Principal Enterprise Architect

Summary

A principal enterprise architect leads at the highest level and is responsible for ensuring the strategy is developed, agreed and followed.

At this role level, you will:

network and communicate with senior stakeholders across enterprises, and actively seek opportunities for improvement
support multiple communities and teams
find and use best practice
find and use emerging technologies and approaches
inspire other enterprise architects and help them understand how to meet organisational goals
horizon scan for external influences or risks
support successful delivery of the long-term strategy
be responsible for the overall direction of business and digital capabilities
be responsible for the creation, maintenance and consumption of a Digital Twin

Background

Background Components

Description	Background
Has extensive business knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of current and emerging information and communications technologies and of how they can support and enhance the goals and objectives of the organisation. Has a practical understanding of business analysis and architectural methods and approaches. Has a good working knowledge of the employing organisation’s policies, management structure and business objectives, and of the existing IT portfolio and infrastructure.	Prior Knowledge and Skills

Description

Background

Has extensive business knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of current and emerging information and communications technologies and of how they can support and enhance the goals and objectives of the organisation. Has a practical understanding of business analysis and architectural methods and approaches. Has a good working knowledge of the employing organisation’s policies, management structure and business objectives, and of the existing IT portfolio and infrastructure.

Prior Knowledge and Skills

Work Activity Components

Title	Details
Assessment	Plans and leads the identification and assessment of new and emerging technologies, products, services, methods and techniques and their evaluation in terms of potential impacts, threats and opportunities to the organisation.
Development needs	Determines development needs for a professional practice area. Aligns development activities with organisational priorities, learning and development strategies and career pathways.
Communities of practice	Promotes the establishment and ongoing development of one or more community of practice (CoP). Encourages participation and ensures alignment with organisational needs.
Strategic position	Draws on formal models and roadmaps, such as detailed PESTLE, Porter’s 5 Forces, resource audits, VMOST, and SWOT analyses, to support business planning activities including financial budget prioritisation and allocation at an organisational level, workforce planning, and proposed changes to operational locations.
Environmental scanning	Maintains awareness of technology, industry and regulatory directions. Assesses new trends, methods, processes and technology that could enable organisational objectives (e.g. increase organisation margin; benefit citizens, customers and employees; grow the organisation; move from customer experience to customer engagement as a business approach).
Strategy formulation	Leads investigations into major options for providing IT services effectively and efficiently and recommends solutions. Directs the identification, articulation and formalised assessment of disparate approaches for solving business and technical problems or pursuing organisational goals at an organisational or pan-organisational level.
Strategy/plan evaluation	Sets out a programme of architecture compliance reviews to assure that business capabilities and technology estate in situ meet architecture and business principles to validate change activities to understanding any architecture deviations, impacts and variations from the business and technology architectures. This includes usage of business and technology artefacts, the relationship between them and the effectiveness of those architectures planned versus actual.
Organisational representation	Represents employing organisation at appropriate forums and makes a positive contribution to relevant industry groups.
Strategy Implementation/ plan execution	Directs and governs the development and communication of, and alignment to, roadmaps of business and technology change, to assure successful delivery of desired business outcomes.

Knowledge/Skills

Knowledge/Skills Components

Title	Depth	Details	Type
Analytical Thinking		Acquiring a proper understanding of a problem or situation by breaking it down systematically into its component parts and identifying the relationships between these parts. Selecting the appropriate method/tool to resolve the problem and reflecting critically on the result, so that what is learnt is identified and assimilated.	Behavioural Skills
Conceptual Thinking		Acquiring understanding and insights regarding the underlying issues in complex problems or situations through the development of abstract representations, the identification of patterns and the analysis of hypotheses.	Behavioural Skills
Interacting with People		Establishing relationships, contributing to an open culture and maintaining contacts with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Effective, approachable and sensitive communicator in different communities and cultures. Ability to adapt style and approach to meet the needs of different audiences.	Behavioural Skills
Influence, Persuasion and Personal Impact		Conveying a level of confidence and professionalism when engaging with stakeholders, influencing positively and persuading others to take a specific course of action when not in a position of authority.	Behavioural Skills
Leadership		Clearly articulating goals and objectives and motivating and leading others towards their achievement.	Behavioural Skills
Business Analysis Techniques	Proficient in	Applying techniques that help investigating, analysing, modelling and recording a business area or system of interest.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
National/International Standards	Proficient in	Current and emerging standards associated with IT practice nationally and internationally, published by authorities such as IEEE, IEC, BSI, ISO.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Operational/Service Architecture	Familiar with	Knowledge of the IT/IS infrastructure and the IT applications and service processes used within own organisation, including those associated with sustainability and efficiency.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Own Organisation’s IT Products and Services	Expert in	The IT products and/or services supplied to internal and external customers by own organisation.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Research Field	Familiar with	Theory, current practice and latest developments in a field of computer science, telecommunications, software engineering, information systems or other cognate discipline.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Product Evaluation and Selection	Proficient in	The analytical comparison of IT products against specified criteria (including costs) to determine the solution that best meets the business need.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Big Data	Familiar with	The discipline associated with data sets so large and/or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. The data files may include structured, unstructured and/or semi-structured data, such as unstructured text, audio, video, etc. Challenges include analysis, capture, curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, manipulation, analysis, visualization and information privacy.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Cloud/Virtualisation	Expert in	The principles and application of cloud/ virtualisation (including ownership, responsibilities and security implications). Use of tools and systems to manage virtualised environments.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Proof of Concept and Prototyping	Proficient in	Performing a proof of concept or prototyping exercise to demonstrate or evaluate the feasibility and potential benefits of applying a particular technological business change in order to meet a business need.	Technical Knowledge and Skills
Process Improvement Techniques	Proficient in	Methods, tools and techniques to analyse and optimise processes in order to improve the quality of a product or service.	Other Knowledge and Skills
Business Characteristics	Expert in	Organisational structures; their mission, objectives, strategies and tactics adopted by organisations; measures of performance such as critical success factors and key performance indicators; organisational cultures and cultural dimensions.	Other Knowledge and Skills
Presentation Techniques	Proficient in	Methods and techniques for delivering effective and accessible presentations, either face-to-face or online within various contexts and to a variety of audiences.	Other Knowledge and Skills
Budgets	Proficient in	Principles, methods, techniques and tools for the preparation and monitoring of budgets to manage costs and ensure cost-effectiveness and value for money.	Other Knowledge and Skills
Business Proposals	Proficient in	Methods and techniques for preparing and presenting business cases, requests for proposal (RFP) invitations to tender (ITT) and statements of requirements/work both verbally and in writing.	Other Knowledge and Skills
Techniques for Effective Meetings	Proficient in	Methods and techniques for running effective meetings and for understanding and influencing the roles played by participants.	Other Knowledge and Skills
Coaching Techniques	Proficient in	Methods and techniques for coaching individuals or groups by a balanced combination of support and direction, including use of virtual learning environments plus add-ons to augment feedback specific to work items, workflow or career plans.	Other Knowledge and Skills
Service Delivery Economics	Expert in	The economics of service delivery, such as the cost per service line in terms of hardware, software, and manpower used to deliver the service.	Other Knowledge and Skills

Training Activities

Training Components

Title	Details
Service Delivery	The service delivery processes: the systems, products, services, hardware and software environment.
Strategic Planning for Information and Communications Systems	The process of defining the ICT strategic plan of an organisation in a methodical way based on business aims and objectives thereby enabling the specification of options and associated action plans for the use of IT-enabled business processes.
Coaching	Concepts, methods and techniques for providing coaching in subject specialisms to individuals or groups (e.g. GROW model).
Advanced Techniques for Business Process Improvement	More complex tools and techniques associated with the analysis, modelling and streamlining of business processes.
Outsourcing Theory	Principles of outsourcing, including techniques for identifying services that could be procured from external suppliers, strategies for supplier selection, contract formats and management of the supplier relationship.
Mentoring	Methods and techniques for providing mentoring support to less experienced individuals.
Latest Cyber Security Threats for Senior Execs	Short, high-level, up-to-date and to-the-point briefing on the latest threats and vulnerabilities in cyber security.

PDAs

PDA Components

Title	Details
Mentoring	Acting as a mentor, advising those for whom there is no direct responsibility, on matters to do with their job role, career and professional development.
Gaining Knowledge of Broader IT Issues	Increasing and maintaining currency of knowledge of broader IT issues through reading, attending and participating in seminars or conferences, special studies, temporary assignments etc.
Gaining Strategic Knowledge of Employing Organisation	Developing a comprehensive understanding of the business environment in which the employing organisation operates and its position, policies and direction in relation to industry, country and global issues.
Gaining Knowledge of Standards and Legislation	Gaining and maintaining knowledge of relevant national and international standards and legislation.
Participation in Professional Body Affairs	Taking an active part in professional body affairs at branch, specialist group, committee or board level.
General Management	Continuing learning and development in general management skills, such as effective communication, leadership styles and skills, team building and team roles, motivation and delegation, planning and resource scheduling, influencing, persuasion and negotiation, so as to be in a position to accept greater responsibility at senior management or director (including non-exec) level.

Qualifications

Qualification Components

Title	Awarding Body
TOGAF Certification Portfolio (4 certificates)	The Open Group
Chartered IT Professional (CITP)	BCS – The Chartered Institute for IT
FEDIP Leading Practitioner	FEDIP

Organisation Skills

Framework » Organisation Category » Subcategory	Skill Name and Description	Level
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Commercial perspective You can understand and contribute to commercial contracts, procurement, sourcing and exit strategies. You can contribute to supplier selection and evaluation processes. You can use government procurement processes and frameworks such as G-Cloud, the Digital Services Framework and the Digital Marketplace. You can implement effective sourcing strategies that meet organisational needs.	4 – Expert You can coach others in appropriate commercial, vendor and legal issues.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Communicating between the technical and non-technical You can communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries, understanding the context. You can make complex and technical information and language simple and accessible for non- technical audiences. You can advocate on behalf of a team and communicate what it does, to create trust and authenticity. You can successfully respond to challenges.	4 – Expert You can mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels. You can manage stakeholder expectations and moderate discussions about high risk and complexity, even within constrained timescales. You can speak on behalf of and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of government.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Community collaboration You can contribute to the work of the community, building successful teams through understanding team styles and influencing and motivating team members. You can give and receive constructive feedback, enabling the feedback loop. You can moderate conflict resolution within teams. You can ensure that the team is transparent and that the work is understood externally. You can help teams maintain a focus on delivery while being aware of the importance of professional development.	4 – Expert You can solve and unblock issues between teams or departments at the highest level. You can understand the psychology of the team and have strong mediation skills. You can coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution, while also building and growing the community.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – DDaT perspective You can demonstrate an understanding of user-centred design, technology and data perspectives. You can understand the range of available technology choices and can make informed decisions based on user need and value for money. You can understand the variety and complexities of digital and data contexts and can design services to meet them. You can demonstrate knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology.	4 – Expert You can show knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology. You can understand Agile working at an organisational level. You can create the environment for success. You can initiate and support working with other digital, data and technology (DDaT) roles, job families and professions.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Enterprise and business architecture You can demonstrate a strong understanding of enterprise architecture and its subdomains. You can understand the organisational landscape and strategy of an organisation and can support the creation of future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives. You can describe and influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state.	4 – Expert You can set the direction to develop a future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Governance and assurance You can understand technical governance. You can participate in or deliver the assurance of a service	4 – Expert You can understand how technical governance works with wider governance (such as budget). You can assure corporate services by understanding important risks and mitigating them through assurance mechanisms.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Making and guiding decision You can make and guide effective decisions, explaining clearly how the decision has been reached. You can understand and resolve technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk.	4 – Expert You can make and justify decisions characterised by high levels of risk, impact and complexity. You can build consensus between organisations (private or public) or highly independent and diverse stakeholders.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Problem definition and shaping You can look beyond the immediate problem and identify the wider implications across the whole enterprise. You can understand relevant historical context and future impact, and how current work fits in broader contexts and strategies. You can identify underlying problems and opportunities and carry out horizon scanning to identify future threats or opportunities.	4 – Expert You can lead the design and implementation of strategy. You can direct the evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure business requirements are being met.
DDaT » Enterprise Architect	Enterprise Architect – Strategic design and business change You can demonstrate a strong understanding of business issues, events and activities, and their short to long term impact. You can define principles, patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. You can effectively focus on outcomes rather than solutions and activities. You can develop, maintain or update strategy in response to feedback and findings.	4 – Expert You can demonstrate a strong understanding of business issues, events and activities and their short to long term impact. You can define principles, patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. You can effectively focus on outcomes rather than solutions and activities. You can develop, maintain or update strategy in response to feedback and findings.

Framework » Organisation
Category » Subcategory

Skill Name and Description

Level

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Commercial perspective

You can understand and contribute to commercial contracts, procurement, sourcing and exit strategies. You can contribute to supplier selection and evaluation processes. You can use government procurement processes and frameworks such as G-Cloud, the Digital Services Framework and the Digital Marketplace. You can implement effective sourcing strategies that meet organisational needs.

4 – Expert

You can coach others in appropriate commercial, vendor and legal issues.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Communicating between the technical and non-technical

You can communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries, understanding the context. You can make complex and technical information and language simple and accessible for non- technical audiences. You can advocate on behalf of a team and communicate what it does, to create trust and authenticity. You can successfully respond to challenges.

4 – Expert

You can mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels. You can manage stakeholder expectations and moderate discussions about high risk and complexity, even within constrained timescales. You can speak on behalf of and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of government.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Community collaboration

You can contribute to the work of the community, building successful teams through understanding team styles and influencing and motivating team members. You can give and receive constructive feedback, enabling the feedback loop. You can moderate conflict resolution within teams. You can ensure that the team is transparent and that the work is understood externally. You can help teams maintain a focus on delivery while being aware of the importance of professional development.

4 – Expert

You can solve and unblock issues between teams or departments at the highest level. You can understand the psychology of the team and have strong mediation skills. You can coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution, while also building and growing the community.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – DDaT perspective

You can demonstrate an understanding of user-centred design, technology and data perspectives. You can understand the range of available technology choices and can make informed decisions based on user need and value for money. You can understand the variety and complexities of digital and data contexts and can design services to meet them. You can demonstrate knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology.

4 – Expert

You can show knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology. You can understand Agile working at an organisational level. You can create the environment for success. You can initiate and support working with other digital, data and technology (DDaT) roles, job families and professions.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Enterprise and business architecture

You can demonstrate a strong understanding of enterprise architecture and its subdomains. You can understand the organisational landscape and strategy of an organisation and can support the creation of future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives. You can describe and influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state.

4 – Expert

You can set the direction to develop a future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Governance and assurance

You can understand technical governance. You can participate in or deliver the assurance of a service

4 – Expert

You can understand how technical governance works with wider governance (such as budget). You can assure corporate services by understanding important risks and mitigating them through assurance mechanisms.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Making and guiding decision

You can make and guide effective decisions, explaining clearly how the decision has been reached. You can understand and resolve technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk.

4 – Expert

You can make and justify decisions characterised by high levels of risk, impact and complexity. You can build consensus between organisations (private or public) or highly independent and diverse stakeholders.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Problem definition and shaping

You can look beyond the immediate problem and identify the wider implications across the whole enterprise. You can understand relevant historical context and future impact, and how current work fits in broader contexts and strategies. You can identify underlying problems and opportunities and carry out horizon scanning to identify future threats or opportunities.

4 – Expert

You can lead the design and implementation of strategy. You can direct the evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure business requirements are being met.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect – Strategic design and business change

You can demonstrate a strong understanding of business issues, events and activities, and their short to long term impact. You can define principles, patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. You can effectively focus on outcomes rather than solutions and activities. You can develop, maintain or update strategy in response to feedback and findings.

4 – Expert

You can demonstrate a strong understanding of business issues, events and activities and their short to long term impact. You can define principles, patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. You can effectively focus on outcomes rather than solutions and activities. You can develop, maintain or update strategy in response to feedback and findings.

This job role profile was created in collaboration with BCS, using Role Model Plus. BCS is the professional body that has the responsibility of updating this job family.

Summary

Background

Background Components

Work Activity Components

Knowledge/Skills

Knowledge/Skills Components

Training Activities

Training Components

PDAs

PDA Components

Qualifications

Qualification Components

Organisation Skills

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