Cloud & Platform Architect in London

The role defines and drives Harbour’s global cloud, platform and identity architecture. Responsible for setting the target state, standards and roadmap across cloud foundations, hybrid connectivity, platform services, and operational resilience, enabling teams and strategic partners to deliver secure, scalable, and cost‑effective outcomes. Shaping how Harbour Energy design, govern and evolve cloud platforms and core infrastructure services in a complex, regulated, and high‑availability environment. Owning architectural direction, guiding senior stakeholders, and shaping delivery through large managed service providers and internal engineering teams.

Critical Responsibilities (MAE/MATTE/HSES)

• Ensuring that all activities are carried out in a safe manner complying with all regulatory requirements, legislation and Harbour Energy HSES Procedures.

Ethics and Compliance Responsibilities

• Ensure that all activities and behaviours are carried out in accordance with Harbour Energy’s Ethics and Compliance Policies and Procedures, and to complete any compulsory compliance training as required.

Areas of Accountability, Responsibility and Competence

• Accountable for global Cloud and Platform Architecture, sets domain direction, provides governance and assurance, influences senior stakeholders and suppliers; operates with high autonomy and authority.
• Own and evolve the cloud and hybrid platform target architecture (multi‑year roadmap, reference architectures, and standards).
• Define architectural guardrails for:
• Policy and rules to regulate cloud implementations and changes
• Cloud landing zones / foundational services (networking, security baseline, monitoring, identity integration, logging)
• Hybrid integration patterns (connectivity, routing, DNS, directory integration, certificate services)
• Core platform services (compute, storage, backup/recovery, observability, platform security controls)
• Resilience and operational architecture (availability, DR, recoverability, service continuity)
• Provide architecture leadership for platform modernisation initiatives, ensuring designs are secure‑by‑design, operable, and cost‑conscious.
• Drive standardisation and reuse through reference architecture for delivery teams and suppliers.

Cloud Governance, Assurance & Design Authority

• Lead architectural governance for cloud/platform designs.
• Chair or contribute to design reviews; set acceptance criteria and non‑functional requirements.
• Approve and assure solution designs and major changes against enterprise standards.
• Maintain architectural decision records, technical debt visibility, and risk treatment plans.
• Ensure cloud and platform services meet requirements for security, compliance, auditability, and operational maturity.

Managed Service Provider & Supplier Architectural Oversight

• Act as the senior architectural counterpart to strategic providers.
• Define service architecture requirements and guardrails for partner delivery.
• Review and challenge vendor designs; ensure alignment to target architecture and standards.
• Drive continuous improvement of runbooks, controls, observability, and service quality.
• Support commercial and service governance where architecture decisions impact cost, resilience, and risk.

Stakeholder Engagement & Strategic Enablement

• Translate business and operational requirements into clear platform outcomes and roadmaps.
• Engage senior stakeholders across Technology, Cyber Security, Risk/Compliance, and business functions.
• Communicate complex architecture decisions simply and credibly—balancing speed, risk, resilience, and cost.

Critical Skills, Qualifications, Experience, etc.

• Proven experience leading cloud and hybrid platform architecture in a large enterprise environment.
• Strong knowledge of cloud foundations and platform building blocks (landing zones, networking, monitoring/logging, security baselines, resilience patterns).
• Ability to create and maintain reference architectures, standards, patterns, and roadmaps, and to use governance to enable delivery.
• Strong understanding of operability: monitoring/observability, incident/problem management alignment, DR, recoverability, service continuity, and control design.
• Experience driving architectural outcomes in supplier/MSP‑led delivery models (assurance, challenge, alignment, pragmatic decision‑making).
• Experience designing and governing identity capabilities aligned to cloud and platforms.
• Credible at senior levels, able to influence without direct authority.
• Strong decision‑making under constraints: risk, cost, time, and delivery realities.
• Comfortable working across security, infrastructure, cloud engineering, and service management teams.
• Demonstrates strong awareness of the commercial and operational impact of architectural decisions.
• Cloud architecture certifications (Azure/AWS/GCP).
• TOGAF or equivalent architecture practice experience.

Preferred

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification is preferred.
• Comparable AWS certifications are also valued.
• Familiarity with Zero Trust principles and policy‑based access approaches.
• Experience in environments requiring strong controls, audit evidence, and operational resilience (e.g., critical infrastructure, industrial, highly regulated enterprise).
• Security/identity related certifications (IAM, security architecture, PAM).
• Experience in Oil & Gas sector.
• Degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Engineering, Cyber Security, or related discipline.

Inclusive Recruitment

Inclusive recruitment is a vital part of our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Whatever your background, if you feel you need an adjustment during our selection process to suit your needs, please let us know, and we will be happy to help.