Overview
Technical / Azure Architect
About the Role
The successful candidate will be methodical and creative, with the ability to design infrastructures based around specific technology stacks and business units, and a desire to learn and grow within the role.
Within this role, you’ll understand and challenge reference / solution architecture and translate this into clearly defined reference architectures, patterns and infrastructure solution designs (HLD’s and LLD’s), utilising your knowledge of technology and infrastructures to balance the needs of projects, business and IT strategies, organisational fit, compliance and ongoing business change.
Our ideal candidate will…
- Have strong experience in designing and implementing technology solutions on Microsoft Azure and traditional, virtualised data centres.
- Possess strong knowledge of Azure services such as Azure app services, functions, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure virtual networks, NSGs, load balancers, Azure storage, the SQL database, Cosmos DB, Azure active directory, Key Vault, and RBAC.
- Possess in-depth knowledge of cloud architecture patterns, microservices, and serverless, event-driven architecture.
- Be able to design resilient solutions, including provision for DR.
- Have gained experience of using hybrid cloud and on-premises to Azure migrations.
- Understand cloud security, identity, and access management, together with third-party integrations and connectivity.
- Exhibit knowledge of DevOps practices and CI/CD tooling (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, etc.).
- Demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
- Be able to competently learn about new technology and processes, while understanding how these can best benefit the business.
- Demonstrate some mentoring and leadership skills (desirable).
- Have experience of working in a platform ops environment and/or within financial services (desirable).
- Understand third-party contracts (desirable).
- Have gained professional qualifications in architecture and/or Azure (desirable).
- Conducting market research to review new market approaches, techniques and technologies, and advising the LV= design and strategy teams of your findings.
- Contributing ideas to IT strategies and changes in standards and effectively communicating updates on these to our key technical stakeholders.
- Creating and assessing technology proposals for the architecture board.
- Creating and assessing design decisions for the technical design authority.
- Producing and owning reference / architectural patterns, and high- and low-level designs to meet non-functional requirements and business need, with a focus on security, risk and cost.
- Quality checking technical designs from other Architects where required.
- Providing architectural support during the delivery of solutions, culminating in build assurance.
- Carrying out mentoring and leadership activity where required, for Architects working with our key Technology Partners.
- Carrying out Architectural level analysis of complex technologies.
If you are offered this role as an internal secondment, please note your base band benefits will not change during the secondment.
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Rewards & Benefits
This role is a Band C in the LV= Structure.
 At LV= Life and Pensions, you’ll go above and beyond to do the right thing for our customers. We’ll reward your hard work with an attractive, competitive salary and benefits package, which includes:
- 30 days’ holiday.
- Â The opportunity to buy or sell up to two days of holiday.
- An annual bonus scheme based on company and personal performance.
- Flexible benefits, including a cycle to work scheme, personal accident insurance, critical illness cover, private medical insurance, and dental insurance.
- Competitive pension scheme – LV= Life and Pensions will double-match the amount you pay, up to 14% (subject to National Minimum Wage requirements).
- Group Life Assurance of four times your basic pay to your dependents (you’ll have the option to increase this to 8 x cover).
- Group Income Protection, if you enrol into the pension scheme and reach 5 years of service.
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) service for support when you need it.
- Virtual GP service.
- Shared parental leave.
- Up to 20% discount on our life products for you and your immediate family.Â
We’re proud of our inclusive culture at LV= and, as an equal-opportunity employer, we continually work to remove unconscious bias from our recruitment process. We value our colleagues for what they bring to our team regardless of any protected status or characteristics they may have. Talk to us about flexible working as part of your application; if it’s right for you, our members and customers, and our business, then we’ll do everything we can to make it happen.
We’re also open to conversations about flexible working as part of your application – if it’s right for our customers, our business and for you, then we’ll do everything we can to make it happen.Â
Please note that we are unable to offer Skilled Worker Visa Sponsorship for this role. Therefore, you must ensure that you are eligible to work in the UK without our sponsorship in order for your application to be considered.
Please note that any successful internal colleagues will be offered a secondment opportunity. The secondment policy is available on the intranet for internal colleagues.
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
