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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Cloud Solution Architect - Data & AI - **Company:** HSO Group B.V. - **Location:** Manchester, UK - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Data Analysis, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Online Services, Cloud Computing, Continuous Integration, Data Architecture, Information Engineering, Data Governance, Data Infrastructure, Data Security, Github, Python (Programming Language), Key Management, Microsoft Software, SQL Azure, Role-Based Access Control, Release Management, Power BI, Standard Sql, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Data Lake, Azure Service Bus, Enterprise Application Integration, Enterprise Software Applications, Azure Data Factory, IT Architecture, Microsoft Fabric, Pyspark, Data Lineage, Deployment Automation, Data Analytics, Cosmos DB, Virtual Agents, Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Pipelines, Api Management, Serverless Computing, Databricks - **Published:** August 12, 2026 - **Apply:** https://uk.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=0d65b3d45409ce5d ## About the Role The ideal candidate combines strong technical capability with exceptional commercial awareness. You'll be equally comfortable discussing board-level business outcomes with executive stakeholders as you are diving into architecture decisions with technical teams. Commercial & Consulting Experience You'll have: * Proven experience in a Solution Architecture, Pre-Sales, Consulting or Technical Advisory role. * Experience working within a Microsoft partner, consultancy or enterprise technology environment. * Strong commercial acumen and experience creating proposals, business cases and Statements of Work. * The ability to qualify opportunities and challenge assumptions constructively. * Excellent workshop facilitation, discovery and stakeholder management skills. * Experience presenting to senior business and technical audiences. * The ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear business value. * Understanding of opportunity qualification methodologies such as MEDDIC or MEDDICC. Experience across industries such as manufacturing, retail, financial services, healthcare, public sector, not-for-profit, utilities or professional services would be advantageous., * Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) * Azure Synapse Analytics * Azure Databricks * Azure SQL Database * Azure Cosmos DB * Azure Data Factory AI & Automation * Azure AI Services * Azure OpenAI Service * Azure AI Foundry * Copilot Studio * Agentic AI patterns and intelligent automation solutions * Document intelligence and AI-driven business use cases Data Engineering & Platform Delivery * SQL * Python and/or PySpark * Data pipelines and transformation frameworks * CI/CD concepts and deployment automation * Azure DevOps and/or GitHub * Infrastructure as Code awareness * Environment promotion and release management approaches, Microsoft certifications are not essential but are highly desirable, particularly across: * Microsoft Azure * Microsoft Fabric * Data & Analytics * Artificial Intelligence * Security ## Description As a Cloud Solution Architect - Data & AI, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping and qualifying customer opportunities across the Microsoft cloud ecosystem. This is a highly visible role that sits at the intersection of sales, enterprise architecture and delivery, combining technical leadership with commercial thinking. You'll work closely with customers, Microsoft and internal stakeholders to understand business challenges, identify opportunities, design compelling solutions and create clear pathways from initial discovery through to successful delivery. You'll help organisations transform the way they use data, analytics and artificial intelligence, translating business ambition into practical, costed and deliverable solutions. Success in this role requires more than technical expertise. You'll need strong consulting and stakeholder management skills, the confidence to challenge assumptions, and the commercial awareness to ensure opportunities are both valuable for clients and aligned with HSO's delivery capability., * Lead Data & AI opportunity qualification alongside Account Managers, Business Development teams and Enterprise Architects. * Facilitate customer discovery workshops, architecture assessments and strategic discussions. * Understand customer business drivers, challenges and desired outcomes. * Help customers define realistic transformation roadmaps aligned to business priorities. * Qualify opportunities using structured sales and consulting methodologies, including MEDDIC/MEDDICC approaches., * Design end-to-end Data & AI solutions using Microsoft technologies and best practices. * Shape modern analytics, AI and data platform architectures that are commercially viable and technically deliverable. * Provide architectural leadership across data platform modernisation, analytics, AI and automation initiatives. * Ensure alignment with Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework and Azure Well-Architected principles. * Communicate architectural trade-offs and recommendations to both technical and non-technical audiences., * Translate customer requirements into proposals, statements of work, delivery plans and business cases. * Produce solution estimates, cost models and phased implementation approaches. * Support customers in understanding ROI, value realisation and investment considerations. * Challenge unclear scope and identify delivery, cost and commercial risks early in the sales cycle. * Work closely with delivery teams to validate assumptions before commitments are made. Growth & Go-to-Market * Contribute to the evolution of HSO's Data & AI propositions and repeatable offerings. * Develop demonstrations, accelerators, sales collateral and industry-specific solution narratives. * Support RFPs, bid responses, executive presentations and proof-of-concept engagements. * Collaborate with Microsoft stakeholders to drive pipeline growth and co-sell opportunities. * Keep up to date with emerging Microsoft technologies and industry trends across Data & AI., We recognise that few candidates will have expertise across every area listed below. We're primarily looking for strong Data & AI architecture experience across the Microsoft ecosystem., * Microsoft Fabric * Lakehouse architecture patterns * Power BI and self-service analytics * Semantic modelling and reporting solutions * Data platform modernisation and analytics strategy, * Microsoft Purview * Data governance frameworks * Data lineage and catalogue solutions * Information protection concepts * Role-based access control * Azure Key Vault * Secure platform design principles Integration & Application Connectivity * Azure Logic Apps * Azure Functions * Azure Service Bus * Azure API Management * Enterprise integration patterns * Operational and analytical workload integration ## Related Videos - [Innovating Developer Tools with AI: Insights from GitHub Next](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1268-innovating-developer-tools-with-ai-insights-from-github-next) - [PySpark - Combining Machine Learning & Big Data](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/44-pyspark-combining-machine-learning-big-data) - [Beyond Dashboards: Fixing Text-to-SQL with Semantic RAG](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2036-beyond-dashboards-fixing-text-to-sql-with-semantic-rag) - [Inside the AI Revolution: How Microsoft is Empowering the World to Achieve More](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/869-inside-the-ai-revolution-how-microsoft-is-empowering-the-world-to-achieve-more) - [Data Analytics with Microsoft Fabric: End-to-End Use Case with Data Agents](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1547-data-analytics-with-microsoft-fabric-end-to-end-use-case-with-data-agents) - [Empowering Retail Through Applied Machine Learning](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/976-empowering-retail-through-applied-machine-learning) ## Related Articles - [What Are The Top Skills Required For Azure Developers?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/77-what-are-the-top-skills-required-for-azure-developers) - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [Data Engineer Salary UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/253-data-engineer-salary-uk) - [The Most Popular IT Jobs on the Market](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/376-the-most-popular-it-jobs-on-the-market) - [The 12 Best Jobs for Software Engineers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/401-the-12-best-jobs-for-software-engineers)