Deadline: 23:59, Sunday 16th August

We are looking for a Digital Platform Architect to help shape the next stage of digital support for thousands of young people navigating access to university, apprenticeships and careers.

The Sutton Trust is the UK’s leading social mobility charity. Our programmes help young people from less advantaged backgrounds access highly competitive universities, apprenticeships and careers and our research shapes national policy. Each year, working with our university and employer partners, we support thousands of young people through our programmes and continue that support through our alumni community.

Sutton Trust Online was developed to extend that support digitally. It now complements our university, apprenticeship and career access programmes through online guidance, resources, events, tools and progression support.

As the Trust approaches its 30th anniversary, we want to build on this foundation and think carefully about the next stage of our digital programming: how we make the student experience more coherent, how digital support connects with our wider programmes and how we use data, AI and external partners responsibly to improve guidance over time.

Over the next two years, the Digital Platform Architect will help us define and deliver that next stage. The role will sit between the Trust’s programme ambitions and the technical partners who help support them, bringing the product judgement, technical literacy and delivery grip we need to make informed decisions about digital development, AI, data, systems and student experience.

This is not a traditional programme management role and it is not a hands-on engineering role. You do not need to be a full-stack developer but you will need the confidence to work with engineers, UX specialists, AI partners and suppliers and the ability to turn complex programme ideas into practical product decisions.

This is a chance to shape student-facing digital programming used by thousands of young people each year at a point when AI is changing how students access guidance, information and opportunity. Help us build something ambitious, responsible and genuinely useful: digital support that extends the reach of a 30-year social mobility mission and helps young people navigate key progression points with clearer, more personalised guidance.

What you'll help deliver

By the end of the two-year period, we expect this role to have helped the Trust develop:

• A clear product and technical route for Sutton Trust digital programming

• A stronger student-facing digital experience

• A clearer architecture for how digital programming connects with the Trust's wider systems, data and programme delivery

• AI-enabled features that are useful, responsible and grounded in Sutton Trust content

• External engineering, UX or specialist partners commissioned and held to account where needed

• Internal teams better equipped to manage, understand and iterate the platform after the build phase

Main duties

Product and platform direction

• Work with the Head of University Access and Digital, the STO team and wider programme colleagues to define the technical and product route for Sutton Trust digital programming

• Turn programme ambitions and student needs into clear product requirements, technical briefs, user journeys and delivery plans

• Help define the minimum viable version of Sutton Trust digital programming and advise on what should be built, bought, integrated or deferred

• Develop or commission prototypes, mock-ups and proof-of-concept work to test ideas before larger build decisions are made

• Support decision-making on priorities, phasing, cost, student value and technical risk

Technical architecture and delivery oversight

• Act as the Trust's internal representative with external engineers, UX specialists, AI partners and technology suppliers

• Translate non-technical requirements into specifications that development partners can deliver against

• Review supplier proposals and technical outputs, challenging where work risks creating lock-in, unnecessary complexity or poor long-term value

• Ensure new features are tested for usability, accessibility, security, safeguarding, data protection and content quality before wider release

• Maintain clear documentation of product decisions, data flows, risks, assumptions and technical dependencies

AI, data and responsible design

• Explore how AI can support content navigation, guided search, coaching prompts, opportunity discovery, staff insight and personalisation

• Ensure AI-enabled tools are grounded in approved Sutton Trust content and do not become generic or unsafe advice tools

• Work with systems and evaluation colleagues to improve data flows between STO, Salesforce, application systems, communications tools and third-party platforms

• Help define what data should drive personalisation, nudges, recommendations, staff dashboards and evaluation

• Ensure the platform supports student agency and avoids over direction or inappropriate automation

Student experience and stakeholder engagement

• Map current and future student journeys across STO and wider Sutton Trust programmes

• Design clearer digital pathways across the student lifecycle

• Use student feedback, staff insight and engagement data to refine the platform experience over time

• Work closely with programme colleagues so that the platform supports delivery needs rather than becoming a separate technology project

• Support internal colleagues to understand product decisions, technical trade-offs and delivery risks

Person Specification

We are looking for someone who combines product judgement, technical literacy and strong communication skills. You do not need to be a specialist engineer but you do need to understand enough about digital products, data, systems and AI to commission well, challenge suppliers and make good decisions on behalf of a non-technical organisation.

You will need:

• Experience in digital product management, platform development, service design or technology-enabled programme delivery

• A track record of turning user needs and organisational strategy into practical product requirements

• The technical grounding to work confidently with developers, engineers, UX specialists and external technology suppliers

• Experience managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders, deadlines and technical dependencies

• Strong written communication including the ability to produce clear product documentation, user stories, specifications and technical briefs

• Good judgement around safeguarding, data protection and responsible use of technology

• Confidence working with ambiguity and turning early ideas into workable next steps

• Strong collaboration and relationship building skills with the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical teams

• The ability to prioritise competing demands, make proportionate decisions and maintain focus on delivery

• Excellent attention to detail

• Sympathy to the aims of the Trust and its mission to address educational disadvantage

• Eligibility to work in the UK (see here for information about right to work)

It would strengthen your application if you also have:

• Experience in education, EdTech, widening participation, social mobility, youth work, government digital or a social implact technology organisation

• Experience using AI-assisted or agentic tools such as Claude Code, Codex or equipvalent to prototype, test or specify digital product ideas

• Experience working with CRMs, learning platforms, application systems, CMSs, dashboards or student-facing systems

• Knowledge of accessibility standards

• Experience commissioning or managing external developers, agencies or technical consultants

Terms of Appointment

• Contract: Full-time, fixed-term two-year contract

• Salary: £60,000 - £70,000 per annum, depending on experience

• Working location: Minimum of two office days per week. Our home working policy gives staff the option to work from home for up to 60% of the time, with approval from their line manager.

• Office location: The Sutton Trust, 9th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.

• Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. This role is likely to also be required to attend events / meetings outside of normal working hours during weekday evenings and occasionally at weekends, in line with organisational policies.

• A DBS check may be required
  

Scroll down to find out about our staff benefits!

Please note that your application should be submitted in one go - you can view the questions by clicking on the link if you would like to prepare in advance.

Interviews

Applications should reach us by 23:59 on Sunday 16th August, with first round interviews held on Monday 24th August, and second round interviews held on Friday 4th September. Both rounds will take place at our London offices.

Safeguarding statement

The Sutton Trust believes that a child, young person or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. Therefore all posts undergo a safer recruitment process, including but not limited to, disclosure of criminal records where necessary and eligibility to work in the UK. We have procedures in place to promote safeguarding and a safe culture at the Trust.

Contextual recruitment

The Trust is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented at present at the Trust, to apply for this role. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. We are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming place to work and know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the young people we support.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates throughout our recruitment process and during employment.

We also operate contextual recruitment at the Sutton Trust. Our application process gives you the option to include information about your background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals, whether your parents went to university, or whether you attended a state school. For more examples and information on contextual recruitment, please see our website.