Technical Architect

Immediate Start- 6-12 month Contract role - £450 per day This role requires the Architect to work 2 days a week onsite Role Purpose The Technical Architect will provide end-to-end technical leadership across design, architecture, and delivery of modern cloud-based systems. The role focuses on AWS cloud architecture, Java-based services, API-led design, microservices patterns, and schema-driven approaches to ensure high-quality, scalable, resilient digital services. You will work closely with engineering teams, product owners, and delivery leads to define technical direction, set standards, and ensure solutions are secure, maintainable, and aligned to organisational goals. Key Responsibilities Technical Architecture & Solution Design • Design end-to-end architectures for cloud-native services built on AWS. • Define and document high-level and detailed designs, architectural patterns, and technical specifications. • Architect Java-based services using frameworks such as Spring / Spring Boot. • Create robust, well-governed API architectures (RESTful, event-driven, synchronous/asynchronous). • Lead the design of distributed microservices, ensuring scalability, resilience, observability, and maintainability. • Apply schema-driven design principles (e.g., JSON Schema, OpenAPI, AsyncAPI) to ensure consistent and reusable domain models. Cloud & Platform Engineering (AWS) • Select and integrate AWS services (EC2, Lambda, API Gateway, S3, DynamoDB, RDS, ECS/EKS, etc.) based on architectural requirements. • Ensure cloud solutions meet organisational standards for cost, performance, security, and operational readiness. • Promote Infrastructure-as-Code practices using Terraform / CloudFormation. • Guide adoption of serverless and container-based patterns where appropriate. Leadership & Technical Governance • Provide technical leadership to engineers, developers, DevOps, and platform teams. • Lead architecture reviews, design assurance, and technical direction across multiple teams or projects. • Define and maintain engineering and architectural standards, patterns, and best practices. • Conduct option evaluations, risk assessments, and make informed technology recommendations. API, Integration & Data Modelling • Design API ecosystems including versioning, discovery, governance, throttling, and security. • Define schemas, data contracts, and integration patterns for internal and external systems. • Promote consistent schema models across teams to enable loose coupling and robust interoperability. Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement • Work closely with product managers, delivery managers, business analysts, and engineering leads to translate requirements into technical designs. • Communicate complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders. • Act as a key point of contact for architectural decision-making. Security, Compliance & Quality Assurance • Ensure secure-by-design principles across all solutions. • Support threat modelling, risk assessments, and compliance with security and data protection requirements. • Drive non-functional requirement definition (performance, scalability, availability, resilience). • Support test strategy and quality engineering practices. Essential Skills & Experience • Strong experience as a Technical Architect, Solutions Architect, or Senior Engineer with architecture responsibilities. • Proven track record designing cloud-based applications on AWS. • Strong hands-on background in Java, Spring Boot, and JVM-based service architectures. • Deep experience with APIs (REST, event-driven, messaging), microservices, and distributed system design. • Strong understanding of schema-driven design, using tools such as JSON Schema, OpenAPI, or AsyncAPI. • Solid understanding of cloud security, identity and access management, and operational best practices. • Experience working with Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, CloudFormation). • Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence technical decisions. Desirable Skills • AWS certification (Architect Associate / Professional). • Experience with API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB, or Kubernetes-based workloads. • Experience with event-driven architecture (SNS/SQS, Kinesis, Kafka). • Experience with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps tooling, and automated delivery. • Experience with containerisation (Docker, ECS/EKS). • Familiarity with architectural frameworks (C4 model, ArchiMate, TOGAF). • Knowledge of observability tooling (CloudWatch, ELK, Grafana, OpenTelemetry). Role Outputs • High-level and low-level design documentation • Architecture blueprints, diagrams, and models • API specifications (OpenAPI / AsyncAPI) • Domain schemas and contracts • Technical decision records / options papers • Architecture standards and reusable patterns • Cloud deployment patterns and IaC modules • Architecture assurance reports and review outcomes