Infrastructure Architect

Halma has a complex environment consisting of an HQ organisation and 40+ individual companies. The Infrastructure Architect is a senior technical authority responsible for defining, governing and evolving infrastructure architecture across M365, Azure, Dynamics 365, Power Platform and on‑premises infrastructure. This role provides architectural direction, standards and assurance across the group. The Infrastructure Architect will ensure infrastructure platforms are secure, resilient, scalable and aligned to business and technology strategy, while enabling operating companies to adopt best practices consistently. The role will be reporting into the Head of Global Technology Services and works closely with senior technical leads to provide architectural oversight for major initiatives, migrations and transformations.

Role Responsibilities

• Act as the design authority for enterprise infrastructure across M365, Azure, Dynamics 365, Power Platform and on‑premises environments.
• Define and maintain infrastructure principles, standards, reference designs and target roadmaps.
• Lead M365 tenant strategy and complex migrations, aligned to security, identity, compliance and operating models.
• Define Azure and hybrid architecture patterns aligned to the Azure Well-Architected Framework across cost, reliability, security, operations and performance.
• Oversee on‑premises infrastructure architecture, integration, lifecycle management and modernisation.
• Own architecture for business continuity, disaster recovery, backup and resilience across cloud and on‑premises environments.
• Advise operating companies on adopting new technologies and infrastructure solutions.
• Ensure architecture aligns with change control, governance and risk management.
• Maintain architectural documentation, including conceptual, logical and physical diagrams.
• Promote Infrastructure as Code and automation‑first principles using Terraform, Bicep or ARM for consistent deployments.
• Align infrastructure architecture with DevOps and platform engineering to enable CI/CD, standardised environments and faster delivery.
• Define and govern FinOps practices, including cost optimisation, usage governance, budgeting and forecasting across Azure and M365.
• Establish cost controls, including tagging, showback/chargeback and accountability across operating companies.
• Provide architectural guidance to balance cost, performance, scalability and resilience.
• Define infrastructure architecture for AI/ML workloads, advanced analytics and high-performance computing.
• Ensure platforms are AI‑ready with scalable compute, data integration, secure access and responsible AI controls.
• Evaluate emerging Microsoft capabilities, including Copilot and AI services, and define group‑wide adoption patterns.
• Promote AIOps to improve incident detection, automated remediation and operational insight.
• Stay current with technology trends, Microsoft roadmaps and emerging capabilities to inform future architecture decisions.

Role Prerequisites

• Significant experience (typically 8+ years) in infrastructure, cloud or platform roles, including demonstrated time operating at an architectural or design authority level.
• Deep experience with Microsoft Azure and M365 in enterprise or global environments.
• Strong understanding of hybrid infrastructure, including on‑premises data centres, networking and identity integration.
• Experience supporting or integrating SaaS platforms such as Dynamics 365 and Power Platform from an infrastructure and security perspective.
• Proven experience defining architecture standards, patterns and governance in complex, multi‑company organisations.
• Strong knowledge of identity and access management technologies (Entra ID / Azure AD, Azure AD Connect, ADFS, federation, MFA and conditional access).
• Experience shaping and assuring infrastructure migrations and modernisation programmes.
• Proven ability to translate complex technical architecture into clear guidance for engineers, leaders and stakeholders.

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Professional Attributes

• Proven Architectural Leadership - Demonstrates strong systems thinking and architectural judgement, with the ability to balance strategic direction and pragmatic delivery.
• Operational & Design Excellence - Experienced in operating within service‑oriented environments while elevating architecture maturity, consistency and resilience across platforms.
• Entrepreneurial “Can‑Do” Approach - Creative, resilient and outcome‑focused.
• Commercial, Analytic & Strategic Mindset - Able to evaluate options, assess risk, define trade‑offs and influence decisions.
• Cultural Fit - Non‑political, collaborative, transparent and low‑ego.

Location

This role is based in London with a hybrid working style, also includes additional project‑dependent travel requirements to our London office and to our operating companies in the UK and abroad.