Head of Innovation and Architecture

Technology is changing rapidly. Reporting to the Director of Technology, this role will provide senior leadership that looks beyond the immediate to understand what the NCIs should be preparing for next. The Head of Innovation and Architecture will help the NCIs explore and adopt new technologies in a practical, responsible and impact-focused way, connecting innovation to business value, service improvement and organisational transformation.

The architecture element of the role will ensure that innovation is connected to the NCIs’ wider technology and data strategy, enterprise architecture, security expectations and operational reality, so that ideas can move from exploration to adoption in a coherent and sustainable way.

This is a new role within Technology Services and will complement other technology leadership roles. It will focus on identifying, shaping and proving future opportunities before they move into formal delivery or become part of the supported operational environment, typically looking six months ahead and helping colleagues make informed choices before opportunities or risks become urgent. 

This is a permanent role based in our office in Westminster, London.

The Head of Innovation and Architecture will lead our approach to practical technology-enabled innovation, ensuring emerging ideas are explored in a structured, impact-led and values-driven way. They will work across the NCIs to understand strategic challenges, identify where technology could make a meaningful difference, and develop early concepts into credible opportunities.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading a practical innovation function that identifies, evaluates and shapes technology-enabled opportunities for the NCIs.  
• Partnering senior leaders across the NCIs, helping them understand how emerging technologies could improve services, productivity, decision-making and user experience.  
• Maintaining a forward-looking view of technology trends, particularly in AI, automation and digital transformation, and translating those trends into practical organisational opportunities.  
• Developing and managing an innovation pipeline, from initial ideas and discovery through to proofs of concept, pilots and transition into the formal delivery portfolio.  
• Ensuring innovation is grounded in measurable impact, using evidence, benefits analysis and user insight to determine which opportunities should be scaled, stopped or moved into formal delivery.  
• Providing leadership to the architecture capability, ensuring enterprise and solution architecture connects future thinking with current business need, strategic alignment, technology roadmaps, standards, security, supportability and practical innovation.
• Owning architectural principles, roadmaps and guardrails that help the NCIs make consistent, future-ready technology decisions while enabling innovation at pace.
• Promoting responsible, ethical and secure use of technology by working with colleagues in cyber security, data governance, legal, risk and operational functions.
• Provide senior leadership resilience for Technology Services, including deputising for the Director of Technology when required and representing the function in senior organisational forums. 

The successful candidate will be a senior technology leader with the credibility, curiosity and judgement to help a complex organisation make good decisions about emerging technology and its practical organisational impact. They will combine strategic thinking with practical delivery instinct, able to see future possibilities while remaining grounded in business value, risk and organisational readiness.

They should be able to demonstrate:

• Significant experience in a senior technology, digital, innovation, architecture or transformation leadership role.  
• A strong track record of using technology to improve services, operations, organisational capability or business outcomes.  
• Strong understanding of enterprise and solution architecture, including principles, roadmaps, governance, integration, security, data and operational considerations.  
• Practical understanding of emerging technologies, especially AI and automation, and the ability to translate them into real-world opportunities rather than theoretical discussion.  
• Strong business engagement, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build confidence with senior and non-technical stakeholders.  
• Experience of developing early-stage ideas, proofs of concept, pilots or innovation pipelines and moving successful opportunities towards scalable delivery.  
• A pragmatic, impact-focused mindset, with enthusiasm for technology matched by sound judgement about value, feasibility, risk, adoption and responsible use.