Equal opportunitiesMaximise your chances of a successful application to this job by ensuring your CV and skills are a good match.At GCHQ, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK,we need a workforce that truly reflects the society we serve. This includesdiversity in every sense of the word: people of different backgrounds, ages,ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and thosewith disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome andencourage applications from everyone, including individuals from groups thatare currently under-represented in our workforce, such as women, peoplefrom ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities and those from lowsocio-economic backgrounds. Visit our website to find out more about our culture, working environment anddiversity.We are Disability ConfidentGCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department forWork and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme. The scheme encouragesemployers to think differently about disability and take action to improve howthey recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confidentorganisation, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number ofdisabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for this position,assessed at sift, are offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. Thisis known as the Offer of Interview. To secure an interview for this role, theminimum criteria (in order of application process) are: experience designing and owning end-to-end solution architecture,interpreting business and user needs and translating them into designsand artefacts aligned with architecture strategies and standards experience making and owning architectural decisions involving trade-offs(e.g. cost, risk, scalability or maintainability), managing risks anddelivering within governance and standards ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholdersacross teams or programmes, communicating architectural concepts andinfluencing alignment to agreed solutionsVisit our How to Apply page for more information on the reasonableadjustments we can offer. What to expectOur recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is abrief overview of each stage, in order: Application sift. Virtual interview (assessing your technical skills and the organisationalcompetencies). If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment.Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process toprogress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months toprocess including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employmentuntil you have received your final job offer.Before you applyTo work at GCHQ, you must be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality.Read about our eligibility criteria.This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting(DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes.Find out more about the vetting process.Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application,you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previousdrug usage at the relevant stage.Before applying, we recommend setting up a separate email address for yourcontact with us to ensure your personal and application correspondenceremain separate. Try to avoid including identifying features in your emailaddress, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is goodpractice and will help you manage your application with us more securely.The role is based in Cheltenham so you’ll need to live within a commutabledistance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities beforesubmitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in-person appointments during the recruitment and vetting process. Full detailswill be provided with your interview or assessment invitation. Reimbursementis discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate ExpensesPolicy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their owntravel, using the most economical option, and provide original hard copyreceipts for reimbursement. Please note, you should only launch your application from within theUK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK tobegin your application. Applying from outside the UK will affect ourability to progress your application. You should not discuss yourapplication, other than with your partner or a close family member.Right to withdraw statement:Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date forthis role once a certain number of applications have been received. xwzovoh Please bemindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience toavoid disappointment.