Solution Architect

Solution Architect | 6 Month Contract | (Outside IR35) | Hybrid, Edinburgh (Ad Hoc)| Starting ASAP

Day Rate: £DOE

About the Role

CHI in Local Government - Solution Architect (Delivery & Playbook Design)

This assignment supports the Community Health Index (CHI) in Local Government discovery programme.

You will operate as a hands-on technical and delivery lead within a small multidisciplinary team (Project Manager, Product Owner and IG Lead), with responsibility for translating real-world local government needs into practical, reusable solutions and playbook artefacts.

This is not a purely strategic or advisory architecture role. You will be expected to work in a highly practical, delivery-focused way, including:

Engaging directly with local authorities, health boards, and partners to understand current (as-is) processes, systems, and constraints

Working collaboratively with stakeholders to define feasible, delivery-ready future (to-be) approaches

Rapidly exploring and shaping solution options, balancing technical feasibility, data standards, and operational realities

Acting as a trusted technical advisor across organisations of varying digital maturity

In addition, a core part of the role is to design, document, and produce playbook artefacts and solution guidance, including:

Integration patterns and architecture designs

API and data exchange approaches

Identity management and matching approaches using CHI

Practical implementation guidance, templates, and reusable components

You will need to

Write clearly and concisely, producing high-quality documentation at pace

Be comfortable capturing insights, structuring them, and turning them into usable artefacts

Take ownership from initial conversation through to final written output

Proactive and self-starting, able to identify what needs to be done and progress it without waiting for direction

Comfortable switching between stakeholder engagement, technical design, and documentation within the same piece of work

Willing to "roll up their sleeves" - including note-taking, synthesis, and production of materials

Able to work quickly and accurately in an evolving discovery and delivery environment

Flexible in approach, adapting to different councils, partners, and emerging findings

Outputs from this role will directly inform and populate the CHI Local Government Playbook and Implementation Framework, supporting reuse and scaling across Scotland.

Essential Skills & Experience

Demonstrable experience in Solution/Technical Architecture within the Scottish Public Sector (e.g. Scottish Government, NHS/NSS/PHS, or Local Government)

Proven ability to work in a hands-on delivery role, not limited to high-level design

Strong experience engaging stakeholders to understand as-is / to-be states and translating these into practical solutions

Experience producing clear, structured technical documentation and guidance artefacts (e.g. playbooks, patterns, implementation guidance)

Ability to work at pace, managing multiple strands of work while maintaining quality and accuracy

Comfortable working in ambiguous, discovery-led environments, shaping outputs iteratively

Stakeholder and communication skills

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills

Ability to facilitate discussions across technical and non-technical audiences

Strong written communication skills, with the ability to turn complex inputs into clear, usable outputs

Technical capability

Cloud Computing

API Design and Management

Web Services

Enterprise and Systems Integration patterns

Data Architecture and Data Modelling

Master Data Management and Data Standards

Identity and data matching approaches

Cyber Security principles

Experience of

Health data standards (e.g. FHIR)

Working across multi-organisation environments with differing systems and maturity

Ways of working

Experience of Agile/iterative delivery approaches

Understanding of governance structures within Scottish public sector delivery

Ability to balance technical integrity with pragmatism and delivery constraints

Desirable Qualifications Experience of Identity Management standards and implementations

Experience contributing to or developing toolkits, playbooks, or reusable frameworks

Experience supporting cross-sector data sharing (Health & Local Government)

This role has been deemed Outside IR35 by the client. Applicants must hold, or be happy to apply for, a valid Basic Disclosure Scotland. Please click the link to apply.