At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design of innovative cloud-agnostic architecture for AI systems.
- Company: Join Williams Lea, a leader in enterprise technology solutions.
- Benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary, remote work flexibility, and comprehensive benefits.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team with opportunities for professional growth.
- Why this job: Shape the future of AI technology while ensuring security and compliance.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in architecture and cloud technologies is essential.
The predicted salary is between 96000 - 144000 £ per year.
Join to apply for the Lead Architect role at Williams Lea
This range is provided by Williams Lea. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.
Base pay range
Salary: £120,000 per annum, plus company benefits
Location: Remote (must be based in the UK)
Contract: Full Time, Permanent
Shifts: 37.5 hours per week, Monday – Friday, 8:30am until 5pm with 1 hour unpaid lunch break
Work model: Fully remote
Williams Lea seeks a Lead Architect to join our team!
Williams Lea is the leading global provider of skilled, technology-enabled, business-critical support services, with long-term trusted relationships with blue‑chip clients across investment banks, law firms and professional services firms. Williams Lea employees, nearly 7000 people worldwide, provide efficient business services at client sites in often complex and highly regulated environments, from centralised Williams Lea onshore facilities, and through best cost company offshore locations.
Purpose of role
As Lead Architect, you will be the technical thought leader responsible for defining and driving our enterprise platform architecture strategy. You’ll design and govern our cloud‑agnostic, security‑first infrastructure that supports autonomous AI agents, complex integrations, and stringent regulatory requirements. This is a hands‑on leadership role where you’ll balance strategic vision with practical implementation, ensuring our architecture scales elegantly across multi‑cloud environments while maintaining the trust of our enterprise clients.
You’ll work at the intersection of cutting‑edge AI technology and enterprise security, enabling our platform to deliver innovative agentic AI capabilities within the constraints of SOC2, ISO27001, and industry‑specific compliance frameworks.
Key responsibilities
Strategic Architecture & Technical Leadership
- Establish and evolve the enterprise platform architecture strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives and regulatory requirements
- Represent the company’s technical capabilities to enterprise clients, partners, and at industry events; publish technical content and contribute to architectural standards
- Drive cloud‑agnostic design principles across AWS and Azure, ensuring portability and optimization for different deployment tiers
- Establish and enforce technical standards, design patterns, and best practices across all engineering teams
- Own major architectural decisions affecting platform scalability, security, performance, and compliance
Agentic AI Architecture
- Architect scalable infrastructure for autonomous AI agents, including orchestration, communication protocols, and execution environments
- Implement Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent‑to‑Agent (A2A) standards, ensuring interoperability and secure agent communication
- Design abstraction layers for multiple LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock), enabling flexible model selection and cost optimisation
- Establish frameworks for AI safety, ethics, model monitoring, and regulatory compliance specific to AI systems
Security & Compliance Architecture
- Embed security controls at every architectural layer, implementing zero‑trust principles and defense‑in‑depth strategies
- Architect solutions meeting SOC2, ISO27001, GDPR, amongst others
- Design data residency and processing controls for multi‑region deployments and client‑specific compliance requirements
- Establish comprehensive logging, monitoring, and audit trail capabilities across all deployment tiers
- Define service boundaries, API contracts, and integration patterns for loosely coupled, independently deployable services
- Design secure tenant isolation for SaaS deployments while enabling single‑tenant options for enterprise clients
- Architect for high availability (99.9%+ uptime), low latency (<2s>
- Define data management strategies including database per service patterns, event sourcing, and data pipeline architectures
Technical Team Leadership
- Guide solution architects on customer‑specific implementations and enterprise integrations
- Work closely with development teams across Conversational AI, Integration, and AI Platform functions
- Lead architectural review board, evaluating proposed changes and ensuring consistency across teams
- Develop architectural capabilities across the engineering organization through coaching and knowledge sharing
Personal attributes
- 10+ years in enterprise software architecture, with at least 5 years in senior/principal architect roles
- Proven track record designing and delivering large‑scale SaaS platforms for enterprise B2B customers ($250K+ contract values)
- Regulated industry experience in financial services, legal, healthcare, or similar highly regulated domains
- Cloud‑native expertise with production experience architecting on both AWS and Azure at scale
- Security architecture experience including zero‑trust, encryption, identity management, and compliance frameworks
- AI/ML platform experience, preferably including LLM integration and/or agentic AI systems
Technical Expertise
- Cloud & Infrastructure (Essential) - Deep expertise in AWS services (EC2, ECS/EKS, Lambda, S3, RDS, DynamoDB, SQS/SNS, API Gateway, Cognito, KMS) – Strong knowledge of Azure (AKS, Functions, Cosmos DB, Service Bus, App Service, Key Vault, Azure OpenAI) – Container orchestration with Kubernetes in production environments – Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar) – Service mesh architectures (Istio, Linkerd) and API gateways – Multi‑cloud networking, VPNs, private endpoints, and hybrid connectivity
- Security & Compliance (Essential) - Zero‑trust architecture principles and implementation - Encryption standards (TLS 1.3, AES‑256, key management, HSM integration) - Identity and access management (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, mTLS) - Security certifications: SOC2 Type II, ISO27001, PCI DSS compliance - GDPR, data residency, and financial services regulatory requirements - Threat modeling, security architecture reviews, and vulnerability management
- Software Architecture (Essential) - Microservices architecture and domain‑driven design - Event‑driven architecture and message‑based systems - API design (REST, GraphQL, gRPC) and API management - Database architecture (SQL, NoSQL, time‑series, vector databases) - Distributed systems patterns (circuit breakers, bulkheads, saga pattern) - Performance optimisation and scalability patterns
- AI & Agentic Systems
- Experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar agent standards
- Real‑time systems and WebSocket architectures
- Natural language processing and conversational AI platforms
- Financial data provider integrations (Bloomberg, Refinitiv)
- Legal technology or document intelligence systems
Certifications
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional (essential)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (desirable)
- Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E) for GDPR expertise (desirable)
Rewards and Benefits
We believe in supporting our employees in both their professional and personal lives. As part of our commitment to your well‑being, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including but not limited to:
- 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays (pro‑rata for part time roles)
- Salary sacrifice schemes, retail vouchers – including our TechScheme which can be used on a range of gadgets such as Smart TV’s, laptops and computers or household appliances.
- Life Assurance
- Private Medical Insurance
- Health Assessments
- Discounted gym memberships
- Referral Scheme
Equality and Diversity
The Company values the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation and will not discriminate because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (each of these being a “protected characteristic” in discrimination law). It will not discriminate because of any other irrelevant factor and will build a culture that values openness, fairness and transparency.
If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like to make a reasonable adjustment to enable you to make an interview please contact us at careersatWL@williamslea.com (we do not accept applications to this email address).
View our Privacy Notice https://www.williamslea.com/privacy-statement
Lead Architect employer: Williams Lea
Williams Lea is an excellent employer that champions diversity and offers a dynamic work culture in the heart of London. With competitive pay, generous holiday benefits, and ample opportunities for career development, employees can thrive in a supportive environment while working on exciting design projects. Join us to be part of a globally recognized team that values your contributions and fosters professional growth.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Lead Architect
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend virtual meetups, and engage with professionals on LinkedIn. We all know that sometimes it’s not just what you know, but who you know that can help you land that Lead Architect role.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those interviews by practising common questions and scenarios related to architecture and AI. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or using online platforms to get comfortable discussing your experience and technical skills.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your expertise! Create a portfolio or a blog where you share insights about cloud-agnostic design principles or security-first infrastructure. This not only demonstrates your knowledge but also makes you stand out to potential employers.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, we love seeing candidates who are proactive and engaged with our company.
We think you need these skills to ace Lead Architect
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV is tailored to the Lead Architect role. Highlight your experience with cloud-agnostic architectures and any relevant certifications. We want to see how your skills align with our needs!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're passionate about this role and how your background makes you the perfect fit. Don’t forget to mention your experience with AI technologies and compliance frameworks.
Showcase Your Technical Expertise:In your application, be sure to showcase your technical expertise. Discuss specific projects where you've implemented security-first strategies or designed scalable infrastructures. We love seeing real-world examples of your work!
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply through our website for the best chance of getting noticed. It’s super easy, and you’ll be able to keep track of your application status. Let’s get started on this journey together!
How to prepare for a job interview at Williams Lea
✨Know Your Architecture Inside Out
As a Lead Architect, you need to be well-versed in enterprise platform architecture strategies. Brush up on cloud-agnostic designs and security-first principles. Be ready to discuss how you've implemented these in past roles, as this will show your practical experience.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
This role is hands-on leadership, so prepare examples of how you've led teams in architectural decisions. Think about times when you balanced strategic vision with practical implementation, and be ready to share those stories during the interview.
✨Understand Compliance Requirements
Familiarise yourself with SOC2, ISO27001, and GDPR regulations. Be prepared to discuss how you've ensured compliance in previous projects, as this will demonstrate your ability to navigate complex regulatory environments.
✨Prepare for Technical Questions
Expect deep technical questions related to AI architecture, cloud services, and security protocols. Review key concepts like Model Context Protocol and Agent-to-Agent standards, and think through how you would approach designing scalable infrastructure for autonomous AI agents.
