Principal Cloud Architect

Standard Life plc; Telford; Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Private medical cover

38 days annual leave

Excellent pension

12x salary life assurance

Career breaks

Income protection

Volunteering days

Job summary

Standard Life plc is seeking a Principal Cloud Architect to be the senior technical authority for cloud architecture across RS&AM Engineering. You will shape cloud-native platforms on AWS, define patterns, and build reference implementations to enable scalable, secure solutions.

The role reports to the Head of Cloud Platform and drives engineering-led standards. The ideal candidate brings hands-on AWS, serverless, and distributed architecture experience, with a history of guiding multi-team

Qualifications

• Proven experience defining and owning cloud architecture directions.
• Experience leading complex AWS-based designs across multiple teams.
• Strong track record in establishing reusable blueprints and standards.

Responsibilities

• Define and own cloud architecture direction across RS&AM, setting principles and target-state architectures aligned to platform strategy.
• Act as senior authority for AWS architecture, leading complex design decisions and driving standardisation.
• Design, build, and deploy reference architectures and proof of concepts for scalable delivery.
• Define and evolve cloud standards and guardrails to ensure secure, resilient AWS solutions.
• Embed security, resilience, and control requirements into architecture, balancing delivery pace with risk.
• Demonstrate deep hands-on AWS expertise in serverless and distributed architectures.
• Show proven experience as a Principal Engineer/Architect or equivalent senior technical leader.

Skills

Cloud architecture

AWS

Leadership

Security

Platform strategy

Job description

Job Description

Job Type: Permanent

Location: London, with a preference for 3 days in the office.

Flexible working: All roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about flexible working here.

Closing Date: 26th October

Salary and benefits: Up to £105,000, discretionary bonus, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more.

We're looking for a Principal Cloud Architect to be the senior technical authority for cloud architecture across RS&AM Engineering, shaping the design and evolution of cloud-native platforms and services on AWS. Combining deep hands-on expertise with technical leadership, the role defines architecture patterns, builds reference implementations, and sets engineering-led standards that enable scalable, secure, and high-performant solutions.

In our Engineering & Transformation, you'll report to the Head of Cloud Platform, translating platform strategy into practical, implementable architectures, leading through working solutions rather than governance alone.

Who are we?

We're Standard Life, a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income. We champion the belief that everyone's journey to and through retirement can be better, and for more than 200 years, we've been helping our customers plan and prepare for their financial futures.

Life today is increasingly complicated, uncertain and unpredictable. People move through different careers, face unexpected moments and navigate important choices. We offer our colleagues flexibility, trust and benefits that work for whatever life brings. In return we expect curiosity, connection, accountability and high standards. We make room for what matters - so you can bring your best, every day.

The role

What are we looking for?

• Define and own cloud architecture direction across RS&AM, setting principles, patterns and target-state architectures aligned to platform strategy
• Act as senior authority for AWS architecture, leading complex design decisions, resolving high-impact technical challenges and driving simplification, standardisation, and alignment across the estate
• Design, build, and deploy reference architectures and proof of concepts, establishing reusable blueprints and implementation patterns to enable consistent, scalable delivery across teams
• Define and evolve cloud standards and guardrails through modern engineering approaches to ensure secure, resilient, and consistent AWS solutions
• Embed security, resilience, and control requirements into architecture, aligning engineering-led solutions with enterprise standards, where required, balancing delivery pace with risk and control expectations
• Strong experience with serverless and distributed architecture patterns with deep hands-on AWS expertise, including designing and deploying cloud-native solutions.
• A track record of setting technical direction across multiple teams or domains with proven experience as a Principal Engineer, Architect, or equivalent senior technical leader

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we've advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we'd love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

We're reviewing applications as they come in and may close this role before the closing date,

Find out more about working at Standard Life

• Guide for Candidates: standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates
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