Enterprise Network Architect

Falconsmartit; Merley; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Falconsmartit seeks an experienced Enterprise Network Architect for a 1-year fixed-term contract in Bournemouth, UK. The role leads architecture across a hybrid IT landscape, balancing legacy and modern systems with cloud and on-prem infrastructure.

You will drive governance, document reference architectures, and support BAU services and transformation programs while collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience as Enterprise Architect in hybrid IT environments.
• Proven cloud, on-premises, and integration architecture expertise.
• Strong communication with stakeholders and governance.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture governance and impact analysis across infra, security, and apps.
• Document decisions and reference architectures.
• Provide guidance for P1/P2 incident resolution and DR/SIAM ops.
• Drive continuous improvement and risk management.

Skills

Enterprise Architect

Azure Cloud

Hybrid/On-prem

Integration patterns

DevOps CI/CD

Security frameworks

Observability

Networking

Tools

Fortigate SDWAN

VMware

Hyper-V

Docker

Kubernetes

Active Directory

Azure Monitor

ELK Stack

Grafana

SolarWinds

Azure DevOps

Jenkins

Job description

Job Role: Enterprise Network Architect

Job Location: Bournemouth, UK/ Hybrid

Job Type: 1 Year FTC

A highly experienced and strategic Enterprise Architect to lead architectural initiatives across a complex hybrid IT landscape. The ideal candidate should have deep expertise in both legacy and modern applications, cloud and on-premises infrastructure, and enterprise integration. This role is pivotal in ensuring architectural integrity, scalability, and alignment with business goals while supporting BAU services and transformation programs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Impact Analysis & Architecture Governance:
• Assess the architectural impact of proposed changes across infrastructure, security, integration, data, operational cost, and support.
• Support internal architecture teams with impact assessments for BAU service changes.
• Present impact analyses to Technical Design Authority (TDA), Architecture Board, and emergency Change Authority Board (CAB) as required.
• Rework and refine impact assessments based on feedback from governance bodies.
• Architecture Documentation & Reference Models:
• Maintain and update reference architecture documents based on BAU changes.
• Develop reference architectures where none exist, in collaboration with internal architecture teams.
• Document all architectural decisions and impact assessments in the agreed Knowledge Management System (e.g., Confluence, InSpi).
• Operational Support & Incident Management:
• Provide architectural guidance for root cause analysis and resolution of P1/P2 incidents.
• Support DR and SIAM operations from an architectural perspective.
• Continuous Improvement & Risk Management:
• Identify and document new risks during impact analysis and update the risk log accordingly.
• Drive architectural improvements and innovation across BAU services.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Proven experience as an Enterprise Architect or similar role in hybrid environments.
• Expertise in cloud platforms (Azure Cloud) and on-premises technologies (Windows, Linux, Oracle PCA).
• Strong understanding of enterprise integration patterns, microservices, and API management.
• Hands-on experience with infrastructure technologies including:
• Active Directory (on-prem and Azure), M365, Cisco Network Solutions & Meraki Wireless, Zscaler or proxy (ZIA)
• Networking protocols and technologies along with hands-on troubleshooting experience on Fortigate SDWAN (TCP/IP, DNS, BGP, MPLS)
• Server virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Storage solutions (NetApp, Cohesity), cloud storage
• Familiarity with enterprise applications (ERP, CRM) and their integration.
• Experience with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Azure DevOps) and automation tools.
• Deep understanding of security frameworks, firewalls, endpoint protection, and SIEM tools.
• Strong knowledge of data management platforms, databases, data lakes, Fabric and ETL processes.
• Experience with observability tools and practices, including monitoring, logging, tracing, and metrics collection using platforms such as ELK stack, Grafana, Solarwinds & Azure Monitor.
• Ability to design and implement observability strategies.

Preferred Certifications:

• Certifications in enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF) highly desirable.
• Cloud certifications (e.g., Azure Solutions Architect) preferred.

Key Attributes:

• Strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Ability to work collaboratively across technical and business teams.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, dynamic environments.