Senior Technical Architect - Contract - £560

Rate: £560 per day (Inside IR35)
Start Date: ASAP
Location: Manchester - 1 day per month onsite
Clearance: BPSS
Contract: 6-12 months (likely extension)

Overview

A Senior Technical Architect is required to lead the modernisation and transformation of Legacy systems within a major public sector programme. The role involves shaping end-to-end technical architecture, guiding engineering teams, and ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, and cloud-ready within Azure.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own the technical architecture for Legacy system transformation.
• Lead design of cloud-based solutions using Azure services and best practices.
• Assess existing Legacy systems, identify risks, and propose modernisation strategies.
• Develop architecture roadmaps, patterns, and high-level designs for public sector digital services.
• Work closely with engineering leads, delivery managers, and stakeholders to ensure architectural alignment.
• Provide governance, assurance, and technical oversight across delivery teams.
• Ensure solutions adhere to security, compliance, and public sector standards.
• Support integration design, data flows, and interoperability across complex systems.
• Present architectural decisions to senior stakeholders and architecture boards.

Essential Skills

• Strong background as a Technical Architect across large-scale digital transformations.
• Proven experience working with Legacy systems and modernisation strategies.
• Deep expertise with Azure cloud services (App Services, Functions, API Management, Integration tools, Identity, Networking).
• Experience delivering public sector or regulated-environment programmes.
• Strong understanding of integration design, APIs, microservices, and distributed systems.
• Experience producing HLDs, LLDs, architecture patterns, and decision records.
• Strong knowledge of security principles, governance, and architectural assurance.

Desirable Skills

• Experience with containerisation (AKS, Docker).
• Knowledge of infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, ARM templates).
• Exposure to data migration, Legacy remediation, or digital platform consolidation.
• Understanding of monitoring/observability (App Insights, Log Analytics).
• Familiarity with GDS standards and government digital platforms.

Soft Skills

• Excellent stakeholder communication across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Able to influence senior leaders and guide teams toward best-practice solutions.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Collaborative leadership in agile delivery environments.