Solution Architect - ServiceNow

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.

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We are Government Digital and Data Candidate Information Pack V3 - 1

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 Defras 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.

Defras ServiceNow Platform provides a strategic service supporting the operation of Defras 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 Defras 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!

Responsibilities

• Ensuring alignment of ServiceNow platform capabilities to Defras 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