Solutions Architect

Solutions Architect | SC Clearance Required | Andover (1-2 days per week on-site) | 5 Month Contract | Up to £800 per day (Outside IR35)

MERITUS are working with a specialist technology consultancy delivering high-impact digital transformation across UK Central Government and Defence. They're looking for a Senior Solution Architect who can set technical direction on projects that genuinely shape national infrastructure and public-sector capability.

This isn't a paper-based architecture role. You'll be right at the intersection of strategy and engineering, guiding multidisciplinary teams and making decisions that affect large-scale, secure services used across government. If you're the kind of architect who likes to get close to delivery while still steering the bigger picture, this will suit you.

The role is a contract running initially until 31st March 2026 & is hybrid with 1-2 days per week in the Andover office.

Main Responsibilities:

Setting the direction for complex government and defence programmes, owning the solution vision from concept through to delivery.
Modernising critical systems, leading cloud migration and application transformation initiatives for high-traffic, highly secure environments.
Acting as technical authority, reviewing solution designs and ensuring every decision meets both architectural governance and strict security standards.
Turning requirements into reality, translating policy, user needs and data flows into clear, practical solution architectures.
Making smart trade-offs, weighing up cost, performance, risk and complexity - and being confident in your recommendations.

Required Skills:

TOGAF Certified, with hands-on experience creating and governing architecture using tools like Sparx Enterprise Architect and Archimate.
Cloud solution expertise - strong track record designing resilient services on AWS or Azure.
DevOps mindset, with practical knowledge of modern CI/CD pipelines and automated delivery practices.
Strong integration background - experienced in microservices, REST APIs, JSON, and contemporary integration patterns.
Security-first thinking, particularly around SSO, Identity and Access Management, SAML, OAuth, OpenID Connect, and Active Directory.

Got your attention?

If you believe that you have the skills and experience for the Solutions Architect role - then please get in touch. We also offer a referral scheme for any candidates whose details are passed to us that we successfully place. If you have any further questions then please contact Ryan Harris at MERITUS