Microsoft Azure Cloud Architect

JOB PURPOSE
The Microsoft Azure Architect is accountable for the architectural oversight, operational excellence, security governance and continuous optimisation of enterprise Microsoft Azure environments delivered as managed services. The role provides senior technical leadership across multiple enterprise clients, supports adherence to service level agreements (SLAs), and ensures cloud operations remain secure, resilient, efficient and aligned with client requirements.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead day-to-day Azure managed services operations across multiple enterprise clients.
• Provide architectural guidance and validate solution designs for Azure workloads and platform services.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex incidents, recurring platform issues and high-impact service challenges.
• Drive proactive monitoring, automation, performance optimisation, capacity management and service health improvements.
• Ensure Azure environments are operated in line with agreed security, networking, governance and operational standards.
• Support incident, problem and change management processes, including root-cause analysis and corrective action planning.
• Monitor service performance and contribute to the achievement of client SLAs and operational commitments.
• Develop and maintain technical standards, operational documentation, runbooks and support procedures.
• Mentor junior engineers, provide technical guidance and support ongoing capability development within the team.
• Identify opportunities to improve platform resilience, cost efficiency, automation and overall service quality.
• Work closely with internal delivery teams and client stakeholders to resolve technical risks and support service improvement.
  
  QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
  Educational Qualification
• National Diploma or Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering or a related field is preferred.
  Experience
• At least 10 years of experience in infrastructure and/or cloud engineering roles.
• At least 5 years of hands-on Microsoft Azure experience.
• Proven experience in a managed service provider (MSP) or enterprise managed services environment.
• Experience supporting multiple enterprise clients or complex Azure environments.
• Strong practical understanding of cloud security, networking, governance and operational service management.
• Experience providing senior technical escalation support, architectural guidance and mentoring.
  Mandatory Professional Certifications
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) OR Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500).
• ITIL Foundation or equivalent.
  
  TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
• Microsoft Azure architecture, administration and managed services operations.
• Azure networking, identity, security, governance and policy controls.
• Monitoring, alerting, automation, performance optimisation and service health management.
• Incident, problem and change management within structured service environments.
• Architectural design review, technical risk identification and solution validation.
• Technical documentation, operational standards, support procedures and runbook development.

Desired Skills:

• Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
• Azure Administrator Associate
• ITIL