Solution Architect - ServiceNow

Job summary

Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is the trusted team for digital across the entire Defra Group.

We have around 1000 colleagues across DDTS and our ambition is to make it easier and faster than ever for people to interact with Defra. If you are ready to drive innovation and push boundaries, we want to hear from you. Join us and together we will create a great place for living, and a green and healthy future for all.

Find out more about DDTS:

Defra digital, data and technology blog

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Job description

The Group Infrastructure Operations (GIO) function within Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is recruiting a Solution Architect with a focus on ServiceNow® to join their team on a permanent basis.

Your main responsibility will be to provide governance and technical guidance for Defra’s instances of the ServiceNow® enterprise service management platform. Your focus, in-depth knowledge of the ServiceNow Platform and the ServiceNow product pipeline helps future-proof business and technical decisions.

Defra’s ServiceNow® Platform provides a strategic service supporting the operation of Defra’s business. There is a high dependence on the availability of this service and a need to respond to the needs of many differing business demands and priorities which is a feature of its position with Defra as a strategic platform.

We are seeking a candidate to support the Senior Service Tool Manager and the Platform Owner to maintain the integrity of Defra’s investment in ServiceNow® by making sure the platform is governed to best practice standards.

You will have the opportunity to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and users as part of the projects you work on.

Please note this post requires Security Check (SC) clearance.

To gain (SC) clearance all applicants are required to have been a UK resident for a minimum of 5 years. If this requirement is not met, the individual will not be able to progress their application further.

VISA sponsorship cannot be offered for this role.

Check out the video below to hear more from one of our colleagues in the ServiceNow team!

Person specification

Responsibilities

• Ensuring alignment of ServiceNow platform capabilities to Defra’s strategic objectives and ServiceNow roadmap
• Guide the Platform Support Team in implementation of technical good practices, policies and procedures
• Provide architectural controls and analysis of impacts for new requirements, including overseeing the service now technical governance board
• Design MID server architecture and configure to support applications such as Discovery, Service Mapping, Event Management and Cloud Management
• Evaluate emerging ServiceNow technologies and the evolution of current functionality to define roadmaps to meet business needs
• Engage with the Defra's wider Architect community to position ServiceNow as the strategic enterprise tooling platform
• Managing the ServiceNow solution design for complex projects, ensuring best practice, quality and fit for purpose outcome

Skills and Experience

• Proven experience as a key technical resource leading the development of platforms specifically around areas such Customer service management (CSM), IT service management (ITSM), IT Operations management (ITOM), IT asset management (ITAM), Integrations workplace service delivery (WSD) HR Service delivery (HRSD) etc.
• Excellent Knowledge of integrating with internal and external applications and systems
• Ability to influence and consult at all levels around key technical decisions aligned to ServiceNow best practices
• Excellent technical knowledge of components such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Virtual private network (VPN), Secure sockets layer (SSL), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Hyper text markup language (HTML), JavaScript, Web Services, etc and of working in a SaaS environment
• Strong analytical skills, communication, and presentation skills
• Deep understanding of ITIL processes and best practice approaches
• Certified or willing to work towards becoming a ServiceNow System Administrator

AI Skills at Practitioner level

• Experience with ServiceNow AI solutions, including Now Assist, Generative AI Controller, and AI-powered workflows and MCP
• Understanding of AI/ML concepts and their application within ServiceNow platforms
• Experience configuring and implementing AI Search, Virtual Agent, and conversational AI capabilities
• Ability to identify and deliver AI-driven automation opportunities to improve service efficiency and user experience
• Knowledge of prompt engineering and best practices for generative AI solutions
• Experience integrating ServiceNow with AI services through APIs and connectors

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Strategy Design (working level)
• Community Collaboration (practitioner level)
• Making Architecture Decisions (practitioner level)
• Problem Definition and Shaping (practitioner level)
• Architecture Communication (practitioner level)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 25 days leave (rising to 30 days over 5 years) plus bank holidays.
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A day off per year for the King's birthday.
• Access to a range of retail discounts (these include supermarket, tech, gym, holiday, phone and more).
• Flexible working options such as condensed hours, part-time and flexi time.
• 3 paid volunteering days per year.
• Funding for professional membership of a recognised professional body.
• Learning and