Cloud Architect

The Role: The Cloud Architect is responsible for defining and assuring the organisation’s cloud architecture, with a primary focus on Microsoft Azure. Reporting to the Head of IT Infrastructure, the role provides architectural leadership to support the ongoing transformation, modernisation, and optimisation of the technology estate. The role ensures cloud solutions are secure, resilient, scalable, and cost ‑ effective , and that they align with infrastructure strategy, enterprise architecture principles, and operational standards. It acts as the bridge between strategy and delivery, working closely with infrastructure operations, engineering teams, security, and third ‑ party partners. Responsibilities will include: Cloud Architecture & Strategy Define and maintain cloud architecture standards, patterns, and reference architectures in line with the infrastructure strategy. Support the Head of IT Infrastructure in shaping the cloud roadmap, target architecture, and modernisation priorities. Design architectures that simplify the technology estate by reducing legacy complexity and technical debt. Ensure cloud architectures are aligned with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and risk appetite. Solution Design & Assurance Design and review cloud and hybrid solutions, producing clear solution architecture documentation. Provide architectural assurance for infrastructure and application initiatives involving cloud services. Conduct architecture reviews and assessments, identifying risks, gaps, and improvement opportunities. Ensure solutions meet non ‑ functional requirements including security, resilience, performance, and cost efficiency. Cloud Transformation & Modernisation Analyse existing infrastructure and application landscapes to inform cloud migration, transformation, and modernisation approaches. Define migration and modernisation patterns (e.g. rehost, refactor, re ‑ architect ). Support delivery teams through the full lifecycle from design to go ‑ live , ensuring architectural intent is realised. Guide teams through the technical and organisational challenges of cloud adoption. Governance, Security & Cost Management Define cloud governance models covering security, identity, networking, automation, and cost control. Ensure architectures align with security standards and work closely with Information Security teams on secure ‑ by ‑ design solutions. Support Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis and cloud cost optimisation initiatives. Promote best practices in automation, Infrastructure ‑ as ‑ Code , and operational readiness. Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement Work closely with Infrastructure Operations, Platform Engineers, Senior Virtualisation Engineers, DBA teams, and Service Management. Provide architectural guidance and mentorship to engineers and technical leads. Engage with third ‑ party vendors and partners to evaluate and assure proposed solutions. Act as a trusted advisor to technology and business stakeholders on cloud architecture matters. Continuous Improvement & Thought Leadership Maintain awareness of emerging cloud technologies, patterns, and industry best practice. Contribute to the evolution of cloud standards, tooling, and ways of working. Promote a culture of architectural discipline, innovation, and continuous improvement. Skills and Experience Strong experience designing and delivering cloud architectures, ideally within Microsoft Azure. Proven experience working in complex, enterprise ‑ scale environments. Strong understanding of cloud security, resilience, networking, and identity design. Experience with Infrastructure ‑ as ‑ Code and automation approaches (e.g. Terraform). Ability to produce high ‑ quality architecture documentation and communicate complex designs clearly. Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills. Experience with hybrid cloud and integration with on ‑ premise platforms. Knowledge of container, serverless, and modern application architectures. Experience supporting cloud migration and transformation programmes. Relevant cloud or architecture certifications.