Freelance System Engineer / Technical Architect

• Significant experience as a technical or solution architect working on complex, ambiguous problems
• A strong background in API design, integration patterns and event-driven or distributed systems
• Deep knowledge of how agents interact with other parts of the system; tools, MCP servers, agent-to-agent protocols etc
• Experience designing for security, privacy, observability and auditability from the start including threat modelling
• Experience of authentication and authorisation, including delegated access, such as OAuth
• Hands-on coding skills, with the ability to build working prototypes quickly
• Cloud architecture experience (AWS, Azure or GCP) and infrastructure as code
• The ability to explain architecture clearly to designers, policy specialists and senior stakeholders

• Experience in working on UK government services
• Exposure to data-sharing standards and legislation, such as the Digital Economy Act
• An agency or consultancy background

Level: Lead

Duration: 6 months

Day Rate: Dependent on experience

Weekly hours: 5 days/ week

Location: Hybrid, 2 days a week in London

We're looking for a Systems Engineer / Technical Architect to help us reimagine a function of government as part of an agentic ecosystem.

You'll join a small multidisciplinary team of designers, researchers and engineers, working closely with civil servants and the department's own technical teams. You'll own working out what the new system is. What are the constituent pieces, how do they fit together, and what’s needed to make it secure, accountable and auditable? The role suits someone who can sketch a target architecture on Monday and make it real with a prototype by Friday.

You will need to be able to work from our offices (London) for a minimum of two days a week.

• Application

Please attach your CV, plus a portfolio or any work you would like to also share.

• Initial screening call

A short conversation to cover the basics — your timezone, working languages, availability, and a chance for you to ask early questions about the role and how we work.

• Technical interview (~60 minutes)

A deeper conversation about your technical background and experience. We’ll talk through how you’ve approached real problems, the decisions you’ve made, and how you’d apply that thinking to the work at IF.

• Ways of working interview (~45–60 minutes)

A conversation about how you collaborate, communicate, and work with others — including how you operate in an advisory capacity with clients and teams.

We’ll aim to keep you updated at every stage and let you know the outcome promptly after each step.