Senior Solution Architect

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Design and own the target-state cloud architecture for DC Exit / DC Consolidation programmes on AWS, including compute (EC2, ECS, EKS), storage (EBS, EFS, S3), networking (VPC, Transit Gateway), identity (IAM, AWS SSO), and security (AWS Security Hub, GuardDuty, SCPs)
• Lead application and infrastructure discovery using AWS Application Discovery Service (ADS), Migration Evaluator, and dependency mapping to produce migration-ready groupings and blast radius analysis
• Define migration patterns (rehost via AWS MGN, replatform to RDS/EKS, refactor to Lambda/containers, retire, replace with SaaS) per workload with clear technical rationale and risk assessment
• Produce Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), High-Level Designs (HLDs), and Low-Level Designs (LLDs) to programme-grade quality, aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework
• Govern architectural consistency across migration waves and enforce AWS Landing Zone / Control Tower guardrails throughout the transition

Licensing Portability & Compliance

• Lead licensing portability strategy for DC exit — BYOL (Bring Your Own Licence) for Windows Server and SQL Server on EC2, AWS Licence Manager configuration, OEM licence impact analysis, and SPLA transition planning for MSP-operated environments moving to AWS
• Advise on AWS Dedicated Hosts as the mechanism for BYOL compliance for Windows Server and SQL Server (per-socket/per-core licence models), ensuring licence counts are correctly mapped to Dedicated Host instance families
• Design licence governance controls using AWS Licence Manager rules, resource tagging strategies via AWS Config, and integration with third-party SAM tooling (Flexera, Snow Software) to prevent compliance drift post-migration
• Engage the AWS account team and AWS Partner Network (APN) to maximise programme value through AWS Migration Acceleration Programme (MAP) funding, AWS Credits, and AWS Professional Services co-delivery

Network Transformation

• Design target-state hybrid network architectures on AWS: AWS Transit Gateway (TGW) as the centralised routing hub, AWS Direct Connect (dedicated and hosted connections), Site-to-Site VPN as failover, and SD-WAN integration with TGW Connect
• Define internet egress and traffic inspection strategy for the post-DC state, replacing DC-based security perimeters with AWS Network Firewall, AWS Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) with third-party NVAs (Palo Alto, Fortinet), and AWS WAF
• Lead DNS transformation planning — Amazon Route 53 Private Hosted Zones, Route 53 Resolver (inbound/outbound endpoints), split-horizon DNS — and IP addressing strategy for migration with minimal re-IP using AWS IPAM
• Design VPC architecture across accounts and regions: hub-and-spoke or flat TGW models, VPC sharing via AWS RAM, and PrivateLink for service consumption without public exposure
• Ensure latency-sensitive workloads (ERP, payments, OT/SCADA) are isolated in dedicated VPCs with appropriate Direct Connect SIFs and QoS, and their connectivity requirements validated pre-cutover

Migration Programme Delivery

• Own the migration wave plan using AWS Migration Hub as the central tracking plane — sequencing, dependency groupings, rollback criteria, and cutover playbooks across programmes of 500+ workloads
• Lead rehost migrations using AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) for agent-based lift-and-shift, and AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) or AWS VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC) for VMware estate migration
• Define and enforce go/no-go criteria for each migration wave, including pre-flight AWS MGN replication lag thresholds, post-cutover smoke test suites, and DNS TTL management during cutover windows
• Manage and resolve technical blockers across infrastructure, networking, security, and application teams during wave execution
• Ensure regulated workloads (financial services, public sector) are handled with appropriate regulatory notifications, BCP/DR evidence updated in AWS Resilience Hub, and audit trails via AWS CloudTrail

FinOps & Cost Governance

• Build pre-migration cost models using AWS Migration Evaluator and AWS Pricing Calculator, incorporating BYOL savings on Dedicated Hosts, Savings Plans and Reserved Instance pricing, S3 storage tiering, and data transfer / egress cost assumptions
• Establish a FinOps operating model — visibility via AWS Cost Explorer and Cost and Usage Reports (CUR), accountability through AWS account-level tagging and chargeback, optimisation via Compute Optimizer and Savings Plans, governance via AWS Budgets and anomaly detection
• Conduct post-migration right-sizing reviews using AWS Compute Optimizer recommendations and Trusted Advisor checks to close the gap between business case projections and actual AWS spend

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

• Act as the primary technical authority for client stakeholders up to CTO / CIO level, translating complex AWS architectural decisions into clear business outcomes
• Lead multi-vendor technical governance — defining interface agreements, RACI frameworks, and joint testing protocols across SIs, MSPs, and AWS
• Manage AWS account team, network vendors (Direct Connect providers, SD-WAN), and third-party migration tooling vendors as an integrated programme team

Required Skills & Experience

Essential

• 8+ years of experience in cloud architecture, with a significant portion focused on large-scale migration programmes (DC Exit, DC consolidation, or cloud-first transformation) on AWS
• Deep hands-on expertise in AWS compute and migration services: EC2 (including Dedicated Hosts for BYOL), AWS Application Migration Service (MGN), AWS Migration Hub, AWS Application Discovery Service (ADS), and AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
• Demonstrable expertise in AWS licensing portability: BYOL on Dedicated Hosts (Windows Server and SQL Server per-socket/per-core models), AWS Licence Manager configuration, OEM licence restrictions, and SPLA transition planning for MSP colo environments
• Network transformation experience: AWS Transit Gateway, Direct Connect (dedicated and hosted), VPC design (hub-and-spoke, shared VPCs), Route 53 Resolver, AWS Network Firewall, and SD-WAN integration with TGW Connect
• Proven experience designing and executing migration wave plans for estates of 500+ VMs in enterprise or regulated environments, using AWS Migration Hub as the tracking plane
• AWS Landing Zone / Control Tower design and guardrail enforcement across multi-account organisations
• FinOps experience: AWS Cost Explorer, Cost and Usage Reports (CUR), Compute Optimizer, Savings Plans, and pre-migration cost modelling using AWS Migration Evaluator
• Strong technical documentation skills — ADRs, HLDs, LLDs, cutover playbooks, and AWS Well-Architected Review outputs to consulting-grade standard
• Experience operating in multi-vendor programme environments (SI, MSP, AWS account team triangles)

Highly Desirable

• Hands-on experience with VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC on AWS) as a migration accelerator for VMware-heavy DC estates
• Experience with AWS Outposts for hybrid workloads that cannot fully exit on-prem, and AWS Local Zones for latency-sensitive edge workloads
• Experience with third-party migration tooling: Zerto on AWS, Carbonite Migrate, CloudEndure (now MGN), or PlateSpin
• Container and modernisation experience: Amazon EKS, Amazon ECS, AWS App2Container (A2C) for containerising legacy applications during DC exit
• Azure exposure — useful for programmes with workloads that are split across hyperscalers

Certifications

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional: Required
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate: Expected
• AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty: Highly Desirable
• AWS Certified Security – Specialty: Highly Desirable
• AWS Cloud Practitioner: Expected
• TOGAF / ArchiMate: Desirable
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305): Desirable

Competency Framework

• Technical Depth: Provides technically precise answers without being prompted; anticipates second-order consequences of architectural decisions
• Risk Ownership: Proactively surfaces programme risks before they become issues; defines rollback criteria and escalation paths without being asked
• Stakeholder Influence: Can translate technical complexity into business language for C-suite; influences without authority across vendor teams
• Delivery Pragmatism: Makes pragmatic trade-off decisions under time pressure; knows when 'good enough now' beats 'perfect later'
• Continuous Learning: Stays current with AWS service releases and deprecations; proactively shares knowledge with programme teams and clients via internal tech talks or runbook updates

What We Offer

• Lead architect role on high-visibility, enterprise-scale DC Exit programmes for FTSE 100 and public sector clients on AWS
• Direct access to AWS Migration Acceleration Programme (MAP) funding, AWS ProServe co-delivery, and AWS account team engineering support
• Structured career progression into Principal Architect or Cloud Practice Lead roles
• Certification support — AWS exam costs, study leave, and training budget (A Cloud Guru / Pluralsight / re:Invent access)
• Hybrid working model — programme site presence balanced with remote working
• Competitive salary, performance bonus, and pension scheme