Chief Architect, MSD - services for the future, Wellington

About us | Mō mātou

The Ministry of Social Development is a people-centred organisation. We’re in communities across the motu, working with partners to help New Zealanders be safe, strong and independent.

 
We provide social policy and advice to government and assistance, including income, employment and housing support to people of all ages, families, whānau and communities.

 
As a Te Tiriti o Waitangi partner we are committed to supporting and enabling Māori, whānau, hapū, Iwi and communities to realise their own potential and aspirations.

 
Our people are as diverse as the communities we serve. We care about the wellbeing and success of our people and provide a supportive and inclusive working environment where people can thrive and be who they are.

 
Join MSD’s flagship transformation programme, MSD – services for the future, and help shape how we deliver services to New Zealanders for the next 30 years.

 
MSD – services for the future is about MSD’s future role and how we can make a bigger and better difference for New Zealanders. It will help us achieve the shifts we want to make to achieve our strategic goal, Te Pae Tawhiti.

About the role | Mō te tūnga

• Permanent role based at National Office in Wellington

The Chief Architect is MSD’s most senior architectural leadership role, responsible for setting and governing the enterprise wide architectural direction for our flagship transformation programme, MSD – services for the future. You will define, own, and continually evolve a viable, affordable, and future ready enterprise target architecture—spanning both business and technology architecture—that enables MSD to transform how services are delivered to New Zealanders over the next 30 years.

This role provides enterprise authority across organisational boundaries, operating at a strategic and executive level to ensure architectural integrity, coherence, and traceability across all transition states—from decommissioning heritage systems to establishing modern platforms and integration patterns. You will lead MSD’s architecture principles, standards, guardrails and patterns, embed enterprise design governance, and ensure alignment across IST leadership, the Group GM Improvement Systems & Technology (your reporting line), the General Manager Enterprise Design, senior transformation leaders and cross agency partners including the Government Chief Digital Officer, Treasury and the Public Service Commission.

The Chief Architect plays a critical role in shaping New Zealand’s digital public service delivery by championing emerging technologies, enterprise capability uplift, and reference architectures that anticipate future needs and position MSD for long-term success.

Key focus areas | Ngā tino aronga

As Chief Architect, you will:

• Own and govern MSD’s enterprise target architecture, ensuring alignment with both business and technology transformation.
• Establish and uphold enterprise wide architecture principles, standards, guardrails and patterns that drive consistency and support the transition to the target architecture.
• Develop strategies, approaches and  roadmapand roadmaps, including heritage decommissioning and modern platform adoption.
• Ensure architectural integrity across all transition states, including interim state integration patterns and solutions that support coexistence.
• Lead programme-level design governance with visibility across delivery and cross-agency architecture.
• Shape MSD’s enterprise architecture capability and champion modern practices.

What you bring | Ōu pūmanawatanga

You will be a highly experienced and accomplished Chief Architect or equivalent senior architecture leader who has operated within large-scale transformation initiatives or core system replacements in complex corporate or government environments, along with:

• Long-tenure enterprise and business architecture leadership.
• Demonstrated delivery of enterprise target architectures and strategies.
• Significant enterprise governance and executive influencing experience.
• Experience navigating complex multi-domain environments.
• Proven ability embedding te ao Māori perspectives into decision-making.
• Strong communication and thought leadership skills.

What’s in it for you | Nōu te rourou

• Influence one of Aotearoa’s most significant transformation programmes.
• Operate in MSD’s most senior architecture role with transformation-wide remit.
• Join a supportive environment where diverse perspectives are valued.

Position Description | He Whakaahuatanga Tūnga

A copy of the position description can be found here. Chief architect | position description 

Salary | Utu-ā-tau

The full salary range for this role is $198,140.00 - $262,278.00. Salary offer will be based on the preferred candidates skills and experience and our team relativities.