Lead Architect

About us

At National Grid, we keep people connected and society moving. But it’s so much more than that. National Grid provides the environment to make it happen. As we build momentum in the energy transition for all, we don’t plan on leaving any of our customers in the dark. So, join us as a Lead Architect, and find your superpower.

National Grid is hiring a Lead Architect to join our Technology team, based in Warwick, with hybrid working and travel to our London offices as needed to collaborate with wider teams and stakeholders.

In this role, you’ll play a pivotal part in shaping technology strategy and solution design, leading architectural decisions that enable secure, scalable, and resilient systems. You’ll work closely with engineering, product, and business teams to ensure architectures align with enterprise standards and support critical operations across our organisation.

About The Role

As a Lead Architect, you’ll play a critical leadership role at the heart of National Grid’s technology transformation. Acting as the primary link between the Chief Architect and your assigned Product Line(s), you’ll help shape how technology enables business strategy, transformation, and long‑term optimisation.

You’ll take shared accountability, alongside the wider architecture community and product leadership, for defining and evolving the architectural models that guide change across the organisation. This includes building and maintaining a clear, holistic view of the business unit and product lines — understanding their objectives, delivery timelines, digital capabilities, information needs, and ecosystem dependencies — and ensuring these are reflected within our enterprise‑wide architecture.

Working in close partnership with Product Line Directors, business leads, and fellow architects, you’ll contribute to the strategic context for investment and change, influencing decisions that drive value and delivery at pace. You’ll enable and assure architectural governance, supporting solution design and delivery across the change portfolio while maintaining alignment to agreed standards and strategic direction. 

A key part of the role is ensuring that infrastructure capabilities and business solutions are implemented consistently with the overarching architectural approach, empowering teams to deliver effectively while meeting business objectives and timelines.

As a senior member of the Enterprise Architecture community of practice, you’ll help raise architectural maturity, share best practice, and actively contribute to the development of a strong, connected, and forward‑looking architecture capability.

What You'll Do

Strategic Planning

• Lead strategic planning activity, aligning organisational actions, roadmaps, and investment with business objectives.
• Produce insights, analysis, and reporting to support strategy management and informed decision‑making.
• Ensure stakeholders understand the strategic approach, governance, and delivery timelines, providing guidance where needed.
• Develop and communicate plans that drive strategy execution, transformation, and change.
• Contribute to the development of policies, standards, and guidelines for strategic planning.

Information Systems Coordination

• Coordinate information and technology strategies, promoting enterprise‑wide approaches that drive efficiency, consistency, and resilience.
• Maintain awareness of the organisation’s global priorities and technology needs.
• Collaborate with teams on the acquisition, development, and implementation of information systems and services.
• Champion the business benefits of shared and standardised technology approaches.

Information Management Planning

• Lead the lifecycle management of digital information and records, embedding compliant and effective practices.
• Ensure adherence to information management policies, standards, and relevant legislation.
• Provide specialist advice on change initiatives, assessing information‑related risks and impacts.
• Promote the value of information as a strategic organisational asset.

Enterprise & Business Architecture

• Align technology strategy with business mission, objectives, and operating models.
• Develop and evolve enterprise‑wide architecture to enable and embed strategic change.
• Lead systems capability strategy development and review, securing senior stakeholder buy‑in.
• Capture and prioritise market trends, environmental factors, and business objectives.
• Develop and present business cases to support investment, funding, and prioritisation decisions.
• Set and uphold standards and practices to ensure coherence across business strategy, technology, and transformation.

Emerging Technology Monitoring

• Monitor the external landscape to identify emerging technologies and innovative approaches.
• Assess opportunities, risks, and impacts, sharing insights through technology roadmaps and reports.

Investment Appraisal

• Advise on and tailor investment appraisal approaches across portfolios, programmes, and initiatives.
• Lead appraisal activities for complex projects, assessing value, feasibility, and strategic alignment.

Sustainability

• Provide expert guidance on designing and implementing sustainable technology solutions.
• Evaluate sustainability tools and practices in line with agreed standards and policies.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen sustainability outcomes and reduce environmental impact.

Continuity Management

• Lead the development, implementation, and testing of business continuity plans.
• Work closely with owners of critical business processes and systems to strengthen resilience.
• Assess risks and identify priority areas for improvement.

Business Process Improvement

• Drive business process improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• Analyse, design, and model processes to leverage automation and new technologies.
• Assess feasibility and recommend improved approaches.

Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Build and maintain strong, trusted stakeholder relationships.
• Translate engagement strategies into clear actions and deliverables.
• Facilitate open communication, influence decision‑making, and act as a key point of contact.
• Provide informed feedback to support alignment and shared understanding.

About You

You’re a confident and experienced architecture leader with a strong understanding of how technology, information, and business strategy come together to drive meaningful outcomes. You’re comfortable operating at scale and influencing across complex organisations, with a passion for translating strategy into real‑world delivery.

You bring:

• Broad experience of business solutions within a utilities or regulated environment, with a strong appreciation of operational, commercial, and customer needs.
• A clear understanding of the role and value of business architecture within the wider solution architecture lifecycle, and the ability to articulate this effectively to stakeholders.
• Knowledge of a wide range of enterprise architecture activities, artefacts, and deliverables, and how they are applied in practice.
• Experience working with architecture continuums, including their development, use, and ongoing management.
• Proven ability to engage with and navigate architecture assurance and solution design authority processes.
• The credibility and confidence to operate at senior leadership level, forming strong, trusted relationships and influencing effectively across all layers of the organisation.
• Strong leadership, communication, and presentation skills, backed by a solid track record of delivery in complex environments.
• Experience in strategic planning, investment planning, and product planning, ensuring alignment to business strategy and priorities.
• A sound understanding of the business domain in which you operate and the challenges it faces.
• Awareness of current and emerging product practices, Agile methodologies, and industry trends, with the ability to apply them pragmatically.
• Experience working within a heavily matrixed organisation, with the drive and resilience to deliver results through influence rather than authority.
• A good understanding of financial management, benefits management, and benefits realisation, with a focus on measurable business outcomes.

What You'll Get

• Competitive Salary: circa £78,000 – £110,000 per annum (based on capability, and experience)
• Annual performance incentive: Earn up to 40% of eligible earnings through our performance‑related bonus scheme
• Fully electric company car or cash alternative
• Private Medical Insurance for you, with the option to purchase cover for your partner or family through MyBenefits
   

Additional benefits:

• 28 days’ holiday plus 8 statutory bank holidays, with the option to buy additional leave and swap up to 3 bank holidays to better fit your personal needs.
• A generous pension scheme with double matching up to 6% of your salary each month. For every £1 you contribute, we’ll contribute £2 — meaning a 6% personal contribution becomes an 18% total pension contribution.
• Life insurance cover of 10x your basic salary
• Flexible benefits such as a cycle scheme, share incentive plan, technology schemes
• Access to apps such as digital GP service for round the clock access to GP video consultations and NHS repeat prescriptions, wellbeing app to support your health and fitness
• Access to Work + Family Space, providing support and resources for work and family life, including paid emergency childcare and eldercare
   

More Information

• This role is offered on a full time basis.
• Based in Warwick, with hybrid working. You’ll primarily work from home and the Warwick office, with occasional travel to our London offices as needed to collaborate with wider teams and stakeholders.
• This role closes on 5th May however we strongly encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible. 
   

** Please note that in most cases, National Grid is unable to offer sponsorship for employment under the UK points-based immigration system. As such, applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK without requiring sponsorship now or in the future under the UK points-based immigration system. However, in exceptional circumstances where there is a clear and demonstrable need for specialist skills that cannot be sourced from the local labour market, National Grid may consider offering sponsorship. All applications are welcome from candidates who meet these requirements, regardless of race, nationality, or ethnic origin.**

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

National Grid is an equal opportunity employer that values a broad diversity of talent, knowledge, experience and expertise.  We foster a culture of inclusion that drives employee engagement to deliver superior performance to the communities we serve.  National Grid is proud to be an affirmative action employer. We encourage minorities, women, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans to join the National Grid team.