Solution Architect

Solution Architect - Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity

Rate: £500-600/day (Inside IR35)
Location: Gloucester (hybrid)
Contract Length: 6 months (likely extension)

Overview

We are seeking a Solution Architect to provide technical solution architecture leadership for cyber recovery and Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) across key programmes.

This role supports both the Cyber Improvement Programme (CIP) and the Nuclear Operations Security Programme (NOSP), acting as a technical reviewer, designer, and owner of recovery capabilities and runbooks.

Purpose of the Role

• Provide technical solution-architecture leadership across cyber recovery and BC/DR
• Act as the technical reviewer, designer, and owner of recovery capabilities and runbooks
• Support resilience across critical applications and infrastructure in both Azure and on-prem environments

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Lead design assurance and technical due diligence of third-party solutions (eg Accenture deliverables)
• Design and validate recovery architectures across on-prem and cloud (primarily Microsoft Azure)
• Provide hands-on technical input where required and drive outcomes with minimal oversight

Runbooks & Recovery Planning

• Produce and own runbooks and recovery playbooks for 10-15 critical systems
• Develop practical recovery strategies aligned to business and regulatory requirements

Discovery & Assessment

• Conduct initial discovery and "as-is" reviews of existing DR environments
• Identify gaps and shape a backlog of remediation and design work

Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage with stakeholders across:
• Enterprise IT
• NOSP programme teams
• Solution architects
• Third-party suppliers
• Programme sponsors
• Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences

Resilience & Assurance

• Ensure alignment with BC/DR strategies and cyber resilience objectives
• Review and assure third-party technical designs
• Support integration with enterprise architecture and security frameworks

Required Skills & Experience

Essential

• Strong BC/DR and systems recovery experience from a solution architecture perspective
• Proven Azure experience, including:
• Cloud recovery patterns
• High availability design
• Backup and immutable backup concepts
• Experience in regulated environments with awareness of:
• Internal policies
• ISO standards (eg ISO 22301)
• Experience reviewing and assuring third-party technical designs
• Ability to:
• Produce clear, actionable runbooks
• Lead technical discovery work
• Communicate across technical and business stakeholders

Desirable

• Experience working across complex cyber security programmes
• Exposure to large enterprise or critical national infrastructure environments
• Broader cloud or hybrid infrastructure knowledge

Security & Clearance

• SC clearance preferred (or eligibility required) 

Key Focus

• Owning and delivering end-to-end recovery capability
• Producing and validating runbooks for critical systems
• Driving technical assurance across third-party designs
• Supporting enterprise-wide cyber resilience initiatives