Lead Solution Architect - Digital Architecture and Delivery

• Fixed Term or Secondment opportunity to 30 June 2027

• Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch based

About us

The Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) takes a long-term view of how New Zealand’s towns, cities and regions grow and change. We work across housing, transport, the environment, urban development, infrastructure and investment, and partner closely with local government.

We provide joined-up policy and investment advice to government, support effective regulation and market settings, and work with others to help deliver affordable housing, connected communities, well-planned infrastructure, and a healthy, sustainable environment.

About the role

As a Lead Solution Architect, you will work closely with business teams and technical stakeholders across the Ministry and the new planning and environmental management system to define and guide practical, end-to-end solution architectures across a portfolio of initiatives.

You will provide technical leadership across multiple workstreams, ensuring solution designs are coherent, scalable, and aligned to programme outcomes within a complex, high-profile delivery environment. Your work will go beyond individual solutions to support alignment across systems, reuse of patterns, and consistency of architectural approaches.

You will be responsible for developing, communicating, and assuring solution designs, and supporting their progression through architecture governance processes. Working closely with delivery teams, you will balance new capability with a strong understanding of legacy and federated environments, making sound design decisions across spatial platforms, data flows, and API-based integrations, while addressing privacy, security, and interoperability requirements.

You will act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders and governance forums, providing

clear guidance on solution options, risks, and trade-offs, and supporting informed, value-driven investment decisions.

Working in partnership with business leaders, Security and Architecture teams, delivery teams, Ministry ICT groups, and operational support teams, you will ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and fit for purpose, and aligned with all-of-government standards and integration expectations.

This role also involves collaboration with other government agencies, cross-agency programmes, and shared service providers, contributing to the development of a federated, interoperable digital ecosystem.

This role offers the opportunity to contribute to the modernisation of spatial systems, improved data sharing, and the adoption of cloud-based and federated solutions, supporting the outcomes of the Planning System Transformation programme and the Ministry’s broader environmental objectives.

Skills and experience

• Extensive experience as a Solution Architect or similar senior/lead architecture role in complex digital environments, with a proven ability to lead end-to-end solution design across multiple initiatives and domains.
• Demonstrated ability to operate at a programme and system level, providing architecture leadership across multiple workstreams and ensuring alignment to strategic outcomes, not just individual project delivery.
• Strong background in technology design and solution architecture, including:
• Data and analytics platforms
• Spatial technologies (e.g. ESRI ArcGIS)
• Integration patterns and API ecosystems
• Cloud-native and hybrid architectures
• Proven experience designing and delivering solutions across multiple organisations or jurisdictions, including federated or distributed environments requiring interoperability and coordinated governance.
• Advanced capability in integration, interoperability, and data sharing, including the application of standards-based approaches to enable secure and scalable information exchange across systems and agencies.
• Experience engaging with and influencing senior stakeholders, governance forums, and executive decision-making, including providing trusted advice on solution options, risks, and trade-offs.
• Demonstrated contribution to business cases, investment planning, and technology decision-making, with the ability to balance long-term architecture integrity with pragmatic delivery considerations.
• Strong understanding of public sector digital delivery, including digital service standards, privacy legislation, cybersecurity frameworks, and the broader policy-to-delivery lifecycle.
• Experience applying user-centred and service design principles, ensuring solutions are accessible, inclusive, and aligned to real user needs.
• Proven ability to lead and support delivery teams in Agile or hybrid environments, ensuring architecture is effectively translated into implementation and sustained through the delivery lifecycle.
• Experience working within outsourced or multi-vendor ICT environments, navigating complexity while maintaining architectural integrity and delivery momentum.
• Strong understanding of security, identity, and access management frameworks, ensuring solutions meet compliance, privacy, and data protection requirements.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, practical guidance for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and their relevance to digital system design in the public sector context.

Salary range

Salary range for this role is $168,574 to $204,663 pa. Appointment within this range will be based on skills and experience.

Apply now

Apply directly by completing the online application form and submit your CV and cover letter. Note: your cover letter will be a key part of our assessment process, so please highlight how your experience relates to the key skills required for this role.

If you require further information about this position please contact Greg Clearwater at Greg.Clearwater@mcert.govt.nz

We are committed to equal opportunities and building a diverse, inclusive workplace. We support our people to work in ways that help them do their best. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.

We want our recruitment process to be fair and accessible for everyone. If you need any support or adjustments, please let us know or get in touch at recruitment@mcert.govt.nz.

You must have the right to live and work in New Zealand to apply for this role.

If you are applying for a secondment you must speak with your Manager before submitting your application.

Please note, we will be progressing candidates to interview prior to the closing date so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Applications close: Thursday, 24 September 2026