Lead Cloud Consultant

MERITUS are recruiting for a Cloud Solutions Delivery Lead to join a leading Technology Consultancy, delivering secure cloud and digital transformation programmes across Central Government and Defence customers.

LEAD CLOUD CONSULTANT - £80,000-£90,000 - REMOTE IN THE UK - ELIGIBLE FOR SC CLEARANCE

We're seeking an experienced Cloud Solutions Delivery Lead to provide technical leadership, governance and architectural assurance across large-scale cloud, infrastructure and digital transformation programmes. This is a senior leadership role focused on cloud strategy, solution governance, architecture review and design authority activities across Azure, AWS and hybrid cloud environments.

You'll work closely with engineering, security, architecture, delivery and commercial teams to ensure cloud solutions are secure, scalable, resilient and aligned to both customer and business objectives.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and chair Design Authority reviews across cloud, infrastructure, platform and security solutions.
• Review and approve High-Level Designs (HLDs), Low-Level Designs (LLDs) and key architectural decisions.
• Define and govern cloud architecture standards across Microsoft Azure, AWS, Microsoft 365 and hybrid environments.
• Provide technical leadership for cloud migration, modernisation and transformation programmes.
• Ensure solutions meet security, compliance, resilience, operational and commercial requirements.
• Establish and maintain reusable reference architectures, design patterns and governance frameworks.
• Support bids, tenders, technical proposals and customer workshops.
• Provide architectural guidance on Infrastructure as Code, automation, platform engineering and cloud-native technologies.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex technical decisions and delivery challenges.
• Mentor architects, technical leads and engineering teams while driving engineering best practice.

Skills & Experience

Essential:

• Strong experience operating within a Design Authority, Architecture Governance or Technical Assurance function.
• Expert knowledge of Microsoft Azure architecture, governance and landing zone principles.
• Strong understanding of AWS, Microsoft 365 and hybrid cloud environments.
• Experience producing and reviewing HLDs and LLDs within enterprise-scale environments.
• Knowledge of Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, Bicep or similar tooling.
• Strong understanding of enterprise networking, identity, security and cloud infrastructure.
• Experience influencing senior technical, operational and business stakeholders.
• Knowledge of resilience, disaster recovery, backup, continuity and FinOps practices.
• Excellent communication, governance and decision-making skills.
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear business outcomes and recommendations.

Desirable:

• Experience delivering solutions into Central Government, Defence or highly regulated environments.
• Knowledge of Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO27001 and NCSC guidance.
• Experience with container platforms, platform engineering and CI/CD tooling.
• Exposure to OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE government workloads.
• Cloud certifications across Microsoft Azure and/or AWS.
• Experience supporting bids, presales activities and customer solution workshops.

Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Option to purchase up to 10 additional days annual leave.
• Up to 3 paid volunteering days.
• 5% matched pension contribution.
• Private Medical Insurance.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Cloud Architect, Azure Solutions Architect, Technical Design Authority Lead, Enterprise Architect or Cloud Governance Lead to influence cloud strategy and architecture across critical Government and Defence programmes while working with modern Azure, AWS and hybrid cloud technologies at enterprise scale.