Principal Cloud Architect

About the role

The Principal Cloud Architect is a senior role, reporting to the Cloud Operations Manager as part of our DevOps team within our Product & Technology business unit. The DevOps team is responsible for the high level Architecture, Design and Operation of the Zellis Cloud Estate, built on Microsoft Azure and best-in-class architectural foundations.

The role advises, governs and directs Zellis technical teams from a high-level cloud architecture and design perspective. This role will be deeply involved in hands-on project delivery, from initial design through to the implementation phase, working closely with Software Engineering, DevOps, and CloudOps teams.

In this role your key responsibilities will include:

• Creating, owning and maintaining a high-level cloud architectural strategy and roadmap building on best-in-class architectural foundations, such as the Microsoft Azure well architected framework.
• Providing recommendations on our cloud approach and overall adoption as an input to the overall Zellis technology strategy and roadmap.
• Providing technology governance (frameworks and guardrails) that support our Zellis cloud estate to adopt best practice.
• Acting as a champion for modern SaaS architecture and design principles.
• Where appropriate, being hands-on and contributing to initial cloud technology implementations working closely with Software Engineering teams, DevOps and Cloud Ops.
• Leading the design and delivery of cloud projects from conception through to successful completion, on time and within budget.
• Participating in the Technology Design Authority, attended by technology leads across the business, to drive and embed the technology strategy for the organisation and ensure designs adhere to the strategy.
• Leading the design and documentation of the teams architectural frameworks and guard rails.
• Contributing and facilitating architectural reviews of key projects ensuring they align or are on a path to aligning with the agreed cloud strategy.
• Creating an environment for innovation and new ideas, ensuring all team members feel empowered to challenge existing methods and thinking.
• Working in conjunction with the Zellis Chief Information and Security Officer, ensuring Zellis cloud services are aligned with an appropriate risk-based security posture and adhere to the agreed Zellis security standards.
• Keeping up-to-date with changes and advances in the IT Industry and systems development, building strong relationships with technology partners such as Microsoft.
• Instilling in the teams a quality and customer mindset, recognising that Zellis customers rely on our software to run their businesses.
• Aligning with industry standards such as ISO, SOC, NIST to ensure strong governance in working practices and processes.

Skills & experience

Critical competencies:

• A strong technical leader with demonstrable experience of defining, implementing and documenting the architecture technology, governance strategies and frameworks for large scale solutions within a commercial software environment.
• Extensive hands-on experience with modern DevOps practices such as IaC and versioning, pipeline deployments, and platform and application observability.
• A deep understanding of core Azure platform services, such as Azure SQL, AKS, FrontDoor, WAF, Storage, KeyVault, ASPs, VNet, Entra and IAAM.
• A good understanding of general networking principles applied within a complex, multi tenanted cloud architecture.
• Good understanding of IT Security best practices, compliance and audit standards, and their influence on architectural design and governance.

Behaviours:

• A self-starter with a strong focus on taking ownership through to resolution.
• Builds strong relationships with key stakeholders across the business.
• Strong leadership and effective communication, able to influence colleagues and senior stakeholders with clarity of vision.
• Fosters a collaborative and diverse culture which encourages ownership and accountability and empowers people to perform at their best, with a mindset of continual improvement.
• Ability to manage uncertainty and competing priorities and make pragmatic decisions that deliver the best outcomes.
• Acts as a mentor and coach for team members, empowering them to be independent owners of their areas of expertise.

Benefits & culture

At Zellis we create market-leading HR & Payroll products and services, to power exceptional employee experiences so that you and your people do better. Our multi-award-winning products pay over five million employees a year, with almost half (42%) of the FTSE 100, 50% of the top retailers and 30% of the top universities in the UK & Ireland as customers, making us the largest provider of Payroll and HR software and managed services.

Our vision is to be the clear leader in pay, reward, analytics, and people experiences. We're passionate about creating an environment where people want to join, belong to, and be part of a progressive organisation. Our values, which were defined with input from all of our 2,000 colleagues, we live and breathe every day:

• Unstoppable together.
• Always learning.
• Make it count.
• Think scale.

Our people are critical to our ongoing success; we're proud of our inclusive culture that gives you the platform to grow, challenge the status quo and play a crucial role in further enhancing our market position as the leading provider of HR & Payroll software and services. With Zellis you'll have the chance to stretch and challenge yourself in an environment that's varied, flexible and hugely supportive.

We also love to reward and recognise our brilliant colleagues. As part of your benefits package, you'll receive:

• A competitive base salary.
• 25 days annual leave, plus your birthday off and the opportunity to buy additional holiday.
• Private medical insurance.
• Life assurance 4x salary.
• Enhanced pension scheme with company contributions up to 8.5%.
• A huge range of additional flexible benefits.