Cloud Infrastructure Architect in Liverpool

Acorn Insurance are looking for a passionate Cloud Infrastructure Architect who will be responsible for designing, implementing, and optimising secure, scalable, and highly available cloud platforms. This role provides technical leadership across cloud strategy, architecture governance, infrastructure modernisation, and operational excellence. The architect partners closely with engineering, security, operations, and business teams to ensure the cloud environment supports organisational goals and meets enterprise standards.

Key Role Responsibilities:

• Develop end-to-end cloud architectures that support enterprise workloads, including compute, storage, networking, identity, and automation.
• Develop a close working relationship with Head of Platform Engineering (HoPE) to ensure robust design and delivery across our cloud platforms.
• Create reference architectures, design patterns, and technical standards for cloud environments.
• Design hybrid and multi-cloud strategies leveraging platforms such as Azure, AWS, and GCP.
• Evaluate new cloud services, tools, and technologies to guide technical direction.
• Lead the design and implementation of core cloud infrastructure components: virtual networks, identity and access, monitoring, encryption, resilience, and backup strategies.
• Define infrastructure-as-code (IaC) patterns using tools such as Terraform, Bicep, or ARM.
• Support migration of workloads from on-premise to cloud platforms following best-practice frameworks.
• Ensure cloud designs adhere to security standards, regulatory requirements, and architectural governance.
• Implement Zero Trust principles, network segmentation, encryption, key management, and secure access control models.
• Partner with Security Operations and SOC teams to ensure monitoring, logging, and incident response capabilities are embedded.
• Develop automation and service optimisation strategies to improve performance, cost efficiency, and availability.
• Conduct capacity planning, resilience engineering, disaster recovery design, and performance tuning.
• Act as a subject-matter expert and trusted advisor for cloud strategy and infrastructure initiatives.
• Mentor engineers and contribute to capability uplift across cloud, DevOps, and infrastructure teams.
• Communicate technical concepts clearly to executives, project managers, and non-technical stakeholders.

A strong hands-on technical background with 3+ years across several disciplines; networking, infrastructure, cloud platform and system administration. Extensive experience designing and supporting cloud infrastructure on Azure, AWS, or GCP. Strong understanding of networking (VNETs/VPCs, routing, DNS, load balancing, firewalls). Deep knowledge of infrastructure-as-code and automation tooling. Experience with container platforms (AKS, EKS, GKE, Kubernetes) and serverless architectures. Strong background in identity and access management (Azure AD, IAM, RBAC). Proven experience building scalable, resilient, and secure cloud architectures. Solid understanding of cloud cost optimisation and FinOps principles.

At Acorn Insurance, we’re proud of our Liverpool roots — and even prouder of how far we’ve come. As part of the Acorn Group, we bring over 40 years of specialist insurance expertise to the table. From humble beginnings, we’ve grown into a national leader, now employing 1,700+ people across the UK and reached a milestone £750 million in total value of insurance policies written in 2024. We’re growing fast, with new opportunities emerging every week. That growth is largely due to the values we share:

• We run through walls for our customers and each other
• We challenge the status quo
• We succeed when we help those around us succeed
• We decide quickly when the smart thing to do is use our judgement

Benefits:

• 35 days’ holiday (including bank holidays) with additional buy/sell options
• 24/7 mental health support & free counselling available
• Flexible benefits, including early access to salary via our internal platform
• Hybrid working options to support work-life balance and individual needs

Our Commitment to our colleagues:

• Mindful Employer – championing mental health and wellbeing
• Disability Confident Level 1 & 2 – creating accessible, inclusive opportunities
• Menopause Friendly accredited – supporting every stage of life
• Armed Forces Covenant signatory – honouring those who serve
• Great Places to Work 2024/25 – fostering an engaging and positive workplace culture
• Best Place to Work for Development – proud to be investing in people’s future
• Best Place to Work for Women – breaking down barriers to women's career progression

If you’re looking for a company with a strong culture, real career progression, and a people-first approach — all rooted in the heart of Liverpool — Grow with Acorn.

A Few Things to Know Before You Apply:

• If your application is successful, we will commence relevant employment checks prior to you commencing employment with us. These will include a standard criminal record check and an insolvency register check.
• Visa Requirements: Because our training is quite comprehensive, we can only consider applicants who have at least one year remaining on their Graduate or Post-Study Work visa. At the moment, we’re not able to offer visa sponsorship.
• We’re Here to Support You: We’re committed to creating an inclusive, supportive workplace where everyone can flourish. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process—or once you’re part of the team—just let us know. Whether it’s flexible hours, adapted equipment, or a bit of extra support, we’ll work with you to make sure you can do your best work.