Senior Cloud Solution Architect (Milton Keynes, ENG, GB, MK7 6AA)
Salary: £
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About the Role
This Senior Cloud Solution Architect role is a strategic and hands-on position within our Digital Services team. You will be the technical authority on Microsoft Azure Services for AI, responsible not only for designing our AI solutions but also for leading its practical implementation.
As a proactive and forward-thinking expert, you will bridge the gap between architecture and engineering. You will be expected to personally build, deploy, and maintain secure and scalable cloud solutions, particularly those leveraging the latest AI services. You will ensure all work aligns with our stringent privacy, security, and governance requirements, working alongside our development teams to build the foundational infrastructure that empowers them. This is a 'player-coach' role for an expert who is passionate about both high-level design and hands-on-keyboard execution.
Key Responsibilities
* Design, build, and deploy core components of the solution architecture on Azure, ensuring they are secure, scalable, and resilient.
* Take hands-on responsibility for writing, testing, and deploying high-quality Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Azure Bicep templates to automate and standardise our environments.
* Actively implement and configure robust security controls and networking solutions that adhere to our privacy and governance frameworks, including VNet integration and Private Endpoints.
* Not just architect, but actively build and deploy the infrastructure required for Azure AI and Data services, ensuring they are integrated securely and are ready for production use.
* Build, manage, and maintain scalable production CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps for both infrastructure and application deployments.
* Balance strategic architectural planning with practical, hands-on implementation, troubleshooting, and operational support.
* Mentor development teams by demonstrating best practices through code and direct collaboration, in addition to creating reference architectures and documentation.
About You
Essential:
* Extensive hands-on experience in a senior cloud role (e.g. Solution Architect, Cloud Engineer) with extensive specialisation in Microsoft Azure.
* Proven ability to design, build, and deploy Azure infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code, particularly Azure Bicep.
* Strong practical knowledge of Azure security services (e.g. Azure Policy, Defender for Cloud) and networking configurations (VNets, NSGs, Private Link).
* Experience deploying Azure AI and data services (e.g. OpenAI, AI Search, AI Foundry) in production environments.
* Skilled in building and troubleshooting CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps.
* Proficient in scripting languages like PowerShell or Bash for automation and operations.
* Excellent troubleshooting skills across the full stack, from infrastructure to application deployment.
* Comfortable switching between high-level architecture and hands-on technical implementation.
* Strong communication, leadership, and mentoring abilities, with a focus on stakeholder engagement and team development.
* High attention to detail with a commitment to security, code quality, governance, and equality and diversity principles.
Desirable:
* Microsoft Azure certification (e.g. AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions or AZ-400: Azure DevOps Expert).
* Experience with containerisation and orchestration (Docker, Azure Kubernetes Service - AKS).
* Familiarity with other IaC tools like Terraform.
* Experience working in a regulated environment or an organization with strict data privacy requirements.
Support with your application
If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on or email quoting the advert reference number.
What's in it for you?
At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).
Flexible working
We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.
It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be approximately 2-3 times per month.
Next steps in the Recruitment process
We anticipate that interviews for this role will be taking place online via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 17 November 2025.
Early closing date notification
We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.
How to apply
To apply for this role please submit the following documents:
* CV
* A personal statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the essential requirments for this role as detailed in the job description.
You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.