Technical Architect - (Remote Contract)

We are seeking an experienced Technical Architect with strong expertise across both Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support the design, delivery, and governance of cloud-based solutions for a large-scale transformation programme. The successful candidate will be responsible for shaping architectural direction, producing high-quality solution designs, ensuring technical alignment across teams, and guiding engineering teams through implementation., * Lead the end-to-end architecture and design of cloud solutions across both Azure and AWS.

• Produce high-level and low-level architecture documentation, ensuring traceability to business requirements.
• Define cloud architecture standards, patterns, and best practices.
• Assess current environments and propose modernisation, migration, or optimisation strategies.
• Support the design of scalable, secure, and cost-effective cloud services.

Technology Leadership

• Act as a technical authority across cloud engineering, DevOps, networking, and security.
• Provide architectural oversight on solution delivery, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture.
• Collaborate with product owners, delivery managers, and engineering teams to ensure successful implementation.
• Conduct technical reviews, challenge solution decisions, and provide guidance to technical teams.

Cloud & Infrastructure Expertise

• Design cloud-native and hybrid architectures leveraging Azure and AWS core services.
• Lead cloud migration initiatives: workload assessments, migration planning, landing zone design.
• Define and implement Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) approaches (Terraform, ARM/Bicep, CloudFormation).
• Optimise cloud environments around cost, performance, security, and scalability.

Security & Governance

• Ensure solutions meet security, compliance, and regulatory requirements.
• Work with Security Architects and DevSecOps teams to embed security into the architecture.
• Contribute to cloud governance frameworks, guardrails, and policies.

Stakeholder Management

• Present complex technical concepts in a clear and structured way to non-technical stakeholders.
• Work collaboratively with senior stakeholders, technical teams, and third-party suppliers.
• Provide technical input into project plans, risk assessments, and impact analysis.

Required Skills & Experience Technical Skills

• Strong hands-on architectural experience with both Azure and AWS cloud platforms.
• Proven ability to design and deliver cloud-native, serverless, and containerised solutions.
• Deep understanding of core cloud services across compute, storage, networking, identity, and security.
• Experience with Kubernetes (AKS/EKS) and container orchestration.
• Strong background in Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform essential).
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline).
• Experience designing solutions within highly regulated sectors (Government, Finance, Public Sector).

Soft Skills

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Ability to work autonomously and make architectural decisions confidently.
• Pragmatic, delivery-focused approach.

Desirable Experience

• Previous experience working on government or public sector programmes.
• Knowledge of cloud cost-optimisation strategies and FinOps practices.
• Experience with multi-cloud governance frameworks.
• Certifications such as:

• Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
• TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture framework