Job Title: Azure Architect Location: Manchester (3 x per week on site) Salary/Rate : Up to £528 per day Start Date: March / April 2026 Job Type: 7 month contract (Inside IR35) Company Introduction We are currently recruiting for an Azure Architect with extensive experience in Microsoft Azure / Cloud Security components join our tier-1 banking client on an exciting 7 month contract. Job Responsibilities/Objectives: The Azure Security Architect is responsible for designing, implementing, and governing security controls across cloud platforms, with a focus on Zero Trust, secure build standards, and network segmentation. This role ensures that security controls are embedded into all solution components and aligned with organisational and regulatory requirements. Develop and maintain Azure security architecture aligned to Zero Trust principles, ensuring least privilege, segmentation, and strong identity control. Define secure configuration standards for Azure resources, including network, compute, storage, identity, and monitoring components. Lead design and assurance of secure network segregation, including hub-and-spoke, firewalls, private endpoints, and micro-segmentation. Oversee policy implementation through Azure Policy, Defender for Cloud, RBAC, Conditional Access, and security baselines. Conduct threat modelling, risk assessments, and architectural reviews. Guide engineering teams on hardening patterns, remediation activities, and secure deployment practices. Ensure alignment with compliance standards (ISO, NIST, CIS benchmarks). Required Skills/Experience: The ideal candidate will have the following: Expertise with Azure AD/Entra, Defender suite, Sentinel, NSGs/ASGs, WAF, Azure Firewall, Key Vault, and managed identities. Experience implementing ARM/Bicep/Terraform for secure build deployments. Strong knowledge of network security patterns within cloud-native and hybrid architectures. If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format. Disclaimer Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies. Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.