Role Purpose
Lead enterprise infrastructure strategy, architecture, and solutioning across hybrid cloud, modern workplace, network, platform engineering, microservices enablement, observability, and IT service management. The Infrastructure Architect will translate business priorities into secure, resilient, scalable, and cost-effective technology roadmaps, provide design governance across transformation initiatives, and act as a trusted advisor to senior business and technology stakeholders. The role requires broad IT security awareness and the ability to embed security-by-design principles, while specialist cybersecurity ownership remains with the relevant security teams.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the current-state assessment, target architecture, roadmap, standards, and design governance for enterprise infrastructure transformation.
- Design integrated hybrid and multi-cloud solutions across on-premises data centres and public cloud, covering compute, storage, backup, disaster recovery, connectivity, identity integration, availability, performance, and cost optimisation.
- Define modern workplace architecture spanning end-user computing, endpoint management, virtual desktop, collaboration platforms, device experience, mobility, and workplace service integration.
- Shape enterprise network architecture across LAN, WAN, Wi-Fi, SD-WAN, cloud networking, internet and partner connectivity, segmentation, resilience, and network performance.
- Provide infrastructure architecture for cloud-native and microservices-based applications, including container platforms, Kubernetes, service connectivity, API enablement, CI/CD integration, configuration, secrets, resiliency, and platform engineering patterns.
- Establish an observability strategy covering metrics, logs, traces, events, application and infrastructure monitoring, service health, business-service correlation, AIOps, and integration with ITSM processes.
- Drive automation and infrastructure-as-code adoption for provisioning, configuration, patching, compliance, operational recovery, and repeatable environment deployment.
- Translate business, application, operational, regulatory, and non-functional requirements into reference architectures, solution blueprints, technology standards, and phased investment roadmaps.
- Embed IT security principles across architecture, including identity and access management, zero-trust concepts, secure configuration, vulnerability and patch management, data protection, segmentation, resilience, auditability, and compliance; collaborate with cybersecurity specialists for detailed security design and assurance.
- Lead architecture workshops, technical discovery, option assessment, PoC definition, design reviews, and executive presentations with business, application, infrastructure, operations, and security stakeholders.
- Evaluate technology platforms and vendors, guide product selection, manage architectural dependencies, and work with OEMs, hyperscalers, and delivery partners to achieve an integrated solution.
- Define transition and operating-model considerations, including service boundaries, support model, SLAs, capacity, lifecycle management, observability, automation, and operational readiness.
- Maintain architecture principles, reusable patterns, decision records, standards, and governance artefacts while mentoring solution and engineering teams.
Required Experience and Expertise
- Typically 12–15 years of IT experience, including substantial experience in infrastructure or enterprise architecture roles within complex organisations.
- Demonstrated architecture experience across hybrid cloud, data centre, modern workplace, enterprise network, platform engineering, and infrastructure operations.
- Strong knowledge of Azure, AWS, or GCP; virtualisation and container platforms; enterprise networking and SD-WAN; workplace technologies; observability platforms; automation and infrastructure-as-code.
- Practical understanding of microservices infrastructure patterns, Kubernetes ecosystems, APIs, DevSecOps integration, site reliability engineering concepts, and cloud-native operational models.
- Ability to design for availability, scalability, performance, recoverability, supportability, security, and cost, and to explain architecture trade-offs clearly.
- Working knowledge of IT security architecture and controls, without requiring deep specialist cybersecurity credentials.
- Experience with ITIL-aligned service management, managed services, transition, operational readiness, capacity planning, and continual service improvement.
- Strong stakeholder management, consulting, facilitation, documentation, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence senior technical and business leaders.
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related discipline. Relevant architecture, cloud, networking, ITIL, or platform certifications are desirable.
- Architecture Leadership – Creates coherent target-state architectures and practical roadmaps across multiple infrastructure domains.
- Systems Thinking – Understands dependencies across applications, platforms, cloud, workplace, network, operations, and security.
- Business Alignment – Converts business outcomes and non-functional requirements into defendable technology decisions.
- Consultative Communication – Explains complex architecture choices, risks, and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Collaboration and Influence – Builds alignment across business, application, infrastructure, operations, security, vendors, and delivery partners.