Technical Architect (Azure)

Who are we? Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden. Role : Technical Architect (Azure) Team : Cloud Engineering & Architecture Location : Remote Tech : Azure, Azure Landing Zones, Bicep (IaC), Azure DevOps, Networking, Identity, Security, Observability, CI/CD As one of the largest insurance groups in the world and the fifth largest employee-owned business in the UK, we manage premiums on behalf of millions of clients across a wide range of product offerings and our development team work on solutions that innovate and put the users’ needs at the forefront. Role As a Technical Architect at Howden, you will join the Cloud Engineering & Architecture team with a focus on building, operating, and continuously improving our Azure cloud platform. This is a technical architecture role, centred on platform capability as well as solution delivery. You will define and evolve the core cloud architecture that enables product and delivery teams to build securely, consistently, and at pace. You will work closely with Cloud Engineers, DevOps, and Delivery teams to design and implement reusable platform components, self-service capabilities, and standard patterns. Your work will underpin all cloud-hosted workloads and directly influence reliability, security, scalability, and cost efficiency. You will play a key role in shaping platform standards, governance, and guardrails, ensuring teams can move fast without bypassing compliance or security requirements. You will review upcoming platform demands, track emerging Azure capabilities, and introduce new services and patterns where they provide clear business value. This role requires strong hands-on technical depth, paired with the ability to explain architectural decisions clearly and pragmatically to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. About you: Strong experience designing, building, and operating cloud platforms in Microsoft Azure Deep understanding of cloud platform architecture, including identity, networking, security, monitoring, and governance Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code, ideally using Bicep Strong working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, including platform-level templates and guardrails Experience designing and evolving Azure Landing Zones or equivalent enterprise-scale foundations Clear understanding of…