Lead Solution Architect

In addition to our technological solutions, we excel in investment, administration, and accounting, ensuring comprehensive support for Zurich's diverse operations.

What Can You Expect

We are looking for a technically deep and strategically minded Lead Solution Architect to join our Data Platform team. This is a hands-on role - you will not only shape architectural direction but will be expected to get into the details alongside the engineers building the systems you design.

Our Data Platform underpins the organisation's ability to collect, move, transform, and serve data at scale across a multi-cloud estate spanning AWS and Azure. As the Lead Solution Architect, you will be the technical authority for how that platform is structured - from the cloud infrastructure and networking layer through to the pipelines, APIs, and integration patterns that make data accessible and reliable across the business.

If you thrive at the intersection of cloud infrastructure, data engineering, networking, and automation, and you want to shape the foundations that the rest of the organisation builds on, this role was designed for you.

And you might be thinking: This is great, what will my day-to-day be like, at TDC? I'm glad you asked.

As a Lead Solution Architect you will have the opportunity to:

Data Platform Architecture

• Own the end-to-end architecture of the Data Platform, designing systems that are scalable, resilient, and cost-effective across a multi-cloud estate.

• Define architectural patterns for data ingestion, storage, transformation, and serving layers - making deliberate decisions about where data lives, how it moves, and how it is accessed.

• Establish reference architectures and design standards that engineering teams can build consistently against, reducing fragmentation and technical debt across the platform.

• Serve as the technical authority in architectural reviews, challenging assumptions, identifying risks, and driving alignment across data engineering, platform, and product stakeholders.

Infrastructure as Code

• Own and evolve the organisation's Terraform codebase, setting standards for module design, state management, workspace strategy, and CI/CD integration.

• Actively write and review Terraform - this is not a delegating role. You will be hands-on in the codebase.

• Champion infrastructure automation best practices, driving consistency, repeatability, and auditability across environments.

Networking

• Design and govern cloud networking topologies including VPC/VNet architecture, Transit Gateways, ExpressRoute and Direct Connect, peering strategies, DNS, and network security controls.

• Provide architectural guidance on zero-trust principles, private connectivity patterns, and secure hybrid networking between on-premises and cloud environments.

• Troubleshoot complex network issues at the architecture level and guide engineering teams to resolution.

API Design and Integration

• Define integration architecture across internal and external systems, establishing patterns for API design, versioning, authentication, rate limiting, and observability.

• Guide teams on API gateway strategy, service mesh design, and event-driven integration approaches where appropriate.

• Ensure that integration patterns align with broader platform and security standards.

Cross-Region and Cross-Cloud Data Movement

• Architect solutions for moving, replicating, and synchronising data across cloud regions and between AWS and Azure - treating consistency, latency, cost, and compliance as primary design constraints, not afterthoughts.

• Define pipeline architecture for both batch and real-time streaming workloads, selecting the right tooling for each use case and being clear about the trade-offs involved.

• Ensure that data sovereignty, encryption in transit, lineage, and regulatory requirements are addressed as first-class concerns in every data movement design.

• Collaborate with data engineering teams to translate architectural intent into working, maintainable pipelines.

Collaboration and Technical Leadership

• Work closely with data engineering, analytics, product, security, and infrastructure teams to ensure the platform architecture serves real business needs without creating unnecessary coupling or operational burden.

• Mentor and upskill engineers within the Data Platform team, developing their architectural thinking and their ability to make well-reasoned design decisions independently.

• Engage with data consumers and domain teams to understand how the platform is being used, and feed those insights back into architectural decisions.

• Communicate architectural direction, trade-offs, and investment cases clearly to both technical peers and non-technical leadership.

Work alongside experts in various technological domains.

Enhance your skills with real-world experience

Contribute to a team that values your input and creativity.

Do you have experience in Terraform?, * Significant hands-on experience in a senior or lead architecture role within a data platform, data engineering, or data infrastructure context.

• Deep, demonstrable expertise in both AWS and Azure data and infrastructure services - you understand not just what each service does, but when to use it, and when not to.

• Extensive experience writing and maintaining Terraform at scale, including module design, remote state, and integration with deployment pipelines.

• Strong networking fundamentals with practical experience designing cloud network topologies, hybrid connectivity, and security boundaries in environments where data movement is a core concern.

• Solid understanding of API design principles and integration architecture across REST, event-driven, and messaging-based patterns, particularly in the context of data access and platform integration.

• Proven experience designing solutions for cross-region and cross-cloud data movement, with a clear understanding of the consistency, compliance, operational, and cost implications involved.

Technical Breadth

• Comfortable working across the stack - from infrastructure and networking through to application integration and data flows.

• Able to evaluate and articulate trade-offs across cloud services, architectural patterns, and tooling choices.

• Security-conscious by default, with experience applying security principles throughout the design process rather than as an afterthought.

Ways of Working

• Hands-on and delivery-focused. You are not a PowerPoint architect - you write code, review pull requests, and engage directly in technical problem-solving.

• Clear and structured communicator, able to tailor depth and framing for technical and non-technical audiences alike.

• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and bringing clarity to complex, multi-stakeholder situations.

• Collaborative and pragmatic, willing to meet teams where they are while guiding them toward better outcomes.

Nice to have

• Hands-on experience with data platform tooling such as Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, dbt, or equivalent technologies.

• Familiarity with data mesh or data product architectural approaches and how they inform platform design decisions.

• Experience with FinOps practices and cloud cost governance, particularly in data-intensive environments where compute and egress costs can be significant.

• Exposure to data governance, data cataloguing, and metadata management as architectural concerns.

• Certifications in AWS (Solutions Architect Professional or Data Analytics Specialty) or Azure (Solutions Architect Expert or Data Engineer Associate), or equivalent demonstrable experience.

• Experience in regulated industries where data compliance, lineage, and auditability carry significant architectural weight.

As well as a competitive salary and a yearly bonus, we offer:

• To support your work-life balance, we have adopted a flexible working model.
• Over 300 euros to set up your home office and additional monthly home office allowance.
• Wide range of internal and external trainings, including English, German and Spanish classes depending on the needs.
• Ticket restaurant and Health Insurance with the flexibility to exchange it for other benefits.
• Life and accident insurance.
• Collective Life retirement Plan
• 2000 referral bonus if you bring other talented people like you to the company.
• Special banking and insurance conditions plus Exclusive Employees discounts
• Functional diversity benefits
• Different social clubs such as hiking, investment, beach volley and many more
• Stock options and mortgage benefits.

Let me introduce us. You're reading about Zurich Insurance Group, a global leader in insurance, but this role specifically pertains to ServiZurich. Established in Barcelona in 2006, ServiZurich operates as an integral part of Zurich Insurance Group, providing cutting-edge technological solutions and support to Zurich's local and global business units., At Zurich, we are an equal opportunity employer. We attract and retain the best-qualified individuals available, regardless of race/ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability. ServiZurich - Your Talent, Our Strength Why Zurich At Zurich, we like to think outside the box and challenge the status quo. We take an optimistic approach by focusing on the positives and constantly asking What can go right? We are an equal opportunity employer who knows that each employee is unique - that's what makes our team so great!