Technical Lead - Cloud & Cyber Service

At Sword, we help power, secure and transform the organisations that keep the UK running. Supporting customers across Critical National Infrastructure, energy, public sector and enterprise markets, we combine deep industry expertise with leading technology services spanning managed services, cyber security, cloud, data, AI and digital transformation.

Join Sword and you'll be part of a team solving complex challenges, delivering real-world impact and working alongside talented colleagues who care deeply about quality, collaboration and customer success.

About the Role:

As a Technical Lead within our Cloud & Cyber Services practice, you will play a key role in shaping the quality, direction and development of our technical services across strategic customer engagements, projects and managed services.

This is a senior leadership role combining people development, technical assurance and customer engagement. You will lead and develop our Technical Service Architects, provide guidance and support to senior technical colleagues, and ensure consistently high standards across solution design and delivery.

Working closely with Practice Leadership, Operations and our Project and Service Delivery teams, you will oversee technical roadmaps, design governance and continuous service improvement, while helping develop and evolve the services and capabilities we take to our customers.

You will also act as a trusted senior advisor to our customers, supporting strategic technology discussions, complex decisions and escalations, and helping ensure the solutions and services we deliver are secure, resilient, supportable and aligned with their long-term goals.

As a Technical Lead, you will:

• Lead, coach and develop Technical Service Architects, setting clear expectations around technical roadmap ownership, continuous service improvement, assurance and escalation.
• Support the technical and career development of Principal Consultants and Architects in partnership with the wider Cloud & Cyber leadership team.
• Own and maintain technical standards, reference architectures, design governance and quality assurance across strategic projects and managed services.
• Provide technical assurance across customer solutions, ensuring services are secure, compliant, resilient and supportable.
• Oversee customer technical roadmaps, service improvement plans and technical debt reduction across strategic accounts.
• Identify common challenges and opportunities across customers and translate these into repeatable technical improvements, standards and approaches.
• Develop strategic service offerings from concept through to solutions that can be effectively sold, delivered and supported.
• Define the technical scope, standards, support models, documentation and delivery requirements for new and evolving service offerings.
• Act as a senior technical advisor to strategic customers, building trusted relationships with IT and technology leadership teams.
• Support customer governance forums, technical roadmap discussions and major or complex technical escalations.
• Provide technical leadership and input across bids, proposals, service design and strategic customer opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with Project and Service Delivery Managers to maintain technical quality throughout the delivery and operational lifecycle.
• Define technical role and capability requirements and support the recruitment, selection and onboarding of technical colleagues.
• Maintain a forward view of skills, capacity and capability requirements across the Cloud & Cyber practice.
• Work closely with technology vendors and strategic partners to strengthen Sword's technical capability and customer propositions.
• Drive continuous improvement across technical delivery, governance, documentation and service quality.
• Champion high technical standards while creating an environment that supports collaboration, accountability and professional development.
• Keep up to date with developments across cloud, cyber security, digital workplace and managed services, ensuring Sword's technical approaches continue to reflect industry best practice.

Requirements

• Proven technical leadership experience within an IT consultancy, MSP or customer-facing technology environment.

• Demonstrable experience leading, coaching and developing senior technical professionals.
• Significant experience within technical consulting, architecture or engineering, including several years in a leadership capacity.
• Broad technical knowledge across cloud, infrastructure, Microsoft 365, identity, digital workplace, cyber security, resilience and managed services.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra ID/Active Directory.
• Strong understanding of security and compliance principles, technologies and frameworks, including Zero Trust, Microsoft Defender/Sentinel, NCSC, NIST and ISO 27001.
• Experience engaging with senior customer stakeholders and acting as a trusted technical advisor.
• Strong understanding of ITIL-aligned service management and managed service environments.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively at both technical and senior business levels.
• ITIL v4 Foundation and relevant senior Microsoft certifications such as SC-100, MS-102 or AZ-305.

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience working within regulated industries such as energy, public sector or financial services.
• Experience building or scaling technical teams, capabilities or service offerings.
• Knowledge of automation and Infrastructure as Code technologies such as PowerShell, Bicep or Terraform.
• Additional relevant Microsoft, TOGAF, CISSP or ITIL certifications.

Benefits

At Sword, our core values and culture are based on caring about our people, investing in training and career development, and building inclusive teams where we are all encouraged to contribute to achieve success. We offer comprehensive benefits designed to support your professional development and enhance your overall quality of life.

In addition to a Competitive Salary, here's what you can expect as part of our benefits package:

• Personalised Career Development: We create a development plan customised to your goals and aspirations, with a range of learning and development opportunities within a culture that encourages growth.

• Flexible Working: Flexible work arrangements to support your work-life balance. We are keen to discuss individual preferences and explore arrangements that work for both you and the business.

• A Fantastic Benefits Package: This includes generous annual leave allowance, enhanced family-friendly benefits, pension scheme, access to private health, wellbeing and insurance schemes.

Equal Opportunities

At Sword we are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, ensuring that all applicants receive fair and equal consideration for employment. If you don't meet every requirement but believe you have relevant transferable skills and experience, we encourage you to apply. We value diversity in