Principal Technical Architect

Hippo

Greater Manchester

Hybrid

GBP 110,000 - 150,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Contributory pension scheme

25 days holiday plus public holidays

Perkbox access for discounts

Flexible benefits scheme including health cover

Cycle-to-work scheme

Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme

Cycle-to-work

Salary sacrifice EV

Season ticket loans

Wellbeing sessions

Flexible benefits

Job summary

A growing digital consultancy in Greater Manchester is looking for a Principal Technical Architect. This role involves defining architectural vision, guiding technical strategies for clients, and mentoring a team of technical talents. Strong expertise in cloud platforms and digital transformation is essential for this position. The ideal candidate will be an influential leader in a collaborative environment. This position offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

Proven track record of leading large-scale digital transformations.
Demonstrated expertise in designing complex architectures.
Experience mentoring technical architects and engineers.
Hands-on with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD tooling (GitLab CI/CD).
Strong Infrastructure-as-Code experience using Terraform.
Experience mentoring architects and engineers and communicating with C-suite stakeholders.
Consultancy background with pre-sales and business growth involvement.
Knowledge of security, networking and governance in cloud contexts.
TOGAF experience is desirable.

Responsibilities

Define and evangelize architectural vision and best practices.
Guide long-term technical strategy for senior clients.
Mentor team members to enhance their skills.
Mentor and coach our team of architects and engineers.
Drive pre-sales and technical response to bids and due diligence.
Contribute to Hippo Digital's thought leadership through public speaking and writing.
Act as technical authority making key architectural decisions impacting multiple projects.

Skills

Technical Architecture

Cloud Platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP)

Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)

Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform)

Technical Leadership

C-suite Communication

Stakeholder communication

Leadership mentoring

Pre-sales

Education

Senior-level experience as a Technical Architect

Experience as an Enterprise Architect using TOGAF

Tools

GitLab CI/CD

Kubernetes

GitLab CI/CD

Terraform

Job description

Hippo Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Overview

Hippo Digital is a rapidly growing digital consultancy passionate about building and delivering transformative digital solutions for a diverse range of Public and Private sector clients. We are recruiting for a Principal Technical Architect to support in our mission. We work at the intersection of strategy, design, and technology to solve complex problems and create lasting value. Our collaborative and agile culture empowers our teams to make a genuine impact.

Your role in a Nutshell

Define and evangelise the architectural vision, standards, and best practices across the entire Hippo Digital delivery practice.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, including C-level executives, to guide their long-term technical strategy and digital transformation initiatives.
Lead the most complex and strategic technical engagements, providing enterprise-level architectural oversight and quality assurance.
Mentor and coach our team of technical architects and senior engineers, helping them grow their skills and impact.
Drive pre-sales and business development activities, leading the technical response to bids, conducting technical due diligence, and shaping new opportunities.
Contribute to Hippo Digital's thought leadership through public speaking, writing, and community engagement.
Act as a technical authority, making and communicating key architectural decisions that impact multiple projects or clients.

About the Candidate

Extensive, senior-level experience as a Technical Architect, with a proven track record of leading large-scale, enterprise-level digital transformations.
Demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing complex architectures across one or more major public cloud platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP), including proven experience with multi-cloud strategies.
A deep, strategic understanding of cloud-native technology stacks, with hands-on experience in containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and advanced CI/CD tooling (GitLab CI/CD).
Exceptional skills in Infrastructure-as-Code, with extensive experience using Terraform for complex, repeatable deployments.
A history of providing technical leadership and mentoring to other architects and engineering teams.
Proven ability to influence and communicate effectively with C-suite and executive-level stakeholders.
Experience in a consultancy environment, including contributing to pre-sales, proposals, and business growth.
Expert-level knowledge of security, networking and governance principles in a cloud context.
Experience as an Enterprise Architect using TOGAF is desirable.

About The Company

As well as a competitive salary which we’re transparent about from the outset, you can also expect a range of benefits:

Contributory pension scheme (Hippo 6% with employee contributions of 2%)
25 days holiday plus UK public holidays
Perkbox access for a wide range of discounts
Critical illness cover
Life assurance and death in service cover
Volunteer days
Cycle-to-work scheme for the avid cyclists
Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme
Season ticket loans
Financial and general wellbeing sessions
Flexible benefits scheme with options of:
- private health cover
- private dental cover
- additional company pension contributions
- additional holidays (up to an extra 2 days)
- wellbeing contribution
- charity contributions
- tree planting

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Hippo

At Hippo, we’re dedicated to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that works for everyone. We understand that having a diverse team unlocks our capacity for innovation, creativity and problem solving. Only by building a community of diverse perspectives, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds can we create an environment where all can contribute and thrive.

We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and people with disabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process that reflects our workplace culture. We are a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer and a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. Hippo continually strives to remove barriers, provide accommodations and offer reasonable adjustments to ensure equity throughout our practices.

Hippo locations

We are headquartered in Leeds and have offices across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Bristol. We\'re on the lookout for top talent nationwide but you need to be located within reasonable travelling distance from one of our offices which will be your contracted office location. Given the dynamic nature of a consulting business, you may be required to work on-site at a Hippo office or at an in/out of town client location for a number of days per week (client dependent) and therefore candidates will need to be open/flexible to travel. Plus, we offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8k (please ask for terms and conditions) to help make your move a smooth one.

Seniority level