Azure Architect - Active SC Clearance Required - Remote - Outside IR35

Azure Architect - Active SC Clearance Required
Contract: 20 days initially, with potential extension into later phases
Location: Remote
Start: ASAP

We are urgently seeking a Senior Azure Architect with current, active SC clearance for a discovery and assessment engagement supporting a UK software and services provider to the public sector.

The project involves separating approximately a dozen customer Azure subscriptions from an existing parent tenant into a new, independently governed tenant, supporting data sovereignty and compliance requirements. This is an operational separation rather than a sale or divestiture.

The initial phase will focus on understanding the existing estate, identifying dependencies and defining a safe migration and cutover approach. Some subscriptions operate within security-sensitive environments, making active SC clearance essential.

Key responsibilities

• Lead discovery and assessment across the Azure subscriptions, documenting bespoke IaaS and PaaS workloads, configurations and dependencies.
• Run discovery sessions with development and operations teams to capture application dependencies, service requirements, SLAs and operational constraints.
• Assess the implications of a tenant change across Microsoft Entra ID, access controls, application identities and integrations.
• Review existing networking, private connectivity, DNS and dependencies across subscriptions and external systems.
• Assess the target tenant's architecture and governance requirements, including landing zones, management groups, Azure Policy and subscription controls.
• Identify migration risks, service continuity considerations and prerequisites for a safe transition.
• Produce clear assessment reports, dependency maps, network diagrams, risk and issue logs, and a proposed cutover approach.
• Work closely with a Programme Manager and technical design authority to inform decisions and plan subsequent phases.

Essential experience

• Current, active SC clearance, which must be verified before engagement.
• Senior Azure architecture experience within enterprise, regulated or security-sensitive environments.
• Practical experience of tenant-to-tenant migration or subscription transfers between tenants, including the identity impact of a directory change.
• Strong Microsoft Entra ID/Azure AD knowledge, covering SSO, RBAC, Conditional Access, PIM, application registrations and service principals.
• Experience designing and assessing Azure landing zones, management groups, Azure Policy and subscription governance.
• Strong Azure networking knowledge, including virtual networks, hub-and-spoke architectures, peering, VPN/ExpressRoute, DNS and private connectivity.
• Experience assessing mixed Azure estates with bespoke IaaS and PaaS workloads.
• Proven discovery and design capability, including stakeholder workshops, dependency analysis and architectural documentation.
• Clear written communication and the ability to translate technical findings into practical recommendations.

Desirable experience

• Microsoft certifications such as AZ-305, AZ-104 or SC-300.
• Experience assessing Azure DevOps or other CI/CD pipelines, particularly their dependencies on tenant identity.
• Background in public sector, policing or other security-sensitive environments.
• Experience working within a small advisory team alongside programme management and technical design leadership.

Please note

This engagement requires strong discovery, assessment and architecture design experience. A background focused solely on hands-on build and implementation will not meet the requirement.

SC clearance must be current and active. Lapsed clearance, clearance in progress, or clearance tied to an ended contract will not meet the stated requirement.