Location:
Belfast
Workplace:
Hybrid
The opportunity:
The Cloud Architect will participate in implementing and deploying new Iaas/M365 solutions together with the relevant stakeholders, either interfacing with the business itself or other IT teams. The role holder is a part of the 'Server Team - Cloud' team who work on the following three Baker McKenzie ecosystems:
* Azure IaaS infrastructure
* M365
* Relevant on-prem systems supporting or co-existing with these Azure IaaS and M365 environments, like AD and ADFS
They will support day-to-day operations for all of the above, managing and supporting on-prem systems alongside the firm's Datacenter Architects.
Working at Baker McKenzie:
Baker McKenzie is the world’s leading law firm with offices all over the world. Our Belfast Centre is home to over 400 colleagues in both legal and professional services.
We offer one of the best workplace benefits packages in the business with comprehensive private health cover, income protection, life assurance and a full employee assistance plan. These and a host of other benefits make us one of the most desirable companies to work for in Belfast.
We are committed to promoting inclusion, diversity, and equity for all and are confident we can provide a career as individual and as exceptional as you.
About the role:
As part of this role, the successful candidate will:
Responsibilities:
* Implement new services on the Azure IaaS infrastructure and M365 landscape as well as relevant on-prem systems supporting or co-existing with these Azure IaaS and M365 environments
* Implement and maintain Azure cloud infrastructure components including virtual machines, containers, storage, networking, and databases
* Collaborate with development teams to optimize application performance and scalability in Azure environments
* Implement security best practices and compliance standards to ensure data protection and regulatory compliance within Azure deployments
* Troubleshoot issues related to Azure infrastructure, deployment pipelines, and application performance
* Monitor and optimize Azure resource utilization, performance, and cost efficiency
* Stay updated with the latest Azure features, services, and industry trends to recommend and implement innovative solutions
* Document infrastructure configurations, deployment processes, and troubleshooting procedures to maintain comprehensive documentation
* Participate in regular conference calls/meetings with the Cloud- and Datacenter Architecture teams
* Provide input into current and new cloud policies and standards as they relate to usability and security
* Assist with training and mentoring other team members and members of the other Server Teams to raise the technical skill level of the team(s).
* Provide support to application system owners via telephone, e-mail, remote connection, or on-site as required
* Liaise with colleagues in technical teams, vendors, third parties, etc where necessary to resolve incidents
* Attend conferences, seminars, etc to retain an awareness of current IT cloud technologies as applicable to the firm and make recommendations as appropriate
* Retain skills relevant to the position on an ongoing basis through training (instructor-led and CBT as appropriate), and periodic review of technical journals, white papers, manuals, etc.
* Play an active role in IT conference calls and webinars, presenting materials and speaking on projects, new technologies under review, etc, for peer review and comment
* Ensure testing is carried out on all new configurations and systems before deployment into production environments
* Delivery of IT projects, the involvement will vary from overall project management to performing individual tasks according to the project concerned.
* Projects will include upgrades to existing cloud-native or cloud-supporting on-prem systems, migrations, and making new cloud services available
* Ensure all solutions leverage the design and operations guidance according to the Well-Architected framework across all pillars, including performance efficiency, security, operational excellence, reliability, and cost optimization
* Collaborate with other Server Cloud Engineers/Architects and Solution Architects from other IT teams in implementing complex end-to-end Enterprise solutions on the Microsoft Azure platform
Skills and Experience:
* Proven experience as a Cloud Engineer or similar role, focusing on Azure cloud technologies
* Hands-on experience with Azure services such as Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Container instances, Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, etc.
* Experience with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools like Terraform for provisioning and managing Azure resources
* Have a deep understanding of Identity Management and Conditional Access
* Skilled in problem-solving. Not only technical issues but also display the ability to solve problems by presenting new cloud solutions/services
* Strong in documentation and communication
* Additionally, proficient in configuration and support in the following products:
o Microsoft M365
o Active Directory, Azure AD, AAD synchronization tool
o SSO using Microsoft ADFS and EntraID
o Automation and scripting technologies like PowerShell
o Microsoft Windows Server operating systems
o Virtualization technologies like VMWare Vsphere and/or Microsoft Hyper-V
o Microsoft System Center products including SCCM, SCVMM and SCOM
* Experience/understanding of Splunk and/or ServiceNow (preferable)
* Bachelor's degree in Computer Science (preferable but not mandatory)
* Experience with Microsoft Operating systems, designing, and implementing in a multi-site and multi-location architecture
* Experience with Microsoft Azure IaaS and M365
* Experience in large enterprise environments with remote locations
* Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate or other relevant recognized qualification
* The Cloud Architect will have access and control of System and Application Service account credentials throughout the network enterprise that cannot be divulged to individuals outside of GIS, Financial Management Systems the Systems Operation Center groups.
Responsibility for Results:
* Keep incidents within Service Level Agreement timelines
* Keep the other team members and end users informed regarding the status of incidents and escalate as appropriate when additional assistance is required to resolve
* Work independently without direct supervision
* Report time spent on activities
* After-hours support via phone will occasionally be required
* Must be a team player
* Must demonstrate initiative
* Must have effective written and oral communication skills
* Must have an interest in learning new software applications