Azure Solution Architect, Senior Manager

Azure Solution Architect, Senior Manager, AI and Cloud Engineering Connect to your Industry Cloud Engineering & AI – Microsoft Azure Advance and grow your career within a leading organisation.Access training and skill development platforms such as A Cloud Guru, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning.Benefit from certifications and training programmes designed to enhance your expertise.Enjoy a flexible work environment that supports work-life balance. Connect to your career at Deloitte Deloitte drives progress. Using our vast range of expertise, we help our clients' become leaders wherever they choose to compete. To do this, we invest in outstanding people. We build teams of future thinkers, with diverse talents and backgrounds, and empower them all to reach for and achieve more. What brings us all together at Deloitte? It’s how we approach the thousands of decisions we make every day. How we behave, our beliefs and our attitudes. In other words: our values. Whatever we do, wherever we are in the world, we lead the way, serve with integrity, take care of each other, foster inclusion, and collaborate for measurable impact. These five shared values lead every decision we make and action we take, guiding us to deliver impact how and where it matters most. Connect to your opportunity We are seeking a highly skilled Azure Solution Architect with strong hands-on experience embedding AI capabilities into enterprise cloud solutions. This pivotal role involves designing, building, and governing AI-enabled applications and platforms natively on Microsoft Azure, while leveraging Azure's AI and automation tooling to accelerate the architecture and delivery process itself. As an Azure Solution Architect, you will be accountable for defining the technical vision and target-state cloud architecture for AI-enabled workloads, aligned to the Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework. You will lead end-to-end solution design, from conceptualisation through to production deployment, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, cost-optimised, and resilient. Your role will involve translating business requirements into robust Azure architectures spanning compute, data, integration, and AI services, selecting the right combination of platform-native and third-party tools, and guiding engineering teams through implementation. You will be instrumental in establishing architectural best practices for Azure-hosted AI solutions, landing zone design, data platform strategy, and responsible AI governance, and in championing innovative approaches to leveraging Azure AI services. You will work closely with clients, product owners, data scientists, and engineering teams to deliver high-impact, cloud-native AI solutions. Connect to your skills and professional experience Responsibilities: Lead the architectural design, development, and implementation of complex AI-driven applications and platforms on Microsoft Azure across various business domains.Define and enforce Azure landing zone design, architectural principles, standards, and best practices, ensuring scalability, security, resilience, and cost efficiency (FinOps).Translate business requirements and use cases into comprehensive Azure technical architectures, including data models, integration patterns, network topology, and deployment strategies for AI applications.Evaluate and recommend appropriate Azure AI and platform services (e.g., Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Foundry, Azure Machine Learning, Azure AI Search, Cognitive Services) and their application in solution design.Strategically utilise AI-powered tools and techniques (e.g., GitHub Copilot, generative AI for infrastructure-as-code and architectural pattern suggestions) to accelerate and enhance the architectural design, documentation, and development processes.Design and oversee CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code practices (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Bicep/Terraform) to enable repeatable, governed delivery of AI solutions.Provide technical leadership and mentorship to development and platform engineering teams, guiding them through architectural decisions and complex technical challenges related to AI solution delivery on Azure.Ensure compliance with data privacy, responsible AI, and regulatory frameworks (GDPR, EU AI Act) and Azure security best practices (Entra ID, Private Link, Key Vault, Microsoft Defender for Cloud).Collaborate with product owners, data scientists, and engineering teams to ensure architectural designs meet functional and non-functional requirements.Conduct architectural reviews, performance optimisation, cost reviews, and security assessments for Azure AI solutions.Stay abreast of emerging Azure and AI technologies, architectural patterns, and industry trends to continuously enhance our solution offerings.Contribute to business development activities, including supporting proposals, client pursuits, and identifying opportunities to extend Azure AI architecture work with existing and prospective clients.Skills/Must have: Proven experience in Senior Cloud/Solution Architect roles, with a strong focus on designing and implementing AI-driven applications and solutions on Microsoft Azure.Desirable - Microsoft certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) and Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102); Azure Administrator (AZ-104) and Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203) advantageous.Strong hands-on experience with Azure AI and data services: Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Foundry, Azure Machine Learning, Azure AI Search (vector/hybrid search), Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Fabric, and Azure Data Factory.Strong understanding of generative AI models, Large Language Models (LLMs), agentic frameworks (e.g., Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, Copilot Studio), and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns on Azure.Proficiency in infrastructure-as-code (Bicep, Terraform) and CI/CD tooling (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions) for governed, repeatable delivery.Strong knowledge of Azure core services (App Service, AKS, Azure Functions, API Management, Event Hubs/Service Bus, Cosmos DB) and their AI/ML integration patterns.Experience with data integration architectures (data lakes, ETL/ELT, streaming), data governance (Microsoft Purview), and security best practices relevant to AI solutions.Working knowledge of the Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework and FinOps principles for cost-optimised cloud design.Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.Ability to lead and mentor technical teams, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.Experience working in a consulting environment is a significant advantage.Demonstrated ability to contribute to business development, client relationship management, and practice-building activities, consistent with a Senior Manager-level remit. Connect to your business - Technology and Transformation Distinctive thinking, deep expertise, innovation and collaborative working. That’s what connects us. That’s what makes us Deloitte. If you want to help solve some of the biggest tech and transformational challenges around, join us. Together, we’ll make an impact that matters. Engineering, AI and Data We lead transformation at the heart of our clients; re-engineering the core of our clients’ organisations, helping to unleash growth, and creating better futures for their customers, citizens and employees. Personal independence Regulation and controls are standard practice in our industry and Deloitte is no exception. These controls provide important legal protection for both you and the firm. We are subject to a number of audit regulations, one of which requires that certain colleagues abide by specific personal independence constraints (e.g., in relation to any financial interests and employment relationships). This can mean that you and your "Immediate Family Members" are not permitted to hold certain financial interests (shares, funds, bonds etc.) with audit clients of the firm, and also prohibitions on certain employment relationships (e.g., you are not permitted to hold a secondary employment role with SEC audit clients of the firm whilst being employed by the firm). The recruitment team will provide further detail as you progress through the recruitment process or you can contact the Independence team upon request. Connect with your colleagues “What attracted me to Deloitte were the endless opportunities and the collective experience of other like-minded individuals. Deloitte’s clients include many of the world’s largest organisations; I wanted to be part of a team that made a difference that I could be proud of.” - Dan, Technology and Transformation Our hybrid working policy You’ll be based in London with hybrid working. At Deloitte we understand the importance of balancing your career alongside your home life. That’s why we’ll support you to work flexibly through our hybrid working policy. Depending on the requirements of your role, you’ll have the opportunity to work in your local office, virtual collaboration spaces, client sites and remotely. You’ll get the chance to meet face to face when needed, while you collaborate and learn from colleagues, share your experiences, and build the relationships that will fuel your career and prioritise your wellbeing. Please check with your recruiter for the specific working requirements that may apply for your role. Our commitment to you Making an impact is more than just what we do: it’s why we’re here. So we work hard to create an environment where you can experience a purpose you believe in, the freedom to be you, and the capacity to go further than ever before. We want you. The true you. Your own strengths, perspective and personality. So we’re nurturing a culture where everyone belongs, feels supported and heard, and is empowered to make a valuable, personal contribution. You can be sure we’ll take your wellbeing seriously, too. Because it’s only when you’re comfortable and at your best that you can make the kind of impact you, and we, live for. Your expertise is our capability, so we’ll make sure it never stops growing. Whether it’s from the complex work you do, or the people you collaborate with, you’ll learn every day. Through world-class development, you’ll gain invaluable technical and personal skills. Whatever your level, you’ll learn how to lead. Connect to your next step A career at Deloitte is an opportunity to develop in any direction you choose. Join us and you’ll experience a purpose you can believe in and an impact you can see. You’ll be free to bring your true self to work every day. And you’ll never stop growing, whatever your level. Discover more reasons to connect with us, our people and purpose-driven culture at deloitte.co.uk/careers