Lead Technical Architect

Lead Technical Architect
Abtran is a leading provider of Customer Experience and Business Process Outsourcing solutions, powered by technology developed and supported by our teams on behalf of our clients. As part of the Org Group, comprising Abtran, Org A&T and Morgan McKinley, we continue to develop our Technical Services capability to design, modernise and operate business-critical solutions.
We have an opportunity for an experienced, hands-on Lead Solutions Architect to provide technical and architectural leadership across a complex Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365 environment supporting application processing, case management and customer services.
This is an end-to-end ownership role spanning solution architecture, cloud and application modernisation, security and governance, delivery assurance and production operations. The successful candidate will lead technical decisions, guide engineers and delivery partners, and work directly with client stakeholders to ensure solutions are secure, supportable, cost-effective and aligned with the agreed architecture.

What we are looking for:

• 10+ years of relevant IT experience, including substantial experience designing and delivering enterprise solutions on Microsoft Azure.
• Proven leadership of complex, business-critical technology programmes with multiple delivery teams, environments and external stakeholders.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, Dataverse and Azure-based integration patterns.
• An architect who is comfortable moving from strategic design and stakeholder discussions into hands-on troubleshooting and technical decisions.
• Experience balancing modernisation, production support, security, cost and delivery priorities in a managed-services environment.

Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end solution architecture for Azure-hosted applications, Dynamics 365/Dataverse, middleware, integrations and supporting data platforms.
• Lead application modernisation and migration from legacy .NET, Windows services and scheduled jobs to Azure PaaS services, preserving business processes and operational dependencies.
• Design and govern Azure landing zone solutions, including hub-and-spoke networking, private connectivity, identity, platform security, resilience and observability.
• Provide technical leadership for D365 CE/Dataverse changes, integrations, audit, storage optimisation, data lifecycle management and application support.
• Oversee API and integration architecture using Azure API Management, App Services, Azure Functions, messaging and secure connectivity to third-party systems.
• Own architectural decisions for Azure SQL/SQL Managed Instance, data movement, archival and recovery, including integration with Azure Data Factory/SSIS where applicable.
• Produce and review high- and low-level designs, security architecture, technical specifications, deployment/runbook documentation and client-facing solution proposals.
• Lead technical governance through design reviews, risk and dependency management, CAB/release readiness, testing, cutover, rollback and operational handover.
• Develop and validate business continuity and disaster recovery approaches, including backup, retention, RPO/RTO and recovery testing across cloud and SaaS services.
• Apply Azure cost governance and FinOps practices to right-sizing, capacity planning, monitoring, licensing and sustainable operating costs.
• Work with security and SOC stakeholders on Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel, audit logging, least-privilege access and security remediation.
• Lead and mentor engineers and architects; coordinate vendors and delivery teams; investigate complex L3 incidents and drive root-cause analysis and preventative actions.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Azure solution architecture across networking, compute, storage, integration and data services; practical experience with VNets, private endpoints, App Services, Azure Functions, API Management, Key Vault, Azure SQL and SQL Managed Instance.
• Dynamics 365 CE/Dataverse architecture and integrations, including security model, environments, APIs, solution lifecycle and production operational considerations.
• Strong understanding of .NET/C#, REST APIs, OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect and enterprise integration patterns, with the ability to review code and troubleshoot across application tiers.
• Security and identity design using Microsoft Entra ID, managed identities, RBAC/PIM, certificates, secrets management and secure network access.
• Infrastructure as Code and engineering delivery practices, particularly Terraform, Azure DevOps, Git, CI/CD, automated deployments and release management.
• Observability and incident investigation with Application Insights, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics and KQL; familiarity with operational security monitoring.
• Experience implementing availability, backup, recovery, data retention and disaster recovery requirements for regulated or business-critical environments.
• Ability to present technical trade-offs, architecture risks and delivery options clearly to senior client stakeholders and multidisciplinary teams.

Essential soft skills:

• Confident client-facing communicator who can translate complex technical issues into decisions, actions and clear written recommendations.
• Sound judgement under operational pressure, with strong ownership of incidents, escalations, delivery dependencies and competing priorities.
• Collaborative leadership style with experience mentoring and coordinating hybrid or distributed engineering teams.
• Pragmatic and detail-oriented: balances architectural standards with the realities of legacy systems and live-service constraints.

Experience with the following is an advantage:

• Upgrading or migrating on-premises to PaaS & SaaS, and modernising surrounding systems.
• Azure Data Factory, SQL Server Integration Services, KingswaySoft, Dataverse archiving/purging and long-term retention.
• Microsoft Sentinel/Defender for Cloud, Power Platform audit and governance, and SOC integration in a multi-subscription Azure estate.
• Public-sector or regulated-client delivery, security assurance, ISO 27001-aligned controls and formal architecture/change approval processes.
• Power Automate, Logic Apps, Azure messaging services and Power BI; exposure to AI-enabled operations or Azure FinOps automation.

Our ideal candidate:

• Takes ownership of a solution beyond initial design: from requirements and delivery through production support, cost and continuous improvement.
• Can challenge assumptions constructively, make clear architectural recommendations and gain agreement across customers, engineers and security teams.
• Enjoys leading people while remaining technically credible and willing to investigate difficult issues personally.
• Is comfortable working across several concurrent workstreams, from modernisation programmes to urgent live-service priorities.

We’ve told you what you will do for us, now let us tell you what we will do for you:
At Abtran, when you join us you become part of a team and a community. We invest in professional and personal development through learning, career progression and opportunities across our technology and service delivery teams.
Some other employee benefits include:

• Wellbeing programme focused on our people’s health and wellness
• Health Discount Programme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Pension Scheme
• Employee Discounts
• Life Cover
• Development Programmes to support your progression
• Refer a Friend Scheme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Leap Card Tax Saver
• Maternity Pay & Paternity Pay

We are proud of the community we have built and the opportunities for colleagues to work together through day-to-day collaboration and employee initiatives.

What you need to do now:
If you have the required experience and are ready to lead the architecture and delivery of complex cloud and business application solutions, we would like to hear from you.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

Abtran is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are committed to equality of opportunity and operate non-discriminatory practices in relation to access to employment, conditions of employment, access to training and experience, promotion and classification of posts. All employment decisions at Abtran are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, religion, and membership of the Traveller community.