At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team of Solution Architects in cloud migration projects and ensure technical coherence.
- Company: Join a dynamic tech environment focused on legacy-to-cloud transitions.
- Benefits: Competitive contract rate, flexible working days, and potential for extension.
- Other info: Opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies and collaborate with diverse technical specialists.
- Why this job: Make a significant impact by guiding complex migrations and shaping architectural strategies.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in leading architecture teams and managing large-scale migrations.
The predicted salary is between 69935 - 85477 £ per year.
Lead Solution Architect - Legacy-to-Cloud Migration
Contract: 6 month initial period with option to extend
Rate: 725 inside IR35
Location: 1/2 days a month on site, some weekend work may be required for migration cutovers.
Your Role
As Lead Solution Architect, you will lead the team of Solution Architects working across a squad. You will provide architectural oversight from service discovery through migration planning, testing, cutover and early-life support, ensuring that technical decisions align to the agreed programme approach and that dependencies are managed across service boundaries. You will lead the architecture function day to day, coaching and guiding Solution Architects, reviewing migration approaches and escalating or resolving complex technical issues that span multiple services. You will remain close enough to the technical details to challenge assumptions, support difficult decisions and intervene where architecture, integration, infrastructure, security or operational readiness creates delivery risk. You will work closely with programme leadership, discovery teams, Delivery Managers, Migration Engineers, Infrastructure Engineers, AWS specialists, managed hosting specialists, UK Government network and security teams, service owners and technical SMEs. You will act as the senior architecture point of coordination across these groups and provide clear technical direction to the wider architecture team.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coordinate and provide technical direction to the team of Solution Architects working across a squad.
- Own architectural coherence across the migration programme, ensuring service-level migration approaches align to established AWS patterns, hosting principles and programme controls.
- Review and assure Solution Architect outputs, including migration approaches, dependencies, connectivity requirements, technical risks, cutover readiness and rollback considerations.
- Provide senior technical governance for complex or high-risk services and resolve architectural issues that span multiple PODs, Wave Squads or technology domains.
- Maintain a programme-level view of upstream and downstream dependencies, integration points, shared infrastructure, network routes and sequencing constraints.
- Ensure the architecture team translates discovery outputs into clear, executable technical plans for Migration Engineers, Infrastructure Engineers and supporting technical teams.
- Chair or lead architecture reviews where required, driving timely decisions and clear ownership of technical actions, risks, assumptions and exceptions.
- Coach and support Solution Architects, raising consistency and quality across technical analysis, documentation, stakeholder engagement and migration readiness.
- Work with AWS, managed hosting, application, platform, database, network, security and legacy technology specialists to resolve cross-cutting technical constraints.
Essential skills
- Proven experience as a Lead Solution Architect, Principal Architect, Lead Technical Architect or equivalent on large-scale hosting transition, application migration or cloud migration programmes.
- Direct experience leading architects and technical teams responsible for moving live services, rather than solely designing target-state or greenfield cloud solutions.
- Strong technical understanding across applications, infrastructure, databases, middleware, networks and service integration.
- Experience interpreting service discovery information and converting it into practical migration plans using defined patterns or repeatable migration approaches.
- Experience managing complex upstream and downstream dependencies and re-establishing connectivity across firewalls, networks and hosting boundaries.
- Experience providing technical leadership to Solution Architects and engineering teams through migration planning, execution, testing, cutover and rollback.
- Ability to work in technical detail, investigate difficult service-specific problems and make pragmatic decisions under delivery constraints.
- Broad exposure to legacy enterprise estates.
- Candidates are not expected to be deep specialists in every technology, but should be comfortable working across mixed stacks and coordinating relevant SMEs.
- Strong understanding of operational readiness, security, access, resilience, monitoring, testing and service continuity requirements.
- Experience operating within architectural governance, technical controls and multi-supplier delivery environments.
- Strong leadership and communication skills, with confidence challenging and guiding architects, engineers, service owners, technical SMEs and senior programme stakeholders.
Desirable skills
- Experience of UK public-sector, regulated or business-critical service environments.
- Experience migrating services into AWS and managed hosting environments such as managed hosting, including virtual-machine-led rehosting or relocation approaches.
- Experience with one or more legacy technology groups such as Java, .NET, Oracle, WebLogic, IIS, Windows/Linux, AIX, Solaris, COBOL, GEN or mainframe.
- Experience leading architecture across high-volume wave-based migration programmes involving multiple PODs, Wave Squads, services and parallel technical teams.
- Experience supporting production cutovers where downtime, rollback and continuity risks require careful control.
- Current or transferable security clearance, or eligibility to obtain the required clearance.
Lead Solutions / Migration Architect in Somerset employer: TXP
At TXP, we are committed to creating a dynamic and inclusive work environment where our employees can thrive. As a Senior Data Business Analyst in Birmingham, you will not only engage in meaningful projects within the pensions and insurance sectors but also benefit from our strong focus on professional development and social responsibility. Join us to be part of a team that values diversity, fosters growth, and makes a positive impact in the community.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Solutions / Migration Architect in Somerset
✨Get Involved in Open-Source Projects
Diving into open-source projects is a brilliant way to showcase your skills and connect with other developers in the community. Not only will you beef up your GitHub profile but you might also catch the eye of someone at TXP who values hands-on experience over just theory.
✨Attend Local Tech Meetups
Tech meetups are gold mines for networking and discovering job opportunities, especially in the fast-paced world of software engineering. Check out local listings for events in your area and don’t shy away from introducing yourself. This could lead directly to a temporary position at TXP!
✨Showcase Your Work Online
With temporary roles, it’s all about standing out in a short space of time. Create a portfolio website where you highlight your projects and skills. Talk about your code, and provide links to your GitHub repositories. This will not only demonstrate your abilities but will also make it easier for recruiters at TXP to see what you bring to the table.
✨Leverage Temporary Job Boards
Don’t forget to check specialised job boards for temporary software development roles. Websites like We Work Remotely or Remote OK often list short-term gigs that can be a perfect fit. Apply directly through our website as well, making sure your application is sharp—temporary roles can move fast!
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Solutions / Migration Architect in Somerset
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Tech Skills:Make sure your CV highlights your tech stack and any programming languages you’re proficient in. Include specifics about any frameworks or technologies you’ve worked with; they can make you stand out in the sea of applicants. It’s all about showing that you have the chops we need at TXP!
Portfolio 2.0:Since you’re applying for a temporary gig, it’s super important to showcase a portfolio that highlights your best projects. Include links to GitHub or any personal projects that demonstrate what you can do in a real-world environment. This gives us a taste of your style and your problem-solving approach!
Keep It Brief and Relevant:With a temporary position, we want to see your ability to hit the ground running. Be concise in your CV and cover letter; stick to experiences that directly relate to the role. Highlight any previous temporary roles or freelance gigs that show your adaptability and quick learning!
Tailor Your Cover Letter:Don’t just send a generic cover letter. Personalise it for Lead Solutions / Migration Architect at TXP! Mention why this temporary role excites you and how you see yourself contributing in the short run. Show us what you've got and why you're the one for this quick turn-around!
How to prepare for a job interview at TXP
✨Nail the Technical Skills
For a software engineering role, you'll likely face technical questions or coding tasks during your interview. Brush up on the relevant programming languages and frameworks that TXP uses, and don’t forget to practice some coding challenges on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank. Showing your coding prowess can really make you stand out!
✨Prepare for System Design Questions
Even for a temporary role, having a grasp of system design principles can be crucial. Be ready to discuss how you would architect a software solution, including discussing trade-offs, scalability, and performance considerations. Having examples from previous projects can really show off your analytical thinking.
✨Demonstrate Your Adaptability
Since this is a temporary role, you'll want to emphasise your ability to hit the ground running. Highlight experiences where you quickly adapted to new technologies or teams. Let’s make it clear to the interviewers at TXP that you can learn on the job and deliver results in a short timeframe!
✨Show Off Your Portfolio
Make sure to have a portfolio or GitHub ready showcasing your projects. Having tangible evidence of what you've done—be it personal projects, contributions to open-source, or previous work—can convey how capable you are. Tailor this for what might interest TXP, so it's relevant and sparks conversation during your interview.
