Lead Architect

Role: Lead Architect | Public Sector / Regulated Enterprise

Location: Fully remote (UK) — SC clearance required

Engagement: Contract (Inside IR35)

Sponsorship: Unable to provide sponsorship for this position

We are looking for Lead Architect to act as a senior technical authority on a large-scale Azure and Databricks delivery programme in a secure, highly regulated UK environment. Multi-workstream scope, direct exposure to programme directors and C-suite, and full remote working for the right SC-cleared lead.

About Our Client

A major technology delivery partner running complex, multi-workstream cloud and data programmes for secure UK clients in regulated and government-adjacent sectors. Established track record on Azure-led modernisation at national scale, with a mature engineering culture built on DevOps practice, medallion architecture and rigorous governance. They are bringing in an additional Lead Architect to stabilise delivery and carry technical authority across a multi-disciplinary engineering team.

What You'll Be Doing as a Lead Architect

• Leading end-to-end delivery of a large-scale Azure, Databricks and PySpark programme, owning technical strategy across architecture, data engineering, software and QA workstreams.
• Acting as senior technical authority and escalation point for complex architecture and delivery issues impacting timelines or solution integrity.
• Engaging directly with programme directors, governance boards and C-suite to articulate risk, provide assurance and present delivery updates in clear, business-focused language.
• Driving engineering excellence, automation and DevOps maturity across delivery teams - CI/CD, IaC, security scanning and performance optimisation at scale.
• Ensuring all solution designs and delivery activity meet security, compliance and governance requirements expected of SC-cleared environments.
• Coordinating transition into operational support, embedding readiness across service, security and support teams.

What We're Looking For From The Lead Architect

• Active UK Security Clearance (SC or higher) - this is a hard requirement and non-negotiable.
• Expert-level Azure across Data Lake, Synapse, Databricks, Key Vault, DevOps and Networking, with strong experience orchestrating large-scale data processing.
• Proven track record leading multi-workstream technical delivery programmes in cloud, data or platform environments.
• Experience managing multi-disciplinary engineering teams across architecture, data engineering, software development and testing.
• Senior stakeholder management credibility - able to influence programme directors, governance boards and C-suite representatives with clarity and authority.
• Ability to translate complex technical challenges into concise, business-focused language for executive decision-making.

Qualifications

• Active UK SC clearance (essential).
• Desirable technical strengths: Terraform (IaC), Python and PySpark, Azure DevOps pipelines, Docker/Docker-Compose, Trivy scanning, medallion architecture with ADLS, parquet and delta tables, and strong SQL.

Why Join?

• High-autonomy Lead Architect contract on a strategic, multi-workstream Azure and Databricks programme at national scale.
• Fully remote (UK) with a clearly scoped, Inside IR35 day rate engagement.
• Direct access to programme directors and C-suite stakeholders - a genuine senior technical authority seat, not a layered role.
• A mature delivery environment with modern DevOps, IaC and engineering standards baked in from day one.

If this Lead Architect role is of interest, apply now or contact the team at Entasis Partners for a confidential conversation.

Entasis Partners is committed to helping clients create a diverse environment and is proud to support equal-opportunity employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.