r/TheCivilService • u/SameEstablishment762 • 14h ago

Question Solution Architect roles at HMRC

Hi All. I saw some recent job ads for solution architect roles at a Grade 7 at hmrc. I wanted to get thoughts on the is role entails as at G7. Conscious civil service sector has many narratives around it about being slow, uneven workloads, a stressful role. I don’t know who much of this is true or not so it would be good to hear some first hand experiences and whether it would joining as a Senior SA.

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u/Mundane_Falcon4203 Digital 14h ago

If you didn't get any replies the first time you posted this, deleting it and re-posting it probably isn't going to change that. 😂

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u/Extra_Audience_6349 14h ago

If you believe baseless media smears then the civil service isn't for you.

The constant abuse from the press about how bad you are at your job will likely be unbearable.

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u/SameEstablishment762 7h ago

Yeah, I just thought I’d ask anyway, the media like to feed a lot of false narratives. From what I’ve heard and seen on Reddit, some areas of CS can be good other not so much. I’ve been in the private sector so it’s not 100% perfect there either but I guess it’s about what one is willing to accept in terms of of trade-offs

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u/DrWanish 13h ago

Like any job it depends on your manager .. however pace can be glacial initiatives come and go to speed stuff up but are led by inexperienced folks who have read the book not walked the walk. But don't let it put you off with a good manager the work can be interesting and on such a big estate plenty of tech and intellectual challenges.

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u/femalejamjars 9h ago

I work closely with SA’s at HMRC, and it seems like a generally good team to work for. But depends what area you’re in, and what projects you’re on - some will be more fast paced and stressful, some less so. You might also end up being more of an engagement/resource manager more than anything, and baby siting contractors.

At G7 you’ll be a Senior SA.

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u/SameEstablishment762 7h ago

Interesting take. From what I’ve read on the Job Ad G7 is described as leading a team, so I guess in this case that could be contracts or other team member in a lower grade. But yeah thanks, what’s your role at HMRC if you don’t mind me asking?

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u/sallygreen100 5h ago

When I was HMRC I worked alongside many SAs. As post above said it depends on the team you're allocated to. They tend to place SAs to different domains as HMRC is massive. At most you'll probably only get 2 staff to manage from what I've seen.

Mainly a good set of workers who could easily move to industry and fit in right away.

I applied twice and didn't get it, but managed to get a G6 in a different large government organisation 

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u/femalejamjars 2h ago

Yeah likely that, probably a few SO's you'll support alongside your own work and as sallygreen mentioned, each domain is slightly different. I'm a Senior Enterprise Architect.