Principal Modern Work & AI Architect & Service

Intercity Technology Limited; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

33 days holiday (including bank)

Holiday buy scheme

All-company bonus scheme

Company pension

Death in service cover

Employee assistance programme

Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Cycle to work scheme

Specsavers eye tests

Colleague discounts and incentives

Values Champion awards

Active social calendar

Learning and development opportunities

Job summary

Intercity Technology Limited is seeking a Senior Strategy & Architecture lead to own the Modern Work and AI portfolio. You will shape the technology strategy, define roadmaps, and set standards for Microsoft 365, Copilot, and related AI services, aligning with our Microsoft-first agenda.

You will translate product developments into secure, scalable, and profitable offerings, guiding customers through AI transformation and enterprise workplace optimization.

Qualifications

• Significant experience designing and delivering Microsoft Modern Work solutions.
• Strong understanding of Copilot, AI agents, automation and governance.
• Experience defining architecture standards, reference designs and roadmaps.
• Experience owning Modern Work or AI services with repeatable offerings.
• Commercial understanding of pricing, portfolio revenue, profitability, lifecycle and service growth.
• Customer-facing advisory, pre-sales and executive stakeholder experience with Sales/CS.
• Experience in MSP/ SI/ consultancy environments with strong communication and stakeholder management.
• Degree or equivalent industry experience.

Responsibilities

• Define the strategy, roadmap, architectural principles and standards for the Modern Work and AI tower.
• Act as senior technical authority for Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online, Intune, Viva, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Platform and related AI.
• Turn Microsoft innovations into service innovation and investment priorities aligned with the Microsoft-first strategy.
• Govern solution design, data readiness, security, compliance and AI governance on engagements.
• Own the Modern Work and AI portfolio from concept to retirement with repeatable offerings and pricing models.
• Lead service development across Copilot adoption, AI agents, knowledge management and automation.
• Collaborate with Platforms and Engineering to scale services and standardise delivery.
• Use feedback and market intelligence to set roadmap and investment priorities; own portfolio revenue and growth.
• Build business cases with clear pricing and measurable benefits; collaborate with Sales/Marketing/CS on acquisition and retention.
• Mentor Solution Architects and Technical Specialists to promote engineering excellence.
• Engage with Microsoft Alliances to leverage incentives, certifications and specialisations.

Skills

Microsoft 365

Teams

SharePoint

OneDrive

Exchange Online

Intune

Copilot

Copilot Studio

Power Platform

AI governance

Education

Degree in IT/CS/Engineering

Job description

Introduction

This role combines senior technical authority with end-to-end ownership of our Modern Work and AI service portfolio. You'll define the technology and service strategy, architecture, standards, roadmap, commercial propositions and lifecycle for Microsoft 365, Copilot, collaboration, employee experience, workplace productivity and AI transformation. Working with Product and Services, Platforms and Engineering, Alliances and Technology, Sales, Marketing and Customer Success, you'll translate Microsoft innovation into secure, scalable, supportable and profitable services that deliver measurable customer outcomes. A priority is taking Copilot adoption beyond chat into agents, automation, knowledge management and business process transformation, and helping Intercity show what Microsoft-first workplace innovation looks like.

Strategy and Architecture

• Define and maintain the strategy, roadmap, architectural principles, reference architectures and standards for the Modern Work and AI tower
• Act as senior technical authority for Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online, Intune, Viva, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Platform and related AI
• Turn Microsoft product developments, market trends and customer needs into service innovation and investment priorities, in line with our Microsoft-first strategy
• Govern solution design, technical assurance, data readiness, security, compliance and AI governance on strategic customer engagements
• Portfolio ownership and productisation
• Own the Modern Work and AI portfolio from concept, design and launch through to continuous improvement and retirement
• Develop repeatable managed services, consultancy offerings, assessments, adoption frameworks, packages, pricing models and go-to-market propositions
• Lead service development across Copilot adoption and extensibility, AI agents, knowledge management, process automation and workplace transformation
• Work with Platforms and Engineering to standardise, automate and scale services
• Use customer feedback, service performance and market intelligence to set roadmap, lifecycle and investment priorities
• Own portfolio revenue, profitability and growth targets
• Build business cases for investment and innovation, with clear pricing, value propositions and measurable benefits
• Work with Sales, Marketing and Customer Success on acquisition, adoption, retention, upsell and cross‑sell
• Work with Microsoft Alliances to make the most of incentives, funding, certifications and specialisations
• Lead Copilot and AI architecture and service growth, setting best practice for adoption, governance, security and data readiness
• Guide strategic customers through AI transformation programmes, workshops, executive briefings and roadmaps
• Develop customer success and value‑realisation frameworks that show productivity gains, business outcomes and return on investment
• Act as a trusted technical and commercial adviser to senior customer stakeholders, and bring the voice of the customer into portfolio decisions
• Provide architectural oversight for major opportunities and projects, and act as an escalation point for complex solution design
• Mentor Solution Architects, Consultants and Technical Specialists, building capability and promoting engineering excellence and accountability
• Partner across Product and Services, Platforms and Engineering, Alliances and Technology, delivery, operations, Sales and Customer Success
• Explain complex technical and commercial ideas to technical, business and executive audiences

Key Experience and Qualifications

• Significant experience designing and delivering Microsoft Modern Work solutions, with deep expertise in Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online and Intune
• A strong understanding of Copilot, AI agents, automation, workplace transformation, AI governance, data security and adoption
• Experience defining architecture standards, reference designs and technology roadmaps, and supporting complex customer transformations
• Experience owning, managing or developing Modern Work, collaboration or AI services, including repeatable managed services or consultancy propositions
• Commercial understanding of pricing, portfolio revenue, profitability, product lifecycle and service growth
• Customer‑facing advisory, pre‑sales and executive stakeholder experience, including working with Sales and Customer Success
• Experience in an MSP, systems integrator, consultancy or enterprise environment, with strong communication, presentation and stakeholder management skills
• A degree in IT, computer science, engineering or business, or equivalent industry experience

Bonus Skills

• Power Platform, Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI services, Viva, Copilot Studio and AI agents
• Microsoft 365 security, compliance, identity, Zero Trust and data governance
• Workplace adoption and change management, value‑realisation frameworks and service productisation
• Core networking principles and technologies

Certifications

None of these are essential, but any of them will help: Microsoft 365 Certified Enterprise Administrator Expert, Power Platform Solution Architect Expert, Azure Solutions Architect Expert or Azure AI Engineer Associate, Microsoft Applied Skills and Copilot certifications, Information Protection and Compliance certifications, TOGAF, ITIL, Prosci Change Management, or a recognised product management qualification.

Key Skills and Behaviours

• Strategic thinking: you see Microsoft and market developments coming and line up technology decisions with long-term commercial goals
• A commercial mindset: you balance growth, profitability, customer value and investment
• Customer focus: you understand business challenges and build trusted relationships with executives
• Innovation: you champion AI, automation, experimentation and continuous improvement, with the right governance
• Communication and influence: you explain complex topics clearly and bring technical, commercial and operational stakeholders together
• Leadership: you lead through expertise, mentor talent and promote engineering excellence and accountability

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including bank holidays), increasing by one day for each full year with us, up to five additional days
• Holiday buy scheme
• All-company bonus scheme
• Company pension
• Death in service cover
• Employee assistance programme
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Cycle to work scheme
• Specsavers eye tests
• Colleague discounts and incentives
• Values Champion of the Quarter and Year awards
• Active social calendar
• Learning and development opportunities

Equal opportunities

Intercity is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to a fair, inclusive and unbiased recruitment process for every candidate. We make reasonable adjustments throughout our process, so if you need any support at any stage, just let us know.

Pre‑employment checks

As a specialist in secure technology solutions and a certified ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus organisation, all successful candidates will be subject to pre‑employment checks, including vetting and references, as part of our onboarding process. You'll also need the right to work in the UK.

Your data

Any personal information you share with us will be handled securely and in line with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. We will keep your application for six months after the close of the campaign unless you tell us you are happy for us to hold it longer. You may also be invited to share voluntary, anonymous information about your background for equal opportunities monitoring, which has no bearing on your application.

For our full privacy policy or to exercise your data rights, contact our Data Protection Officer at or on 0808 500 1436.