The Senior Cloud Engineer is the technical authority within the Cloud function. This role bridges strategy and delivery — working at the design end of the pipeline to architect solutions, acting as the cloud SME in client facing and project engagements, and providing the technical lead that enables Cloud Engineers and Trainees to build and operate effectively.
This is not a people management role. Rather, the Senior Cloud Engineer is the go-to expert: the person who solutionize complex requirements, leads on architecture decisions, represents the cloud function in project and client conversations, and sets the technical benchmark for the rest of the team.
This role will provide hands‑on operational support across the cloud estate, including service desk ticket resolution, routine operational checks, VM patching, certificate management, DNS and domain support, and contributing to incident reviews and remediation documentation.
Solution Architecture & Design
- Act as the cloud Subject Matter Expert (SME) and lead architect for the Newton Group, designing infrastructure solutions that meet project and client requirements across our multi-tenant, multi-territory cloud estate.
- Produce clear solution designs, architecture documentation, and Visio diagrams that enable both technical teams and non-technical stakeholders (including clients) to understand how infrastructure is built and how it will operate.
- Engage proactively in project discovery and design phases — being the person who understands what resources, configurations, and constraints are required before deployment begins.
- Translate high-level client or project requirements into practical, secure, and scalable cloud architectures.
Client & Project Engagement
- Represent the cloud function in client and project team calls, providing expert input on infrastructure design and solutionize from early stages of project engagement.
- Work closely with digital and delivery consultants to ensure cloud requirements are identified early, designed correctly, and resourced appropriately.
- Support the Cloud Operations Manager in ensuring the business does not arrive at the cloud team with a solution already determined — but rather with a problem that the team can architect the right answer to.
Code-First Technical Delivery
- Code-first, automation-first approach to infrastructure delivery. The Senior Cloud Engineer, will work closely with the Cloud Operations Manager, setting and upholding this standard across the team.
- Help drive the adoption of infrastructure-as-code (IaC), ensuring all provisioning and configuration is repeatable, version-controlled, and documented.
- Design, build, and maintain CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions, enabling automated, consistent deployment of infrastructure and integration solutions.
- Write and maintain PowerShell and Azure CLI scripts to automate operational tasks, reducing manual effort and increasing reliability across the estate.
- Lead on the most complex cloud deployments and configurations within the function, with Cloud Engineers executing the builds and Trainees observing and assisting.
- Take the lead during major incidents or complex support escalations, applying SME-level knowledge to diagnose and resolve issues rapidly and effectively.
- Proactively identify opportunities to replace remaining manual processes with automated, code-driven equivalents, and work with the team to implement those improvements.
Integrations
- Act as the SME for Azure Integration Services, designing and implementing integration solutions across Newton's platform footprint.
- Own the technical design and maintenance of integrations between Newton's business systems (including HiBob, ProFinda, and future platforms), ensuring pipelines are resilient, monitored, and documented.
- Ensure all application SSO integrations are technically sound, secure, and aligned to Newton's standards.
Security, Compliance & Continuous Improvement
- Actively manage vulnerability remediation across the cloud estate, triaging high and critical threats and leading on remediation efforts in collaboration with Cloud Engineers.
- Maintain and develop the team's security posture in line with Newton's compliance requirements, including responsibilities under ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, and Defender for Cloud targets.
- Contribute to penetration testing engagements, supporting the Cloud Operations Manager in scoping exercises and owning technical remediation of architecture-level findings.
- Stay ahead of emerging technologies, tools, and best practices in the cloud space, bringing forward recommendations that improve the team's capability, security posture, and efficiency.
Mentorship & Team Development
- Support the development of Cloud Engineers and Trainees through day-to-day coaching and knowledge sharing, providing technical guidance and stretching their capability — particularly in code-first and IaC practices.
- Provide technical direction and act as an escalation point for the Cloud Engineer and Trainee, ensuring they have the guidance needed to deliver confidently.
- Contribute to the development and improvement of SOPs and technical documentation, ensuring the team's knowledge is captured and accessible.
Requirements
You'll be a technically exceptional individual with a strong design pedigree, the confidence to lead client-facing conversations, and the communication skills to translate complex cloud architectures into clear, understandable outputs for a range of audiences.
Essential skills and attributes:
- SME-level experience working within a Microsoft Azure cloud environment.
- Microsoft Azure Certifications:
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500) — or demonstrable equivalent security engineering experience with a commitment to achieve this certification.
- Infrastructure-as-Code: strong, hands-on proficiency in Bicep for provisioning and managing Azure resources. IaC must be the default approach, not an occasional tool.
- CI/CD pipeline expertise: proven experience building and maintaining pipelines in Azure DevOps and/or GitHub Actions, ensuring automated, repeatable infrastructure deployment.
- Scripting proficiency: PowerShell and Azure CLI used regularly for automation, operational tasks, and reducing manual intervention.
- Azure Integration Services: proficient in Logic Apps, Service Bus, Event Grid, and API Management for integration design and implementation.
- API Development: solid experience with SOAP and REST APIs, including design, development, and secure management.
- Experience with GitHub version control, including branching strategies and code review practices.
- Experienced in designing virtualised infrastructure environments including compute, virtualisation, storage, and security.
- Experience with security vulnerability management and remediation.
- Experience in producing solution architecture documentation, including diagrams and design artefacts for both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Coaching and mentoring capability, with experience supporting the development of more junior team members — particularly in code-first and automation practices.
- Excellent collaboration and communication skills, including experience in client or stakeholder-facing technical conversations.
Desirable skills and attributes
- Microsoft Azure Certifications:
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate (AZ-102)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate (AZ-700)
- Terraform experience as an alternative or complementary IaC approach.
- Experience with Azure Data Lakes (ingestion, storage, and processing via ADLS and Azure Data Lake Analytics).
- Knowledge of Python and related data science stacks (e.g. Azure Data Factory, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Synapse, Azure Databricks).
- Containerisation technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes. Experience with Linux environments.
- Worked with agile frameworks and tooling such as Azure Boards or Jira.
- Experience in a professional services or management consultancy environment.
- ITIL v4 Foundation or above
Benefits
Newton maximises the potential of our people. The prospects for career and personal development in this role are no exception, with future possibilities in a wider remit across our technology group.
Supporting you starts from day one. You'll have tailored on-the-job development, with dedicated support from your Line Manager and the Senior Cloud Engineer. You'll receive regular appraisals and annual pay reviews. We'll provide continued training to grow and enhance your technical skillset including Microsoft training and the opportunity to attend relevant events. You'll also have the chance to attend fortnightly collaboration days (with varied social events the evening before) to share knowledge on projects across all of Newton. Add to that our IT Weekly updates to share learning across our technology teams.
We offer a highly competitive salary and our generous benefits package includes Life Assurance, Income Protection, pension contributions, generous shared parental leave, a c