NAD CTO DBS CTO and Principle Enterprise Architect

Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?

Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?

Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry.

DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.

The 2025 – 2030 Corporate Plan came up with a new mission and vision which are now:

Vision

To be the best shared service centre in Government

Mission

Proudly delivering excellence in shared services, through customer centric solutions to enable Defence outcomes

DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

DBS is part of The National Armaments Directorate (NAD) Group which is at the heart of delivering and sustaining the UK’s defence capability. Bringing together organisations responsible for developing, procuring, supporting and modernising Defence equipment, infrastructure and services, the Directorate works closely with industry, international partners and academia to ensure the Armed Forces have the capabilities they need to deter threats, protect the nation and succeed on operations. NAD drives innovation, operational readiness and value for money while supporting economic growth and strengthening the UK’s defence industrial base.

Come and join the DBS community today!

https://youtu.be/gUw0ToaRGgk

The post provides the technical leadership and architectural design for the NAD Defence Business Services (DBS) Enterprise, covering Business Processes, Data, Applications, Integration, IT Infrastructure and Security architecture practices. The post leads IT innovation assessing market trends, supplier product roadmaps, and working with delivery team to drive proof of concept and adoption activities.

The role provides the glue between the business and IT, aligning IT strategic plans with DBS objectives, promoting the use of innovative solutions and developing common IT applications and services.

Main Responsibilities:

The NAD DBS Chief Technology Officer main duties are to:

• Lead the Architecture function across DBS, including co-ordination of the Technical Design Authority.
• Provide technical assurance on new solution designs, to ensure these align with architecture standards and are deliverable within the required budgets. This includes assurance of business as usual change and major shared services transformation programmes; The Armed Forces and Veterans Service Delivery Contract, the Future Shared Services Programme and Corporate Services Modernisation and emerging new programmes.
• Develop and maintain the NAD DBS Digital, Data and Technology strategies including the overarching Digital, Data and Technology Strategy.
• Maintain the core enterprise artefacts over time as the business and IT landscape changes, covering business process, data, applications and technology.
• Lead and support multiple teams, finding and using best practice and emerging technologies to deliver solutions that meet business and user needs.
• Inspire other architects and help them understand how to deliver DBS’s objectives.
• Network and communicate with senior stakeholders across DBS, Defence, Government and Industry and proactively seek out opportunities for digital transformation.
• Responsible for the solving of complex high-risk technology issues and delivering architectural solutions.
• Support the solving of unprecedented IT issues and problems, assisting Service Operations.
• Further the Enterprise Architecture profession, demonstrating and sharing best practice within and outside of DBS.
• Champion new technologies and solutions.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals 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 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.

Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

Personal Statement:

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability (1000 Word Max).

At sift, candidates will be assessed against their CV and Statement of suitability and the following

At interview, candidates will be assessed against the following:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Making Architectural Decisions - Expert - https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/skills/#making-architectural-decisions

Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Architecture Communication - Expert - https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/skills/#architecture-communication

Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Community Collaboration - Expert - https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/skills/#community-collaboration

Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Problem Definition and Shaping - Expert - https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/skills/#problem-definition-and-shaping

Applications will be sifted on all Success Profile elements, but in the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted on the following success profile elements:

Primary: Career - Previous Skills

In the rare case where individuals have exact matching scores, the order of merit will be determined based on the behaviour scores at interview in the following order:

1 - Behaviour - Leadership

2 - Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing

3 - Technical - Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Making Architectural Decisions

4 - Technical - Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Architecture Communication

5 - Technical - Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Community Collaboration

6 - Technical - Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Problem Definition and Shaping

If candidate scores are still exact, the merit order will then be determined on the sift score in the following order:

1 - Career - Personal Statement

2 - Career - Previous Skills

3 - Career - Qualification Details

4 - Career - Job History

Sift start date: 27/11/2026

Interviews are currently taking place via the following method: MS Teams

Interview start date: 08/12/2026

Further information:

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.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.