At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead cloud strategies and engineering solutions for diverse clients.
- Company: Zühlke, a global transformation partner with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Flexible working hours, profit share, and a commitment to personal development.
- Other info: Join a diverse community and enjoy excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Shape the future of technology while making a real impact on businesses.
- Qualifications: Experience in cloud architecture and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 88000 £ per year.
Founded in Switzerland in 1968, Zühlke is owned by its partners and located across Europe and Asia. We are a global transformation partner, with engineering and innovation in our DNA. We're trusted to help clients envision and build their businesses for the future – to run smarter today while adapting for tomorrow’s markets, customers, and communities. Our multidisciplinary teams specialise in tech strategy and business innovation, digital solutions and applications, and device and systems engineering. We excel in complex, regulated spaces including health and finance, connecting strategy, tech implementation, and operational services to help clients become more effective, resilient businesses.
If you share our values and want to do the best work, for the right reasons, we can offer you the chance to do it on a global scale and play a real role in shaping our exciting journey.
The Role
As a Principal Consultant for Cloud & Engineering, you will provide senior technical and engineering leadership across complex client engagements. You will help clients shape and deliver practical strategies for cloud adoption, optimisation and migration, ensuring that technology decisions support their wider business goals. You will combine cloud architecture expertise with consulting, delivery and engineering leadership. You will work directly with client stakeholders and delivery teams to solve complex problems, challenge conventional thinking and turn strategic intent into practical, high-quality outcomes. This is a client-facing, delivery-oriented role. You will engage with teams, contribute to technical delivery, prototype and validate ideas, and help create the conditions for successful engineering outcomes.
How you’ll make an impact
- Act as a trusted advisor, helping clients understand and address complex cloud, technology and engineering challenges.
- Help clients understand how cloud, data and AI capabilities can support business strategy and improve products, services and operations.
- Lead discovery and design sessions, technical workshops, architecture reviews, proof-of-concept projects and evaluations of new technologies and vendors.
- Contribute to early engagements by creating a compelling vision for clients’ technology transformation, cloud optimisation and migration journeys.
- Guide and de-risk programmes and projects, promoting iterative delivery and incremental value.
- Provide technical leadership to cross-functional teams delivering and prototyping platforms, services and products across diverse technology environments.
- Help stakeholders define functional and non-functional requirements, ensuring solutions address performance, capacity, scalability, availability, security, manageability, sustainability and operational needs.
- Make pragmatic technology decisions and explain their trade-offs and value to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Support teams in improving engineering effectiveness, delivery practices, automation, DevSecOps and Infrastructure as Code.
- Work collaboratively with software engineering, platform engineering, data, AI, security, operations, product, delivery and finance teams.
- Provide guidance on privacy, information security, resilience, responsible AI and regulatory considerations.
- Apply your expertise across technology domains including applications, platforms, infrastructure, data, integration, identity and observability.
- Keep current with developments in cloud, data engineering, analytics, Generative AI, foundation models and responsible AI practices.
- Manage and mentor colleagues, helping them develop their technical, consulting and leadership capabilities through coaching, feedback and career support.
What’s important to us
- A clear understanding of the business value of your work and a focus on delivering that value transparently.
- Confident decision-making and the ability to explain technical choices, trade-offs and implications.
- The ability to articulate complex technical solutions and their value to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Experience working as a Principal or Lead Cloud Architect, Technical Architect or Engineering Leader across multiple programmes and projects.
- Strong experience designing and delivering solutions using modern cloud technologies and engineering practices.
- Experience working across complex, distributed or changing technology environments.
- Experience across cloud and modern technology environments, with an understanding of how software, platforms, data and AI capabilities work together to deliver business value.
- Strong software and engineering judgement, with the ability to work effectively across applications, platforms, infrastructure, data and cloud services.
- Experience working directly with delivery teams and contributing practically through prototyping, technical problem-solving or hands-on guidance.
- Experience working in fast-paced, Agile, delivery-oriented environments, with an emphasis on quality and a “show by doing” approach.
- Experience guiding, mentoring and developing colleagues through feedback, coaching and career support.
- An open, proactive and adaptable approach, responding constructively to change and learning through experience.
- Experience in consulting, presales activities, proposals or bid management would be a differentiator.
What we offer
- Work life blend: we offer a safe & healthy workplace, with flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home.
- Profit share scheme: In addition to your annual salary, you may receive a profit share defined by the company’s success in the previous year.
- Global and Diverse Zühlke community: witness how colleagues from all our 16 offices across the globe come together to create a unique, positive and inclusive work culture, learning from one another at annual team camps, and celebrating year-end parties and other local festivities.
- Committed to development: we are committed to the growth of our people and are investing in your development. We’re empowering you to build the skills you need to make a positive impact, both personally and for our clients, today and in the future.
To dive deeper into local benefits of working in Zühlke follow the link.
How to Apply
Important: To ensure a smooth review process, please submit all application documents (CV, cover letter) in English only. If you feel you don't meet all the requirements, we are still happy to get to know you, learn more about your ambitions and ideas and look forward to receiving your application! We welcome people from all backgrounds, regardless of their gender, personality, national origin, race, religion, colour, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, disability or veteran status.
Summary
Location: Manchester
Type: Full time
Principal Consultant - Cloud & Engineering in Manchester employer: Zühlke Engineering
Zühlke is an exceptional employer that fosters a collaborative and inclusive work culture, where innovation thrives and employees are empowered to grow. With flexible working arrangements and a commitment to professional development, you will have the opportunity to work on impactful projects in a diverse global community. Join us in London or Manchester, where you can contribute to cutting-edge technology solutions while enjoying a healthy work-life blend and participating in a profit-sharing scheme that rewards your contributions.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Consultant - Cloud & Engineering in Manchester
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Zühlke Engineering or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Zühlke Engineering.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Zühlke Engineering.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Zühlke Engineering that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Consultant - Cloud & Engineering in Manchester
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Zühlke Engineering.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Zühlke Engineering and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Zühlke Engineering
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Zühlke Engineering uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
