Technical Architect (Contract)

Solutions Architect | 6 Months | Liverpool  We have an urgent contract opportunity for a hands-on Senior Technical Architect to play a leading role in the biggest technology transformation programme our client has ever undertaken.   The Project / challenge   The business currently operates across two legacy core operational systems (each with different capabilities, processes and underlying technologies) with the plan to consolidate and replace these with a modern, AI-first SaaS platform, while transforming the wider architecture around it.   This is much bigger than simply implementing a new system. The new platform sits at the heart of a complex operational ecosystem spanning courier applications, ordering and operational systems, scanning and measuring technology, optimisation platforms, third-party services, data and analytics platforms and numerous satellite applications.   The challenge is to understand how the business operates today, how all of these systems interact, and what the future architecture needs to look like.   What You'll Be Doing   Working closely with the CTO, Director of Engineering and wider business and technology teams, you'll take ownership of the architecture from AS-IS through to TO-BE.   You'll:   Lead discovery workshops with business and technology stakeholders to understand operational processes, requirements, pain points and dependencies. Map the AS-IS business processes and technology landscape, including the two core legacy systems, Microsoft ESB, integrations, interfaces, data flows and satellite applications. Translate business requirements and processes into a clear TO-BE architecture and technical blueprint. Produce High-Level Designs (HLDs), architecture diagrams, UML diagrams, integration models and supporting architectural artefacts. Design how the new SaaS platform fits into the wider technology ecosystem rather than viewing it in isolation. Define the integration architecture across operational systems, courier applications, optimisation solutions, scanning and measuring technology, SaaS platforms and third parties. Help drive the move towards a modern Azure and event-driven architecture, including event buses, real-time messaging, APIs and appropriate integration patterns. Define how operational and event data flows into the wider data ecosystem, including Databricks and Microsoft Fabric. Establish architectural standards and patterns that can be applied consistently across the programme. Work directly with potential technology vendors, asking the right questions and challenging proposed solutions. Provide technical assurance across areas including functionality, scalability, resilience, performance, security, cost, telemetry/observability and supportability. Help define the transition from today's architecture through implementation, migration and ultimately decommissioning of the legacy platforms.   Person requirements:   Strong experience as a Technical Architect / Systems Architect | Solutions Architect. Evidence of personally designing architecture for major core system replacement, modernisation or transformation programmes. Strong experience moving from business process and requirements through to technical architecture and HLD. Experience designing solutions across complex estates involving multiple systems, interfaces and third parties. Strong knowledge of Azure architecture (preferred but any cloud based transformation is fine). Experience with event-driven architecture, event buses, real-time messaging, APIs and modern integration patterns. Experience working with legacy ESB environments and designing the transition towards modern integration architectures. Good understanding of modern data architecture; Databricks and/or Microsoft Fabric would be particularly relevant. Experience working with SaaS vendors and providing technical assurance during selection and implementation. The confidence and technical depth to challenge vendors and ask the right functional and non-functional questions. Strong stakeholder and workshop leadership skills with the ability to communicate architecture to both technical and non-technical audiences. A pragmatic, hands-on approach, someone comfortable operating at both the big-picture architecture level and deep within the detail.   Contract Details   Contract:  6 months IR35:  Outside IR35 Rate:  £625 per day, with some flexibility for the right person Location: Liverpool / Hybrid

Posted 1 hour ago

Lead Product Manager | AI Native   Join a fast-scaling SaaS FinTech business powering solutions for over 500,000 users. With strong growth (400 people today, expanding to 500 in the next 3 months) and a major focus on innovation and AI, this is a chance to step into a high-impact Lead Product Manager role where you’ll help shape what’s next.   This is a technical, hands-on product leadership opportunity. You won’t be writing requirements and handing them over, you’ll work closely with engineers, prototype and test ideas quickly using modern AI tools, analyse data, evaluate models, and guide the technical decisions behind AI-driven product experiences, whilst being supported by a collaborative, inclusive culture that values your voice, encourages growth, and promotes work-life balance.   Key Responsibilities   Own and drive the product strategy, vision and execution for AI-enabled B2C22B SaaS products within a fast-growing FinTech environment. Champion an AI-first product mindset, identifying opportunities where AI, automation and intelligent workflows create meaningful customer and commercial value. Partner closely with Engineering, Design and Data teams to rapidly move from idea to production, making informed technical and commercial trade-offs. Leverage AI throughout the product lifecycle, using tools such as Claude, Cursor, Lovable, v0 and other emerging technologies to accelerate research, prototyping, specification writing and product delivery. Rapidly validate ideas through experimentation, AI-assisted prototyping and customer feedback, continuously iterating based on evidence and outcomes. Define clear product vision, measurable outcomes and success metrics, using data and experimentation to drive prioritisation. Evaluate emerging AI technologies, LLMs, agents and automation capabilities, balancing customer impact, scalability, cost, governance and risk. Translate customer problems into simple, scalable product solutions that combine exceptional user experience with intelligent automation. Lead product discovery and delivery, aligning Product, Engineering, Commercial and Customer Success teams around clear priorities. Stay at the forefront of AI innovation, bringing new ideas, tools and product capabilities into the organisation before competitors.   Requirements   Proven experience as a Product Manager, Senior Product Manager or Product Lead delivering successful B2C2B SaaS products. Demonstrable experience building or shipping AI-enabled, AI-assisted or AI-native product capabilities. Strong technical understanding with the confidence to work alongside engineers, architects and AI specialists on solution design and delivery. Passionate about AI and modern product development, using AI daily to improve research, analysis, prioritisation, documentation and execution. Experience working with Generative AI, LLMs, AI agents or machine learning products, with an understanding of their capabilities, limitations and commercial applications. Highly data-driven, comfortable defining KPIs, analysing product performance and making evidence-based product decisions. Comfortable working in environments where rapid experimentation, continuous learning and iteration are expected. Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, capable of influencing senior leaders while maintaining close collaboration with engineering teams. Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to thrive in a scaling business where ambiguity, pace and innovation are part of everyday work. Curious by nature, constantly exploring emerging AI technologies and identifying ways they can transform both the product and the way teams build products.

Posted 58 minutes ago

Platform Engineer Manchester - 2 days per week   Millions of customers. One proprietary platform. Infinite possibilities.   This global technology business has just completed a massive migration to their own platform, and now, the stage is set for scale, innovation, and speed. Products are being built at pace, technology is unlocking new capabilities, and the experiences delivered to customers worldwide are next-level.   They're looking for a Platform Engineer to help build, operate and continuously improve the platforms that underpin their engineering teams. This is a hands on opportunity for someone who enjoys working across infrastructure, automation and developer tooling, helping engineering teams build, deploy and run software more efficiently. Working closely with Platform Engineers and product teams, you'll play a key role in improving reliability, reducing operational overhead and driving modern Platform Engineering and DevOps practices across the business.   Their core application platform is built on .NET, with services communicating via WebAPI, WCF and RabbitMQ. They manage large volumes of data using MySQL and MongoDB, operating a hybrid infrastructure across AWS and on-premises VMware. As they continue migrating services to Kubernetes, you'll have the opportunity to work with cloud-native technologies, GitOps and Argo CD.   What you'll do:   Build and maintain infrastructure using Terraform, Ansible and Python. Supporting and enhancing CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins and GitOps using Argo CD. Operate, scale and improve Kubernetes environments. Partner with engineering teams to troubleshoot platform issues and improve reliability. Develop shared tooling, documentation and platform standards. Automate operational processes to improve efficiency and remove manual tasks. Evaluate new technologies and recommending solutions that balance scalability, reliability and maintainability.   Who you are:   Experience in Platform Engineering/OS Engineering within Linux or Windows environments. Strong AWS experience, including EC2, S3, IAM and VPC networking. Hands on experience with Infrastructure as Code using Terraform and configuration management with Ansible. Experience working with Docker and Kubernetes in production environments. A passion for automation and improving platform and developer experience. Strong problem-solving skills and confidence collaborating with a variety of technical and business stakeholders. The ability to assess technologies and recommend solutions based on both technical and business requirements. Excellent communication skills and a proactive, collaborative approach.   This is an excellent opportunity to join a team investing heavily in modern platform engineering, where you'll have the chance to influence the platform, work with cloud-native technologies and help shape the future of their engineering capability.

Posted 54 minutes ago