge of Lean, Agile and DevOps in product-centric delivery environments. Manage end-to-end employee lifecycle while applying solid understanding of ITIL functions and core service management methodologies.Qualifications1 - ITIL foundation.2 - Relevant project/programme management qualifications (Agile/Prince 2/DevOps/SIAM/Lean) or a willingness to acquire them.3 - Strategy and Architecture: • Advice and Guidance - Methods and Tools (METL) – level 44 - Change and Transformation: • Change Implementation - Project Management (PRMG) – level 4 • Change Analysis - Business Situation Analysis (BUSA) – level 55 - Delivery and Operation: • Service Management - Service Acceptance (SEAC) – level 4 • Technology Management - Technology Service Management (ITMG) – level 56 - Relationships and Engagement: • Stakeholder Management - Stakeholder Relationship Management (RLMT) – level 4BehavioursWe'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:Communicating and InfluencingManaging a Quality ServiceSeeing the Big PictureTechnical skillsWe'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:Service Design and TransitionService ManagementTooling and Asset ManagementBenefitsIn addition to your salary, a career with the Home Office offers a range of benefits, including: A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%. In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements. 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days. Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day. Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.Things you need to knowArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.Selection process detailsThis vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised. Application – by 28th August 2026As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete: CV Personal Statement (maximum 1250 words). Your CV should consist of your career history, qualifications and skills, including any key achievements in each role. Your CV will be scored against the experience required for the role as noted within the essential criteria.The Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience set out in the essential criteria, detailed in the job description. For guidance and information on how to construct your application (CV, Personal Statement and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.Sift – 7th September 2026The sift will be held on the Personal Statement and CV. Interview – 28th September 2026If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviours (as listed in the job advert) and Strength based questions. In addition, candidates will be asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation that will be delivered at interview. The presentation question/scenario will be disclosed closer to the interviews. (should you be successful at sift). Slides will not be accepted.Interviews will be conducted online via Teams.Problems during the application processIf you experience problems accessing this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application, please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, including the vacancy reference, at least two working days before the vacancy closes. Further information can be found on our website.Do not create or attempt to submit another application, online test or use a different Civil Service Jobs account to proceed as this would be in violation of the candidate declaration.LocationYou will only be able to select a single location preference so please ensure this is a location that you are prepared to travel to. If you are offered a role at your preferred location and you decline, your application will be withdrawn. Reserve ListA reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer. Further information can be found on our website.Reserve lists will be held for each location and profession. Candidates will be appointed in merit order by location and profession.Breaking Tied ScoresThe behaviours, experience, and strengths have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores.StandardsAll Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. Additional Security Checks As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, candidates will be subject to a range of additional checks. The range of checks carried out will depend on whether you are a current Home Office employee, existing civil servant or an external new entrant as well as the role requirements. Further details are included in the Notes to Candidates. Reasonable AdjustmentsIf a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needsComplete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professionalIf you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.SecuritySuccessful 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 requirementsThis job is broadly open to the following groups:UK nationalsnationals of the Republic of Irelandnationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UKnationals 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 2020Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil ServiceFurther information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)Working for the Civil ServiceThe 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 InclusionThe Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).Apply and further informationThis 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 applicantsJob contact : Name : Home Office Resourcing CentreEmail : HORCCampaignTeamBorderForce@homeoffice.gov.ukRecruitment teamEmail : HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.ukFurther informationIf you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. and you wish to make a complaint, then contact the Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.Attachments2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) (16) Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)candidate_information_v18_July_2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 8MB)