Cloud Architect

The Opportunity

We're seeking an experienced Cloud Architect with strong AWS and/or Microsoft Azure expertise, experience across SaaS platforms, and a background in quality assurance (QA) to support the design, delivery and assurance of complex cloud-based technology solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Cloud Architecture: Design and review cloud-based solutions using AWS and/or Microsoft Azure, ensuring scalability, resilience, availability, security and cost efficiency.
• SaaS Platforms: Assess, design and assure SaaS solutions, ensuring they integrate effectively with existing enterprise systems and meet business, technical and operational requirements.
• Technical Assurance: Evaluate architecture designs and supplier deliverables to ensure compliance with enterprise architecture principles, technical standards and regulatory obligations.
• Quality Assurance (QA): Apply quality assurance principles throughout the solution life cycle, reviewing technical designs, testing strategies, implementation approaches and acceptance criteria to ensure solutions meet agreed quality standards.
• Cloud Security: Embed security by design into cloud architectures, ensuring appropriate identity and access management, data protection, network security and compliance controls.
• Architecture Governance: Contribute to architectural governance forums and design reviews, challenging proposed solutions and ensuring alignment with wider technology strategy.
• Supplier Assurance: Work with third-party suppliers to assess cloud and SaaS proposals, validate technical designs and ensure delivered solutions meet contractual, security and quality requirements.
• Integration & Interoperability: Ensure cloud services and SaaS platforms integrate effectively with enterprise applications, infrastructure, identity services and data environments.
• Testing & Validation: Collaborate with QA, testing and delivery teams to establish appropriate validation approaches, ensuring solutions are thoroughly tested before production deployment and operational handover.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Translate business and technical requirements into robust cloud architectures, communicating recommendations and risks to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Risk & Compliance: Identify and manage technical risks relating to cloud adoption, SaaS delivery, performance, availability, security and operational support.
• Continuous Improvement: Evaluate emerging cloud capabilities, architectural patterns and SaaS technologies to improve service quality, resilience and long-term value.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in a Cloud Architect, Technical Architect or similar role within a complex enterprise environment.
• Strong hands-on architectural knowledge of AWS and/or Microsoft Azure, including cloud infrastructure, platform services, networking, security and identity management.
• Experience designing, assessing and assuring SaaS platforms within an enterprise technology environment.
• Demonstrable experience in quality assurance (QA), including reviewing solution designs, assessing testing approaches, validating technical deliverables and ensuring solutions meet defined quality and acceptance criteria.
• Experience assuring third-party or supplier-delivered technology solutions, challenging designs and ensuring compliance with agreed standards.
• Understanding of cloud security, governance, compliance, resilience, disaster recovery and operational support requirements.
• Experience integrating cloud services and SaaS platforms with enterprise applications, infrastructure and identity management solutions.
• Ability to assess technical risks and balance security, performance, scalability, cost and maintainability.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence technical teams, suppliers and senior stakeholders.
• Experience working within large-scale, complex or regulated environments.
• Security Check (SC) clearance, or willingness to undergo the required vetting process.

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience across both AWS and Microsoft Azure cloud environments.
• Relevant cloud certifications, such as AWS Solutions Architect or Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
• Experience with cloud adoption frameworks, landing zones, infrastructure as code and automated deployment approaches.
• Familiarity with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and modern software delivery methodologies.
• Experience with enterprise SaaS governance, supplier assurance, service integration and third-party risk management.
• Knowledge of IT service management practices, including ITIL.
• Professional architecture certifications such as TOGAF.
• Experience within the nuclear, energy or another highly regulated sector, or on major infrastructure programmes.