Senior Solutions Architect – Network / SD-WAN

£700 per day (Inside IR35) | Mostly Remote | Policing Environment

A UK policing organisation is seeking a Senior Solutions Architect to provide technical leadership and architectural oversight across a portfolio of complex network and infrastructure programmes.

This is a customer-side role, focused on setting direction, assuring supplier delivery, and supporting internal architects. It is not hands-on; the emphasis is on leadership, governance, and informed decision-making within a secure and highly regulated environment.

Context

You will play a lead role across significant transformation activity, including:

• A large-scale network modernisation programme transitioning from Cisco DMVPN/MPLS to Fortinet SD-WAN

• Engagement with the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP)

• Managed service transition, including supplier onboarding and offboarding

Responsibilities

• Provide architectural leadership across network and on-premises infrastructure

• Assure and challenge supplier designs to ensure alignment with strategy and security standards

• Provide direction and oversight to internal Solutions Architects across multiple workstreams

• Oversee managed service transitions, maintaining service continuity and design integrity

• Act as a senior escalation point for complex technical and delivery issues

• Ensure solutions align to secure-by-design principles and OFFICIAL (SENSITIVE) requirements

Experience Required

• Experience leading WAN modernisation programmes (MPLS to SD-WAN)

• Strong Fortinet SD-WAN expertise

• Experience overseeing supplier transitions within managed service environments

• Cisco LAN expertise, including Catalyst Centre and ISE

• Broad on-prem infrastructure knowledge (IBM servers/storage, VMware, Hyper-V, Avaya Voice, CCaS)

• Experience working within secure or policing environments

• Ability to lead through complexity and provide direction on challenged programmes

• Demonstrable experience assuring third-party delivery

Desirable

• Awareness of Airwave/TETRA and ESMCP

• Exposure to Microsoft Azure

Additional Information

Due to the nature of the environment, candidates will be required to undergo appropriate police vetting. Experience working within similarly secure or regulated settings will be important.

This role would suit a senior architect with a strong infrastructure background who is comfortable operating at programme level within a mission-critical environment.

We welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates, please apply at your earliest convinience. 

• Have you supported in preparing budgets, forecasts and financial analysis?
• Have you produced financial information for inclusion in monthly management accounts ?
• Have you do any Month end management accounts work? including delivery of month end close, ensuring integrity of postings and timely input of transactions and reconciliation of designated nominal accounts
• Have you done any Year-end accounting and support?
• Have you assisted with the preparation of the Statutory reporting, and collation/completion of year end audit schedules 
• Do you have any Experience in preparing management accounting reports for cost/profit centres
• Do you have any project accounting/reconciliation skills
• Do you have any Multi-currency business experience
• Are you Part-Qualified or Qualified AAT, or studying CIMA

- works in team of 3. They are brining IT back in house from Node4 so a lot of interesting project work to get involved with

- need to be able to work autonomously

- have to have project experience, not just support

- exprerience working in the cloud (Azure or AWS) is desirable

- will be a Cisco engineer - look for Cisco certs - CCNA or CCNP

- hybrid working. need to live within an hour. they will be in the office when needed

- example project - working on a switch replacement

- role is 60% support, 40% project

- will be on the on call rota. 1 week in 4. 7pm - 7am on Weekdays, 24/7 on weekends. worth extra £4k for being on standby, then over time rate at 1.5 salary

Screening questions to ask:

1. What is a NSG and why is it used in Azure?

Answer: It is used as an Access Control List (ACL) to define network rules

2. What is the importance of ordering firewall rules?

Answer: You want the ones hit more frequently to be at the top of the list for performance and blocked rules should be at the top with default block rule at the bottom.

3. When looking to upgrade a network device how would you decide what to upgrade to?

Answer: Latest vendor recommended release level.

4. Describe the 5 TUPLE of a packet?

Answer: Source IP, Destination IP, Source Port, Destination Port and Layer 4 protocol.

5. How would you go about securing a WIFI network?

Answer: Encryption with PSK or certificate.

Principal Solution Architect
Permanent
Salary: £110,000 - £130,000 (+ benefits)
Location: UK – Remote with travel to Andover

We’re looking to recruit an SC Cleared Principal Solution Architect for a specialist IT technology consultancy.

This is a senior, client-facing role where you’ll shape and deliver high-quality solutions across complex, secure environments, working closely with senior stakeholders and multi-disciplinary delivery teams.

The Role

As a Principal Solution Architect, you will act as a trusted advisor to clients, translating business needs into scalable, secure, and robust technical solutions.

You will:

• Lead the design and delivery of end-to-end solution architectures across complex programmes
• Act as a “front door” architect, shaping early-stage ideas and aligning them to architectural standards
• Engage with senior stakeholders, including military leadership, to guide decision-making
• Drive application modernisation and transformation initiatives
• Define architecture principles, standards, and best practices across programmes
• Ensure alignment to security, compliance, and governance frameworks
• Support pre-sales, bids, and client engagements
• Mentor and develop other architects and engineers within the practice

Key Experience

• Proven experience operating at Principal / Lead Solution Architect level
• Strong background delivering complex technology solutions in secure environments
• Experience working across Central Government and/or Defence sectors
• Ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders (including military leadership)
• Strong understanding of architecture frameworks and best practices
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams across full delivery lifecycles

Technical Expertise

• Cloud platforms (Azure and/or AWS)
• Secure software development lifecycle and DevSecOps practices
• Integration patterns, APIs, microservices
• Identity and access management (OAuth, SAML, etc.)
• Data and application architecture
• CI/CD and modern engineering practices

Desirable

• Experience working in Defence or military environments (e.g. ex-military or reservist background)
• Knowledge of TOGAF or similar enterprise architecture frameworks
• Experience delivering AI-enabled or data-driven solutions

working initially on Dartford Health project

need SC

any experience of AI coding agents good - looking at GitHub copilot in CG, but Claude in the wider group

Just flag if not a UK national

Programme Delivery Manager
6 Month Contract
Rate: £550 - £575 per day (Inside IR35)
Location: UK – Remote

We are looking to recruit a Programme Delivery Manager / Project Manager for a leading global software company.

This role focuses on driving delivery across multiple teams, ensuring plans translate into real progress. You will work closely with Product, Engineering, Commercial, Support and Operations teams to coordinate activity, manage dependencies and maintain clear visibility of programme progress.

This is a hands-on delivery role, ideal for someone comfortable working across cross-functional teams and keeping complex initiatives moving forward.

Key responsibilities

• Own and maintain the overall programme delivery plan including milestones, owners and dependencies
• Translate strategic priorities into clear and actionable delivery plans
• Run programme working sessions and cross-team coordination meetings
• Track progress across workstreams and follow up on actions between meetings
• Work closely with Product and Engineering teams to manage delivery dependencies
• Identify delivery risks early and support teams in developing mitigation plans
• Maintain a clear view of programme progress and provide updates to leadership
• Ensure teams remain aligned on priorities, timelines and next steps

Skills and experience

• Strong programme or project management experience in a cross-functional environment
• Experience working closely with Product and Engineering teams
• Ability to translate strategic objectives into practical delivery plans
• Strong coordination and organisational skills across multiple workstreams
• Confident stakeholder management and communication skills
• Comfortable working in a hands-on delivery role driving execution

RPA Consultant (RPA)
Surrey | £700 per day | Inside IR35

We are supporting a Surrey-based organisation seeking an experienced Robotics Consultant to help design, implement and optimise robotic process automation across a number of operational processes.

This role will suit an RPA specialist who combines strong technical capability with the ability to understand business workflows and translate them into reliable, scalable automation solutions. You will work closely with business stakeholders and technology teams to identify opportunities for automation, design robust bot workflows and ensure successful deployment into live environments.

The role

You will contribute across the full automation lifecycle – from process discovery and solution design through to development, testing and ongoing optimisation.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Designing and developing RPA solutions using Blue Prism and other enterprise automation tools

• Analysing business processes to identify automation opportunities and define suitable RPA approaches

• Translating business requirements into structured automation workflows and decision logic

• Integrating RPA solutions with existing systems through APIs, databases and UI automation

• Writing and maintaining supporting scripts and components to extend bot capability

• Conducting testing, debugging and optimisation to ensure reliable bot performance

• Supporting deployment into production environments and monitoring runtime operations

• Working closely with business analysts, technical teams and operational stakeholders to ensure successful adoption of automation solutions

Skills and experience

Successful applicants will bring a blend of technical expertise, analytical thinking and strong stakeholder communication.

You should demonstrate experience in:

• Blue Prism or other leading RPA platforms such as UiPath or Automation Anywhere

• Basic programming capability in languages such as Python, Java, C# or .NET

• SQL and database interaction, including data extraction and transformation

• Integration using REST/SOAP APIs and user interface automation techniques

• Scripting using tools such as PowerShell, JavaScript or VBScript

• Process mapping and workflow design using approaches such as BPMN or UML

• Automation testing, deployment and bot monitoring within production environments

• Troubleshooting, debugging and improving existing automation solutions

Desirable experience

• Exposure to Business Process Management (BPM) approaches

• Experience with Lean, Six Sigma or process improvement methodologies

• Relevant RPA platform certifications

Working style

This role requires someone comfortable working across both technical and operational teams. The ability to clearly explain automation approaches, manage stakeholder expectations and contribute to broader automation strategy will be key.

If you are an experienced RPA developer or automation consultant looking to support a mature automation programme within a complex operational environment, we would welcome a conversation.

Location: Surrey
Rate: £700 per day
Status: Inside IR35

Ideal background

• Infrastructure Engineer

• Systems Engineer

• Platform Engineer

• Microsoft Infrastructure Engineer

• M365 Engineer

Often from:

• Public sector / policing

• Government

• NHS

• Large enterprise IT teams

• Managed service providers supporting enterprise Microsoft environments

Core technical indicators

Identity & Access (most important)

Look for experience with:

• Active Directory

• Entra ID / Azure AD

• AD FS

• Entra Connect / Azure AD Connect

• Certificate Services

• Identity governance tools (SailPoint is a bonus)

These are the most important skills in this role.

Microsoft collaboration stack

Candidates should have strong experience administering:

• Microsoft 365

• Exchange Online

• SharePoint Online

• Teams

• OneDrive

• Windows 10/11 environments

Azure exposure

Not necessarily architects — but operational experience such as:

• Azure administration

• Azure monitoring

• Cost optimisation

• Security tooling

Look for:

• Azure Security Centre

• Sentinel

• Log Analytics

• Defender / Advanced Threat Protection

Operational environment

The role is BAU infrastructure operations, so look for:

• Incident / request / problem management

• ITIL environments

• ServiceNow or similar

• Monitoring and alerting tools

• Infrastructure troubleshooting

• Enterprise-scale environments

Soft skills they care about

From the job description:

• Clear technical communication

• Ability to explain technical issues to non-technical staff

• Strong troubleshooting mindset

• Ability to work with minimal supervision

• Team collaboration across infrastructure teams

Red flags when screening

Candidates may not fit if they are:

• Pure developers

• Pure cloud architects with no operations

• Only desktop support

• Only network engineers

They need hybrid infrastructure + Microsoft platform support experience.

• Use to promote the deal in the best way possible
• Pricing, appearance
• Analyse data from previous deal – eg what sells – look at previous deals
• Inteperet data – use Excel
• Fast paced – standalone – a lot of sales – eg promote my deal more
• Pay ?35k
• Admin assistant to assistant merchandiser then junior merchandiser (more autonomous) – likely to have had promotion
• Likely to have been assistant merchandiser – most on ?30k - ?40k
• Manage Ireland – 4 days a week in London (Kentish Town)
• Might be called an Account manager – possible other job titles
• Needs to have come from ecommerce
• 30 min Zoom, will do a task in a face face