Software Architect

Hands-On Software Architect (Contract) | Outside IR35

London or Dublin | Hybrid (2-3 Days Onsite per Week)Initial 3-6 Month ContractCompetitive Day Rate | Outside IR35Immediate Start

 A leading consultancy is seeking a Hands-On Software Architect to support the delivery of a strategic integration platform on behalf of a global insurance and reinsurance organisation.

This is a highly technical architecture role suited to someone who enjoys remaining close to the code. You will be responsible for defining the technical architecture, establishing engineering standards and patterns, and working closely with development teams to deliver a modern, scalable integration platform within a complex enterprise environment.

Working within a Microsoft technology stack across both on-premise and Azure-hosted environments, you will collaborate with technical leadership, engineering teams, QA, and data specialists to deliver a resilient solution against a fixed delivery timeline.

Software Architect Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end technical architecture for a business-critical integration platform.
• Partner with senior technology stakeholders to ensure alignment with enterprise architecture principles and future technology strategy.
• Define architecture standards, design patterns, and engineering best practices.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership while remaining actively involved in solution design and development.
• Design secure, scalable, event-driven architectures using modern integration technologies.
• Lead architectural decision-making across APIs, messaging, integration, and cloud services.
• Ensure solutions are designed for resilience, recoverability, monitoring, and operational supportability.
• Support delivery teams through technical challenges and key programme milestones.

Software Architect Required Experience

• Proven experience as a Hands-On Software Architect or Technical Architect within medium-to-large-scale enterprise environments.
• Strong software engineering background with C# and .NET Core.
• Experience designing and implementing microservices architectures.
• Strong understanding of Domain-Driven Design (DDD).
• Expertise in API design, security, governance, and API Management technologies.
• Experience with messaging technologies such as RabbitMQ, Kafka, and/or Azure Service Bus.
• Strong Microsoft Azure experience, including PaaS, SaaS, and IaaS services.
• Experience working across cloud and on-premise environments.
• SQL Server development experience; exposure to Cosmos DB or other NoSQL technologies beneficial.
• Experience designing resilient, fault-tolerant integration solutions.
• Strong working knowledge of GitHub and GitHub Enterprise.
• Agile/Scrum delivery experience, including MVP and emergent architecture approaches.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

Desirable

• Experience within Insurance, Reinsurance, or wider Financial Services environments.
• Understanding of regulated technology environments and governance frameworks.
• Exposure to SOX compliance.
• TOGAF, Archimate, Azure Solution Architect, or similar certifications.
• Experience delivering integration, middleware, or data platform programmes.

What's on Offer

• Outside IR35 engagement.
• Immediate start.
• Hybrid working with onsite presence in either London or Dublin.
• Opportunity to lead the architecture and delivery of a high-profile integration programme.
• Work alongside senior technology leaders within a globally recognised insurance environment.
• Initial 3-6 month contract with potential extension.

If you're a hands-on architect who enjoys balancing strategic architecture ownership with practical engineering delivery, we'd like to hear from you.