Principle Cloud Architect

Simon James IT Ltd; Slough; Hybrid; GBP 92,000 - 103,000; Part time

Job summary

Simon James IT Ltd. is seeking a Principal Cloud Engineer in Slough for a 6-month contract, with 2 days on site per week. You will define the cloud strategy, build the landing zone, establish IaC/CI-CD and drive observability, security and governance across the platform.

You will lead architecture discussions with senior stakeholders, design reference patterns, and ensure scalable, secure cloud foundations for a major UK consumer brand.

Qualifications

• Proven AWS and Azure architecture and implementation experience.
• Strong networking and Infrastructure as Code skills.
• Cloud security and identity expertise.
• Containers and Kubernetes (or comparable).
• APIs, integration, messaging, and event-driven architecture.
• The credibility to influence senior stakeholders and explain trade-offs clearly.

Responsibilities

• Define cloud strategy, target architecture and roadmap from foundation through to production.
• Building the landing zone: account structure, IAM, networking, security and governance.
• Setting up Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD and automation.
• Putting in place observability, secrets management, resilience and DR.
• Creating reference architectures and reusable patterns for engineering teams.
• Reviewing and challenging technical designs.

Skills

AWS

Azure

Networking

IaC

Cloud security

Kubernetes

APIs

Event-driven

Stakeholder influence

Job description

Principal Cloud Engineer | Contract | Slough | £525 per day

I’m recruiting for a Principal Cloud Engineer to help a well-known UK consumer retail brand build its cloud foundation from scratch.

Slough, 2 days per week on site

6 months initially

This is a hands-on role where you will help define the cloud strategy and target architecture, then work with engineers to build it. You’ll have real autonomy over the cloud architecture, engineering standards, and technical direction.

What you’ll be doing:

• Defining the cloud strategy, target architecture and roadmap from foundation through to production
• Building the landing zone: account structure, IAM, networking, security and governance
• Setting up Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD and automation
• Putting in place observability, secrets management, resilience and DR
• Creating reference architectures and reusable patterns for engineering teams
• Reviewing and challenging technical designs

What you’ll need:

• Proven AWS and Azure architecture and implementation experience
• Strong networking and Infrastructure as Code skills
• Cloud security and identity expertise
• Containers and Kubernetes (or comparable)
• APIs, integration, messaging, and event-driven architecture
• The credibility to influence senior stakeholders and explain trade-offs clearly

Nice to have: previous greenfield cloud platform builds, platform engineering, and telecom or high-volume customer-facing platform experience.