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 cloud security principles, including identity design, least-privilege access, and platform hardening
Experience working within governance and compliance frameworks, and embedding these into platform design
Ability to create and validate reference architectures, patterns, and reusable components
Comfortable reviewing release plans and translating new workload demands into platform enhancements
Experience operating and supporting live cloud platforms, not just designing them
Strong observability mindset, including logging, metrics, alerts, and operational insight
Ability to identify areas suitable for self-service enablement and automation
A pragmatic approach to architectural decision-making, balancing ideal design with delivery reality
Experience producing and maintaining architectural decision records (ADRs)
Strong documentation skills, including diagrams, design notes, and onboarding guidance
Confident communicator who can influence without authority and explain complex topics simply
Collaborative approach, working effectively across engineering, security, and delivery teams
Curiosity and drive to stay current with evolving Azure capabilities and platform practices
Rewards
We believe that great work and dedication should be rewarded, that’s why we offer:
25 days holiday (plus bank holidays), pro-rated for part year service
A set of core benefits, designed with your health and financial protection in mind:
Life Assurance up to 4x salary, protecting your loved ones in case the worst should happen
Income protection, guaranteeing an income for up to 5 years in the event of an illness or injury
Contributory pension scheme – 4% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution, rising to 5% & 5% in April 2025
Access to a Healthcare Cashplan, which gives you access to a variety of health related benefits
Access to a host of lifestyle and financial benefits that you can choose from:
Discounts on gym membership across the UK
Salary sacrifice schemes – Travel Insurance, Cycle to Work, Car leasing, Technology purchase
Access to discounted personal health policies – Critical illness, private medical, dental plans
A range of insurance products available commission free, including home, motor, travel and specialist vehicles
Access to hundreds of high-street retailer discounts
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support employees outside of work
A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:
Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new
We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges
We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond
We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.
If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.
*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.
Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)Skills Required
- Designing, building, and operating cloud platforms in Microsoft Azure
- Deep understanding of cloud platform architecture (identity, networking, security, monitoring, governance)
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) experience
- Experience using Bicep
- Working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, platform-level templates and guardrails
- Designing and evolving Azure Landing Zones or equivalent enterprise-scale foundations
- Clear understanding of cloud security principles, identity design, least-privilege access, platform hardening
- Experience embedding governance and compliance into platform design
- Create and validate reference architectures, patterns, and reusable components
- Operate and support live cloud platforms (not just design)
- Observability skills: logging, metrics, alerts, operational insight
- Produce and maintain Architectural Decision Records (ADRs)
- Strong documentation skills including diagrams, design notes, onboarding guidance
- Confident communicator able to influence without authority
- Collaborative approach working across engineering, security, and delivery teams
- Curiosity and drive to stay current with evolving Azure capabilities and platform practices
What We Do
The global reinsurance broker and risk, capital, and strategic advisor focused on relentless innovation and superior analytics for top client service. Part of Howden
