Technical Solutions Architect
I'm currently on the lookout for an experienced architect to join a leading global insurance firm. With a move to cloud on the agenda, they are need of said architect to come in and review the existing estate and provide solutions towards a transition to cloud. You will be reporting directly to the International CIO.
Salary: up to £95,000 + £7,000 Car Allowance + Package
Location: 3 times per week in C. London (initially)
Key Accountabilities
- Define and document the architectural roadmap for the UK/EU business, the largest revenue generating area of the organisation, globally and in time define the same for the international operation with alignment on standards and processes.
- Work with business and IT to define and then support implementation of the target state application landscape including integration of systems, leveraging existing capabilities (API's) and aligning to global models and standards as necessary developing a deep understanding of business capabilities, functions, processes, and information. Identifying related issues and improvement opportunities across the organisation.
- Guide and support infrastructure engineering and application teams on rationalisation and cloud capability activities leading to architectural oversight of migration to the Cloud (Azure) in time.
- Act as a key participant in developing standards and company-wide best practices for engineering complex and large-scale technology solutions for technology engineering disciplines.
- Specification of technologies, application architectures and data structures as a basis for application for internal assets.
- Producing quality, secure, scalable, high-performing, and resilient designs for new or improved services.
- Hands-on delivery of complex and critical software solutions.
- For internal assets, support Application Managers to develop and maintain the Product Roadmap, monitoring change and performing reviews as needed.
- Manage architecture exceptions for applications, including identifying, documenting, taking through exception approval process, and remediation where and when possible.
- Monitor application services to ensure performance consistently meets non-functional requirements. (Response time, security etc.)
- Work with the Application Manager in defining, analysing, planning, measuring, and improving product availability and continuity.
- Help create and govern international compliance to Hybrid Cloud standards and strategies.
- Support optimisation of applications cloud architecture for security, cost optimisation, stability, and monitoring.
- Develop a standard cloud playbook and runbook, in partnership with US and International departments, partners and vendors.
- Provide guidance to development teams (internal and vendor partners) to best implement cloud-based services.
Ideal Candidate
- Communicating between the technical and non-technical. You can translate technical concepts relating to software engineering, delivery management and service management so they are understood by all.
- Producing a strategy for technology that meets business needs.
- Turning business problems into technical design.
- Looking beyond the immediate technical problem and identify the wider implications.
- Demonstrating an understanding of user-centred design, technology, and data perspectives.
- Identifying the wider implications across the whole enterprise.
- Significant previous experience in IT as a Technical Architect or similar role
- Strong Cloud experience (preferably Azure, and with Azure and/or AWS Cloud Architect Certification)
- Strong experience with PaaS, IaaS & PaaS services; understands leading practices and adoption patterns.
- Experience automating the provisioning and automation of your architectures and solutions. (IaC)
- Maintains proficiency with existing and new cloud technologies and services to provide guidance to technical teams as available cloud capabilities evolve.
- Ability to build effective relationships across all levels both internal and external to the organisation.
- Proficiency with multiple application delivery models including Agile, iterative and waterfall.
- Advanced skills in developing tools, frameworks and processes intended to maximise software quality and minimize time-to-delivery.
