Chief Architect - 7546

Job Title: Chief Architect

Salary: To be shared at screening stage

Location: Cambridge, Hybrid Working (40-60% office based)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full Time (35 hours per week)

We're looking for an exceptional Chief Architect to become the independent design authority for our technology function and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Cambridge University Press & Assessment's technology landscape. This is a rare opportunity to influence enterprise-wide technology strategy, architecture standards, major investment decisions, and the adoption of emerging technologies including AI.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

As Chief Architect, you'll lead the architectural vision for the global organisation, ensuring our technology estate is coherent, integrated, secure, scalable and fit for the future. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, you'll work alongside senior technology leaders to enable standardisation, reduce technical debt, and drive innovation that supports our mission worldwide.

About the role

Our technology strategy is entering an exciting new phase, with greater focus on simplification, convergence, reuse and the growing importance of data and AI. Delivering this vision requires strong architectural leadership and clear enterprise-wide standards.

As Chief Architect, you will:

• Own and evolve the enterprise architecture vision, principles, standards and technology roadmaps across the organisation.
• Lead the Architecture and Direction practice, managing enterprise architects while fostering a high-performing architecture community.
• Chair the Enterprise Design Authority, providing independent governance and assurance for major programmes, platforms and investments.
• Drive standardisation, interoperability, reuse and simplification across technology, data, cloud and security domains.
• Act as a trusted adviser to executive leadership on technical strategy, architecture investment, emerging technologies and AI.
• Ensure secure-by-design, privacy-by-design and responsible AI principles are embedded throughout the technology estate.
• Lead horizon scanning and assess emerging technologies, supplier capabilities and market trends that can create business value and competitive advantage.

This role has significant organisational influence, leading a department of approximately 50-60 colleagues and shaping the technology decisions that underpin our publishing, learning and assessment businesses globally.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About You

You'll be an experienced enterprise architecture leader with the credibility to influence at executive level and the technical depth to earn the respect of engineering, platform and data teams.

We're particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate:

• Significant experience operating at senior or executive technology leadership level within large, complex organisations.
• Deep expertise in enterprise architecture, architecture governance and strategic technology planning.
• A proven track record of defining and delivering enterprise-wide technology, cloud, data, security and AI strategies.
• Experience driving standardisation, reducing complexity and embedding architecture practices at scale.
• Strong knowledge of modern cloud, integration, data and application architectures.
• Experience establishing and leading design authorities and architecture governance forums.
• Professional architecture credentials such as TOGAF or equivalent.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the confidence to provide constructive challenge and independent oversight.

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards and benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 13th September.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:

• A 30-minute screening call with retained consultants.
• First stage virtual interview via MS Teams.
• Hogan Leadership Assessment
• Second stage interview: in-person at our offices in Cambridge. You will be provided with a brief to complete a role related task which will need to be returned by email in advance of your interview.
• Final stage with CEO

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via guided application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to the Cambridge University Press & Assessment recruiters.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to be a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.

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