Lead Architect, Cloud (Azure)

TL;DR

Lead Architect, Cloud (Azure): Driving the technical delivery of Azure-based data engineering and cloud configuration engagements within client environments with an accent on designing, architecting, and implementing modern data platform solutions on Microsoft Azure. Focus on establishing CI/CD practices and guiding engineers to follow reference architectures and standards.

Location: London, United Kingdom. This is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location

Company

hirify.global is WPP’s global data products and technology company, transforming marketing by building the fastest, most connected data platform that bridges marketing strategy to scaled activation.

What you will do

• Lead architecture and end-to-end delivery of Azure data platforms for clients, including landing zones, networking, identity, and data platform services.
• Design and implement Azure Data Factory pipelines and data flows for ingestion, transformation, and orchestration.
• Establish CI/CD for data and infrastructure (Azure DevOps/GitHub).
• Define and deliver infrastructure-as-code using Bicep and/or Terraform.
• Implement secure-by-default configurations.
• Provide technical leadership to engineering teams: mentor, review code/IaC, unblock delivery, and ensure adherence to reference architecture and non-functional requirements.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience in cloud data engineering/architecture with a focus on Microsoft Azure.
• Proven leadership as a lead/principal engineer or architect delivering Azure data platforms in client environments.
• Expertise with Azure Data Factory and at least one of Synapse Analytics or Azure Databricks.
• Strong CI/CD experience using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions for both IaC and data workloads.
• Proficiency in Infrastructure-as-Code with Bicep and/or Terraform.
• Excellent client-facing communication, architecture documentation, and stakeholder management skills.

Nice to have

• Event-driven architectures with Event Hubs, Kafka, Stream Analytics, or Functions; CDC patterns.
• Lakehouse/Delta patterns on Databricks; MLflow and feature store awareness; Synapse/Dedicated SQL Pools performance optimization.
• Data quality tooling and frameworks and dbt for transformation governance.
• FinOps practices for Azure cost governance and tagging/chargeback models.
• Experience with Azure landing zones, Enterprise Scale architecture, and Azure Policy/Blueprints (or equivalent).
• Relevant certifications: Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Data Engineer Associate, or equivalent.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week.
• Competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance.
• Significant paid time off.
• Preferential partner discounts.
• Employee mental health awareness days.