Senior Solution Architect

About Us | Mō mātou   

At the Department of Internal Affairs, our purpose is simple but powerful: To serve and connect people, communities, and government to build a safe, prosperous and respected nation.

Enterprise Digital Services (EDS) sits within Enterprise Services, a branch dedicated to supporting the rest of the Department to succeed by providing corporate services that help business groups and people within DIA to make the best contribution to New Zealand. 

The role | Te tūnga   

Fixed term role till July 2027. We are on a journey of building modern digital platforms.  We do this by putting customers and their whānau at the heart to deliver services in a more joined up, effective way and provide better response to our customers' changing needs and expectations.

You will be responsible for:

• Delivery of complex architecture independently or lead and mentor other Solution Architects to implement technologies, and architectures that align to business outcomes, recognised good practice, strategies and agreed principles, and optimal use of organisational technology assets and resources. 
• Provide quality assurance to key architecture deliverables and contributes to strategies and roadmaps.
• Establish, build and maintain strong relationships across the Department and with external stakeholders to achieve trusted advisor status 
• Ratify solution architectures and designs with relevant governance bodies and senior leaders to gain endorsement on technology choices and fit
• Provide leadership and direction, particularly in relation to workflow and work allocation, to stable product or project teams (including vendors and Te Tari Taiwhenua operational staff) to ensure alignment to frameworks and successful delivery of architectural solutions.
• Stay current with technologies, contribute towards enterprise architecture and ensure continuous improvement within the practice through mentoring, knowledge sharing and training sessions. 

What you bring | Nōu te rourou 

• 5+ years’ experience as a solution architect delivering complete solutions from business to the technology layer with a strong architecture background in one or more of the following technical domains: data, software, infrastructure, security, integration, identity, cloud.
• A thorough understanding of Architecture development framework, architecture modelling, principles and good practices, including All-of-Government standards, and producing high quality architecture artifacts.
• Ability to quickly acquire a deep understanding of the complexities of designing solutions in challenging or leading-edge environments. 
• Strong analytically, particularly the ability to think “architecturally” about strategy and business environment in DIA and envision the relevant business implications and scenarios.
• Ability to provide technology leadership to architects and technical experts while making architectural decisions. 
• Excellent relationship management and audience tuned communication skills - you can work well with a diverse range of stakeholders and build strong relationships

In return we can offer you an opportunity that will foster your talents within a diverse team of Architects and allow you to work with a range of business units involved in some incredibly interesting changes. We have a well-established collaborative Architecture Practice; we support each other to succeed. 

If you want to join a team of smart, committed people who do some spectacular work for New Zealand – then make sure you get in touch. 

For you | Mōu 

At the Department of Internal Affairs, we are committed to offering a collaborative and innovative culture where your perspective and ideas will be welcomed. We want our people to thrive within a culture of best practice, while being able to set and achieve goals and being encouraged to challenge the status quo.  

To learn more about the diverse, important mahi we do at the Department and see why we're a great place to work check out our website https://www.dia.govt.nz/ 

Benefits - About Internal Affairs - Careers with us - Benefits - dia.govt.nz 

The appointing range for this role $145,539 - $181,116.

To review the full job description, please click here

How to apply | Me pēhea te tuku tono 

We are unable to accept applications via email. Please click the apply button to submit your application. 

We're committed to ensuring our application process is accessible to everyone. Please reach out to our recruitment team below if there is any support, we can provide to ensure the process is accessible to you. 

Applications for this role close 21 May 2026, 5.00pm. Please also note that you must have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand to be considered for this role. 

If you have any questions, please e-mail: Manager Solution Architecture Mike.Nelson@dia.govt.nz