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For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead architectural design and guide engineering practices for a major transformation programme.
- Company: Established SaaS organisation in the financial sector, focused on digital product delivery.
- Benefits: Competitive day rate, hands-on leadership role, and opportunity to shape modern engineering practices.
- Why this job: Join a transformative project and make a significant impact on technology ecosystems.
- Qualifications: Extensive experience as a Kafka Architect/Solution Architect with strong engineering background.
- Other info: Dynamic work environment with opportunities for mentoring and career growth.
Contract | Inside IR35
2 Days Onsite per Week – Canary Wharf
£750–£800 per day
About the Organisation
Our client is a well-established SaaS-led organisation operating within a highly regulated environment, delivering digital products used across financial and operational industries. The company is embarking on a major transformation programme to streamline and modernise its internal systems, enabling faster product delivery, improved scalability, and a more cohesive technology ecosystem. The programme aims to redesign the internal application landscape to ensure systems work together seamlessly—improving engineering velocity, reliability, and the organisation’s ability to bring new products to market.
The Role
We are seeking an experienced Kafka Architect/Solution Architect to join the transformation project with the full programme expected to run 12 months or longer. You will lead architectural thinking, define the technical blueprint, and guide engineering practices to support the creation of a unified system landscape that enables smoother product deployment and improved platform cohesion. This is a hands-on leadership role working closely with engineering, product, architecture, and business stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
- Technical Leadership & Architecture
- Lead technical discovery to assess the current application, integration and infrastructure landscape.
- Own architectural decisions and produce technical specifications to enable a clear transformation roadmap.
- Define a cohesive system architecture across front-end, middleware, APIs, and backend data services.
- Support the creation and prioritisation of backlogs for engineering teams to deliver against.
- Engineering Strategy & Delivery
- Mentor and guide a small group of engineers, promoting strong engineering and delivery discipline.
- Oversee and shape the end-to-end SDLC, ensuring consistency across development, testing, DevOps and release processes.
- Advocate for modern engineering practices including automation, containerisation, and continuous delivery.
- Identify opportunities to leverage AI and automation within the SDLC to improve engineering productivity.
- Platform & Infrastructure
- Work across both public cloud and on-prem environments with an emphasis on containerised services (e.g., Kubernetes).
- Ensure infrastructure aligns to the new target architecture and supports scalable, reliable product delivery.
- Contribute to decisions on integration patterns, data flows, APIs, microservices and broader platform modernisation.
Skills & Experience
Essential
- Multiple years’ experience operating at Kafka Architect/Solution Architect level within SaaS organisations (ideally with exposure to financial services or regulated industries).
- Strong full-stack engineering background, with the ability to design and evaluate front-end, middleware, and backend architectures.
- Experience mentoring, coaching or managing small engineering teams.
- Proven ownership of architectural decisions, technical specifications and shaping of engineering backlogs.
- Hands-on experience improving SDLC effectiveness, including:
- Experience across Kafka and Kubernetes
- CI/CD
- Release management
- Strong understanding of infrastructure automation and containerisation (Kubernetes).
- Ability to work across cloud and on-prem environments.
Desirable
- Background in Java engineering (not essential).
- Experience with multi-cloud or hybrid architectures.
- Exposure to AI adoption within engineering processes.
Engagement Details
- Day Rate: £700–£800 (Inside IR35)
- Location: Canary Wharf – 2 days onsite
- Start Date: ASAP
Kafka Architect in Southampton employer: Verse Consulting
Contact Detail:
Verse Consulting Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Kafka Architect in Southampton
✨Network Like a Pro
Get out there and connect with people in the industry! Attend meetups, webinars, or even just grab a coffee with someone who’s already in the role you want. We all know that sometimes it’s not just what you know, but who you know that can help you land that Kafka Architect gig.
✨Show Off Your Skills
When you get the chance to chat with potential employers, don’t hold back! Share your hands-on experience with Kafka, Kubernetes, and any cool projects you've worked on. We want to see how you can bring value to their transformation programme!
✨Ask Smart Questions
During interviews, come prepared with insightful questions about their current architecture and challenges. This shows you’re genuinely interested and have done your homework. Plus, it gives you a chance to demonstrate your expertise in creating cohesive system landscapes.
✨Apply Through Our Website
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. We’re here to help you navigate the job market and find that perfect role in the transformation space.
We think you need these skills to ace Kafka Architect in Southampton
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV speaks directly to the Kafka Architect role. Highlight your experience with Kafka, Kubernetes, and any relevant SaaS projects. We want to see how your skills align with our transformation programme!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're the perfect fit for this role. Share specific examples of your architectural decisions and how they’ve positively impacted previous projects. We love a good story!
Showcase Your Technical Skills: Don’t hold back on showcasing your technical expertise! Mention your hands-on experience with CI/CD, release management, and infrastructure automation. We’re looking for someone who can hit the ground running, so let us know what you bring to the table.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It helps us keep track of your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates. Plus, we love seeing applications come in directly!
How to prepare for a job interview at Verse Consulting
✨Know Your Kafka Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your Kafka knowledge before the interview. Be prepared to discuss your experience with Kafka architecture, including how you've implemented it in previous projects. Highlight specific challenges you've faced and how you overcame them.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Kafka Architect, you'll be expected to lead and mentor engineering teams. Prepare examples of how you've successfully guided teams in the past, focusing on your approach to fostering collaboration and promoting best practices in engineering.
✨Understand the Transformation Programme
Familiarise yourself with the company's transformation goals. Be ready to discuss how your architectural decisions can support their aim for improved scalability and faster product delivery. This shows that you're not just technically proficient but also aligned with their vision.
✨Prepare for Technical Questions
Expect in-depth technical questions related to system architecture, CI/CD processes, and containerisation. Brush up on your knowledge of Kubernetes and infrastructure automation, as these are crucial for the role. Practising mock interviews can help you articulate your thoughts clearly.