Job vacancy: Chief Solution Architect AI, NHS England, Nationally (requirement to travel to Leeds and London)

Job summary

Main area

Solutions Architect

Grade

NHS AfC: Band 9

Contract

Fixed term: 12 months (31st October 2026 - Secondment only for current NHS employees)

Hours

Full time
Part time
Job share
Flexible working

37.5 hours per week

Job ref

990-TD-D&A-17233-E

Employer: NHS England
Employer type: NHS
Site: Any NHSE Office
Town: Nationally (requirement to travel to Leeds and London)
Salary: £141,932 - £163,328 Inclusive of 30% RRP payment (exclusive of London Weighting)
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 16/09/2025 23:59

Chief Solution Architect AI

NHS AfC: Band 9

Our Organisation

The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive – and we all have our part to play.

As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.

As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a ‘home’ office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third-party contractors will earn a real Living Wage. We are one of over 15,000 organisations, who voluntarily chose to pay the real Living Wage.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please note, this role is part of a Solutions Architect community and this assignment will be the first assignment. As business priorities evolve, the post-holder may be required to move to other solutions architect roles in NHSE.

The post of Chief Solution Architect AI has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 30% per annum.

Please be aware that RRP is non-contractual and subject to review.

You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.

Secondments

Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Educated to Masters level or equivalent level or equivalent experience of working at a senior level in specialist area (such as Computing, Scientific, Mathematical, Engineering, Statistical or related field).

Experience and Skills

Essential criteria

Experience building and deploying AI solutions at scale, ideally within a healthcare setting.
Experience translating strategic business objectives into a strategic technical vision.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms, techniques, and best practices within healthcare. This includes familiarity with a range of ML approaches (supervised/unsupervised learning, deep learning, etc.) and their applications in healthcare.
Maintains knowledge of technology trends through pro-active horizon scanning, and understands how to assess the relevance of new technology innovation within an organisation.
Strong understanding of data privacy, security, and ethical considerations in AI. This is crucial for ensuring responsible AI development and deployment within a sensitive healthcare context.

Our commitments to you

We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We’re passionate about nurturing and developing people. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro-divergent.

We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. Whilst we appreciate that you may have had support with your application (e.g., using AI technology or guidance from a trusted individual), it’s important that the information contained within your application reflects your own knowledge, skill, and experience and we trust that you apply on that basis.

If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position.

Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.

To comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007, and specifically the Personnel Security Standards 2024, individuals employed or contracted by NHS England may be required to undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standards check, dependent on the role.

The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.

If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any emails sent to us via NHS Jobs. If you have a query relating to your application, please contact the recruitment team on [email protected] or 0300 330 1369. You can view our Privacy Notice here.

NHS England