How to become a Business Architect

Have you ever wondered? Let me demystify it for you: Click here and apply!!!

Yes, we're looking for someone with a design in business architecture, business design or business analysis to come and join one of our busiest and most crucial teams, working on some really critical projects.

More than that, this is a great opportunity for someone with that sort of background to step up into a full Business Architect role, with good support around them and in a flexible organisation that's committed to the public good!

Don't just take my word for it though - I sat down with one of our Business Architects to find out more ??

What is your current role, and how long have you been with ONS?

I’ve been at ONS nearly 5 years, and switched from Principal Business Analyst to a Business Architect role in April last year.

What was your background before joining?

Working for ONS has been my first public sector job. I worked as a senior business analyst in the private sector for the previous 15 years, mainly as a consultant / freelancer. I engaged with a number of clients, many of whom I stayed with for a few years, predominantly in the retail and travel industries.

What are the key differences between being a Business Analyst and a Business Architect?

Mainly it’s about the level at which we work. Business Architects aim to look at a business or programme at a higher and more conceptual level. We engage in helping an organisation understand and better express it's key mission and objectives, we identify the capabilities the business needs in order to deliver it's value propositions, and we help the business understand the gaps and feed these into a roadmap to reach it's target state.

Business Analysts play a similar role, but their work is often more focused on the specific requirements needed within an individual transformation project. The interpersonal and technical skills needed for both roles have a great deal of overlap but the frameworks we use and artefacts we create are quite distinct.

What do you?think was the most important thing that helped you progress into a Business Architect role?

Firstly, the fact that so much of the skillset required by both roles is the same and secondly, the flexibility and support from my line manager to allow me to move into the job with the understanding that if it didn’t suit within the first 6 months, I would still have a place as a Business Analyst. I quickly discovered that I really enjoy the role and am here to stay!

How supportive were your colleagues in helping you transition from Analyst to Architect?

Enormously supportive! We are a very small (but growing) team of Business Architects in ONS and the whole team have not only been welcoming but really stepped in to help me talk through ideas about how to proceed with my work, and peer reviewed what I’ve created when asked. ?

What are your team like?

We each have distinct strengths and different approaches, but come together regularly in our community of practice to discuss and agree ways of working. The individuals are a joy to work with and I feel very fortunate to be learning a new role surrounded by such colleagues.

How do your team fit into the wider ONS?

Business Architecture is still relatively new for the ONS, and as such we are each embedded into different programmes of work within the organisation. It is our intention and hope that we can showcase the value that Business Architecture brings through our current work, and thereby gain buy-in to apply Business Architecture at a more holistic level across the organisation.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m currently allocated to the Integrated Data Programme, an ONS programme building and delivering a cross-government Integrated Data Service. I’m part of a team creating a Target Operating Model for a future state of the IDS. We are using this to help the programme build a robust organisational structure to run the service, as well as the processes, technology and information that enables it.

What piece of work you’ve completed in the role are you most proud of?

The programme’s senior leadership expressed the lack of a single-page diagram that would help them understand the breadth of activity going on across the entire programme. They had plenty of highly detailed artefacts that showed parts of the picture, but not an overview that pulled it together succinctly. I proposed and created a High Level Function View of all key activities, including those that guide and enable the frontline service. This artefact has proved very useful and updated versions are still in use across the programme several months later.

I’ve also applied the Business Architecture Guild’s framework in the creation of artefacts such as the business model canvas, value streams, and object-based business capabilities. I’m currently mapping Capabilities to people, process, technology and information to help us create a more accurate picture of where we are versus where we need to be.

What challenges can someone expect as a Business Architect in ONS?

As it’s a relatively new profession in ONS, not everyone understands or appreciates the value Business Architecture can bring. Building this understanding and appreciation of our value is one of our key objectives as a team.

What are the three things you spend the most time doing in your role?

Collaborating with Service Design and Organisational Development team members also contributing to the Target Operating Model in order to ensure that everything we do is aligned and coherent.

Engaging with colleagues across the programme to accurately understand their areas of the business, both current and future needs, and ensuring these are accurately mapped to the identified Business capabilities.

Attending lots of meetings about all kinds of things!

What’s been the most rewarding part of working at ONS for you so far?

Being able to make a clear and positive contribution to the many projects and programmes I’ve worked on is a huge part of it but honestly, the best thing for me is building really strong working relationships and friendships with colleagues across the organisation. ONS is such a friendly place to work, and that’s because of the people within it.

What are the most important skills needed to be a good Business Architect?

The ability to work across an entire organisation, programme or service and to work at a fast pace in an often-changing environment.

The ability to consider things in a conceptual or theoretical way as well as a practical, concrete way and to bring the two ways of thinking together.

The ability to apply business architecture principles and create a wide variety of artefacts that support the delivery of business architecture. ?

Strong interpersonal communication skills -- engaging with business stakeholders at all levels of the organisation is key. Experience in eliciting information from and conveying information to others. This includes the ability to translate complex topics into readily digestible and actionable recommendations.

Self-management. We need to identify, prioritise and manage our own work to suit the business needs.

What have you learned since joining ONS?

More about statistics and how they are captured, processed, analysed and shared than I ever imagined possible!

Why should the person reading this apply?

The ONS is a great place to work and to develop your career (and our flexible working model is very good). Our business architects are engaged across a wide range of projects, and are empowered by management to perform our roles in the way we feel best suits the business need. As the discipline is still quite young in ONS, you’ll have the opportunity to help shape how it’s embedded into the organisation.

Wow - thanks for the insights Kavita Favelle ! Sounds like a really exciting time to be joining this team and helping them to grow, while adding real tangible value to a lot of our biggest projects.

The role is live now, so if it is of interest make sure you get your application completed & submitted before the deadline at 11:55pm on April 18th 2024.