Solution Architect (Cloud & Data Platforms)

Role Overview

Title: Senior Solution Architect (Cloud & Data Platforms)

Programme: Multi-year Data & Analytics Transformation

Client Environment: Global investment management

Contract: 6 months, with extensions over multi-year programme. Outside IR35

Pay rate: £800+ per day, to be discussed

This position is Remote working, with some likely occasional trips to site for critical meetings / workshops etc.

This role is a hands on senior Solution Architect acting as the technical and design authority for a modern cloud based data platform, with Databricks at the core. The architect bridges investment business needs, data engineering, and platform architecture, setting standards others must follow.

Key Responsibilities Architecture & Design Authority

• Define and own end to end solution architecture across:
• Establish design patterns, reference architectures, and templates
• Ensure architectural consistency across multiple squads and pods

Hands On Technical Leadership

• Build proofs of concept (POCs) when required
• Get hands on with code and configuration to unblock teams
• Review and assure quality of engineering outputs

Cloud & Platform Architecture

• Own architecture decisions on AWS, including:
  • Networking (VPCs)
  • Security
  • Performance and scalability
  • Reliability and cost considerations
• Ensure solutions align with SDLC, security, compliance, and audit requirements

Business & Stakeholder Engagement

• Translate investment business requirements into technical solutions
• Challenge both business and technology assumptions where needed
• Act as the front facing technical representative to:
  • Security architects
  • Infrastructure teams
  • Compliance and audit
  • Senior technology leadership

Governance & Delivery Enablement

• Produce high quality architectural artefacts:
  • Architecture diagrams
  • Design decisions and trade offs
  • Non functional requirements
• Ensure solutions meet risk management and regulatory expectations

Required Domain Knowledge (Must Have)

Candidates must have experience in investment or financial services environments

Technical Requirements Core Stack (Strong Preference)

• Databricks (Lakehouse architecture, design patterns)
• AWS (deep understanding of cloud native architecture)
• Snowflake (integration patterns, data sharing)

Engineering Background (Critical)

• Strong backend / platform engineering heritage
• Comfortable designing and reviewing:
  • Data pipelines
  • Cloud native services
  • Scalable distributed systems
• Understands SDLC, DevOps, CI/CD, and release governance

Experience Profile

• Senior Solution Architect (typically 10+ years experience)
• Proven experience owning architecture for enterprise scale platforms
• Has led architecture through full delivery lifecycles
• Experienced working in regulated and audited environments

Behavioural & Mindset Expectations

• Strong engineering first mindset
• Pragmatic and conservative in technology choices
• Confident challenging "latest and greatest" trends

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