Enterprise architect

This describes the role of an enterprise architect and the skills required, including:

an introduction to the role, telling you what you would do in this role and the full list of skills
a description of the levels in this role, from enterprise architect to principal enterprise architect, specifying the skills you need and the corresponding skill levels (awareness, working, practitioner, expert)

This role is part of the Digital, Data and Technology Profession in the Civil Service.

Mục Lục

Introduction to the role of enterprise architect

Enterprise architects are leaders working across different levels within an organisation to translate the business strategy into business change and technical delivery.

In this role, you will:

identify priorities for change to enable delivery at pace
lead and influence the delivery of cross-cutting capabilities that enable change
own the enterprise architecture vision, strategy and roadmaps from a business, technology and data perspective, including ‘as is’, ‘to be’ and transitional states
consult and support collaboration across the business
understand the organisation’s ecosystem and its interdependencies, including reference architectures
take a strategic view across all architectural domains, portfolios and programmes
guide the organisation to make appropriate business, technology and data decisions by recommending reuse, sustainability and scalability, to achieve value for money and reduce risk
establish architectural principles, policies and standards
collaborate and consult with stakeholders to assure business, technology and data decisions are aligned with enterprise architecture strategy
develop the architecture community
carry out horizon scanning across industry, identifying emerging trends and their potential impact and opportunity for the organisation

Skills needed to be an enterprise architect

You will need the following skills for this role, although the level of expertise for each will vary, depending on the role level.

Commercial perspective. You can understand and contribute to commercial contracts, procurement, sourcing and exit strategies. You can contribute to supplier selection and evaluation processes. You can use government procurement processes and frameworks such as G-Cloud, the Digital Services Framework and the Digital Marketplace. You can implement effective sourcing strategies that meet organisational needs.
Communicating between the technical and non-technical. You can communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries, understanding the context. You can make complex and technical information and language simple and accessible for non-technical audiences. You can advocate on behalf of a team and communicate what it does, to create trust and authenticity. You can successfully respond to challenges.
Community collaboration. You can contribute to the work of the community, building successful teams through understanding team styles and influencing and motivating team members. You can give and receive constructive feedback, enabling the feedback loop. You can moderate conflict resolution within teams. You can ensure that the team is transparent and that the work is understood externally. You can help teams maintain a focus on delivery while being aware of the importance of professional development.
DDaT perspective. You can demonstrate an understanding of user-centred design, technology and data perspectives. You can understand the range of available technology choices and can make informed decisions based on user need and value for money. You can understand the variety and complexities of digital and data contexts, and can design services to meet them. You can demonstrate knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology.
Enterprise and business architecture. You can demonstrate a strong understanding of enterprise architecture and its subdomains. You can understand the organisational landscape and strategy of an organisation, and can support the creation of future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives. You can describe and influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state.
Governance and assurance. You can understand technical governance. You can participate in or deliver the assurance of a service.
Making and guiding decisions. You can make and guide effective decisions, explaining clearly how the decision has been reached. You can understand and resolve technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk.
Problem definition and shaping. You can look beyond the immediate problem and identify the wider implications across the whole enterprise. You can understand relevant historical context and future impact, and how current work fits in broader contexts and strategies. You can identify underlying problems and opportunities, and carry out horizon scanning to identify future threats or opportunities.
Strategic design and business change. You can demonstrate a strong understanding of business issues, events and activities, and their short to long term impact. You can define principles, patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. You can effectively focus on outcomes rather than solutions and activities. You can develop, maintain or update strategy in response to feedback and findings.

An enterprise architect supports other architects in developing the strategy.

At this role level, you will:

network and communicate with stakeholders across domains or enterprises, and identify opportunities for improvement
use best practice
use emerging technologies and approaches
learn to identify influences or risks
play a part in successful delivery of the team’s objectives

Skills needed for this role level

Commercial perspective. You can show an awareness of government commercial processes. You can show an awareness of legal and compliance rules. (Skill level: awareness)
Communicating between the technical and non-technical. You can show an awareness of the need to translate technical concepts into non-technical language. You can understand what communication is required with internal and external stakeholders. (Skill level: awareness)
Community collaboration. You can understand the work of others and the importance of team dynamics, collaboration and feedback. (Skill level: awareness)
DDaT perspective. You can demonstrate a basic understanding of design, technology and data principles. You can understand the range of available technology choices. (Skill level: awareness)
Enterprise and business architecture. You can support the translation of business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can work under supervision to define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives. (Skill level: awareness)
Governance and assurance. You can understand technical governance. You can participate in the assurance of a service. (Skill level: awareness)
Making and guiding decisions. You can recommend decisions and describe the reasoning behind them. You can identify and articulate technical disputes between direct peers and local stakeholders. (Skill level: awareness)
Problem definition and shaping. You can show an awareness of the strategic context of your work and why it is important. You can support strategic planning. (Skill level: awareness)

Senior enterprise architect

A senior enterprise architect supports lead architects in ensuring the strategy is developed, agreed and followed.

At this role level, you will:

network and communicate with stakeholders across domains or enterprises
identify opportunities for improvement
support a community or team
use best practice
use emerging technologies and approaches
play an active part in the team and understand how to deliver the team’s objectives to meet organisational goals
identify influences or risks
play a part in successful delivery of the long-term strategy

Skills needed for this role level

Commercial perspective. You can understand commercial processes and the appropriate internal contacts within a government department. You can understand different sourcing strategies and when to apply them. (Skill level: working)
Communicating between the technical and non-technical. You can communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders. You can support and host discussions within a multidisciplinary team, with potentially difficult dynamics. You can be an advocate for the team externally, and can manage differing perspectives. (Skill level: working)
Community collaboration. You can contribute to the work of others. You can motivate and empower teams. You can create the right environment for teams to work in, and can identify the best team makeup depending on the situation. You can recognise and deal with issues. (Skill level: working)
DDaT perspective. You can demonstrate a working understanding of design, technology and data principles. You can understand the variety and complexity of users’ digital needs, and how the product will meet those needs. You can show an awareness of assisted digital support and can explain why it’s important. You can design services and make decisions to meet user needs. (Skill level: working)
Enterprise and business architecture. You can work with limited direction to translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can help to define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives. (Skill level: working)
Governance and assurance. You can understand how governance works and what governance is required. You can take responsibility for the assurance of a service and know what risks need to be managed. (Skill level: working)
Making and guiding decisions. You can make decisions characterised by managed levels of risk and complexity, and recommend decisions as risk and complexity increase. You can resolve technical disputes between wider peers and indirect stakeholders, considering all views and opinions. (Skill level: working)
Problem definition and shaping. You can work within a strategic context and communicate how activities meet strategic goals. (Skill level: working)

Lead enterprise architect

A lead enterprise architect plays a high level role in ensuring the strategy is developed, agreed and followed.

At this role level, you will:

network and communicate with senior stakeholders across enterprises, and seek opportunities for improvement
support at least one community or team, or a combination of both
find and use best practice and emerging technologies and approaches
lead teams including enterprise architects and help them understand how to deliver the team’s objectives to meet organisational goals
horizon scan for influences or risks
support successful delivery of the long-term strategy
take a leading role in the overall direction of business and digital capabilities

Skills needed for this role level

Commercial perspective. You can identify appropriate contractual frameworks and approaches. You can identify, evaluate and select appropriate suppliers. (Skill level: practitioner)
Communicating between the technical and non-technical. You can listen to the needs of technical and business stakeholders, and interpret them. You can effectively manage stakeholder expectations. You can manage active and reactive communication. You can support or host difficult discussions within the team or with diverse senior stakeholders. (Skill level: practitioner)
Community collaboration. You can work collaboratively in a group, actively networking with others. You can adapt feedback to ensure it’s effective and lasting. You can use your initiative to identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them. You can identify issues through Agile ‘health checks’ with the team, and help to stimulate the right responses. (Skill level: practitioner)
DDaT perspective. You can demonstrate an advanced understanding of design, technology and data principles. You can identify and implement solutions for assisted digital. You can apply knowledge to work with other digital, data and technology (DDaT) job families. (Skill level: practitioner)
Enterprise and business architecture. You can support and advise on the development of a future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can lead on the translation of business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can define the capabilities required to create or develop operating models that meet business objectives. (Skill level: practitioner)
Governance and assurance. You can evolve and define governance. You can take responsibility for working with and supporting other staff in wider governance. You can assure services across sets of services. You can use tools such as standards, guardrails and principles to effectively govern delivery. (Skill level: practitioner)
Making and guiding decisions. You can make decisions characterised by medium levels of risk and complexity, and recommend decisions as risk and complexity increase. You can build consensus between services or independent stakeholders. (Skill level: practitioner)
Problem definition and shaping. You can define strategies and policies, providing guidance to others on working in the strategic context. You can evaluate current strategies to ensure business requirements are being met and exceeded where possible. (Skill level: practitioner)
Strategic design and business change. You can demonstrate a good understanding of business issues, events and activities, and their short to long term impact. You can support defining principles, patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. You can effectively focus on outcomes rather than solutions. You can help to develop, maintain or update strategy in response to feedback and findings. (Skill level: practitioner)

Principal enterprise architect

A principal enterprise architect leads at the highest level and is responsible for ensuring the strategy is developed, agreed and followed.

At this role level, you will:

network and communicate with senior stakeholders across enterprises, and actively seek opportunities for improvement
support multiple communities and teams
find and use best practice
find and use emerging technologies and approaches
inspire other enterprise architects and help them understand how to meet organisational goals
horizon scan for external influences or risks
support successful delivery of the long-term strategy
be responsible for the overall direction of business and digital capabilities
be responsible for the creation, maintenance and consumption of a Digital Twin

Skills needed for this role level

Commercial perspective. You can coach others in appropriate commercial, vendor and legal issues. (Skill level: expert)
Communicating between the technical and non-technical. You can mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels. You can manage stakeholder expectations and moderate discussions about high risk and complexity, even within constrained timescales. You can speak on behalf of and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of government. (Skill level: expert)
Community collaboration. You can solve and unblock issues between teams or departments at the highest level. You can understand the psychology of the team and have strong mediation skills. You can coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution, while also building and growing the community. (Skill level: expert)
DDaT perspective. You can show knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology. You can understand Agile working at an organisational level. You can create the environment for success. You can initiate and support working with other digital, data and technology (DDaT) roles, job families and professions. (Skill level: expert)
Enterprise and business architecture. You can set the direction to develop a future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state. (Skill level: expert)
Governance and assurance. You can understand how technical governance works with wider governance (such as budget). You can assure corporate services by understanding important risks and mitigating them through assurance mechanisms. (Skill level: expert)
Making and guiding decisions. You can make and justify decisions characterised by high levels of risk, impact and complexity. You can build consensus between organisations (private or public) or highly independent and diverse stakeholders. (Skill level: expert)
Problem definition and shaping. You can lead the design and implementation of strategy. You can direct the evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure business requirements are being met. (Skill level: expert)
Strategic design and business change. You can demonstrate a strong understanding of business issues, events and activities and their short to long term impact. You can define principles, patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. You can effectively focus on outcomes rather than solutions and activities. You can develop, maintain or update strategy in response to feedback and findings. (Skill level: expert)