Azure Solutions Architect

Job title: Azure Solutions Architect

Location: Mainly remote (occasional travel to North Kent offices)

Contract: 6 months +

Pay rate: Flexible, open to offers

With over five and a half thousand police officers, staff, and volunteers, my client is the largest non-metropolitan police force. They border Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and Kent, as well as four London boroughs. It covers 1,405 square miles (3,639 square kilometres). It has a population of around 1.85 million people, making it the fifth most populated county in England.

They are currently undergoing a Data Transformation Programme which is an ambitious joint project that seeks to replace the 20-year-old data infrastructure with a modern cloud-based environment, bringing them up to date with current data management and data access technologies and capabilities.

Data Transformation seeks to fully harness the opportunities available within the Microsoft 365 suite of products to transform the way both forces collect, store, manage and use data. Creating a powerful and intuitive platform will allow for the development of data visualisation, partner-agency-connectivity and data sharing, and integration of powerful analytical tools such as Python, 'R' and iBase; enabling both forces to deploy advanced data analytics and data science techniques to develop innovation and insight.

Data Transformation is also key to ensuring we continue to democratise our data; making our data more accessible to our workforce, ensuring they are confident to work with the data, comfortable to understand it, and, as a result, make data-informed decisions.

My client is looking for an individual with technical skills in Data Transformation and PowerBi based reporting. The ideal candidate would be able to evidence repeatable Azure Solutions Architect and Data Architecture experience of designing, architecting and implementing Microsoft Azure/PowerBi reporting platforms. We would be looking for this individual to familiarise themselves with the existing on-premise SAP Business Objects reporting platform and its datasets, and map, document and implement a journey to have this data available within the Forces Azure tenant building open the existing PowerBi based reporting.

Successful candidates be responsible for, and have experience in the following:

• Technical Standards (current and emerging)
• Non Functional Requirements
• Baseline security requirements
• Review the current A4E (Analytics for Everyone) PowerBi reporting platform design
• Advise and recommend technical options for progressing against project objectives.
• Map a transformation journey from existing on-premise data structures to future Azure state.
• Provide assurance that cyber security standards and technical standards are met and that the solution is technically compatible with our platforms, infrastructure and processes.
• Document configuration, development and common maintenance procedures
• Work alongside local IT Teams throughout the implementation transferring knowledge where necessary.
• Ensure that monitoring and patching of the environment is configured to local IT Standards where they exist. Where these don't exist to work with local IT teams to create and document these through the local Technical Design Authority and change process.
• Confirm that the proposed solution is fully compliant with Baseline Security requirements and the Forces non-functional requirements.???
• Produce a high-level design and a low level design to be submitted and approved at the Forces Technical Design Authority (TDA)
• Develop a technical delivery plan for the approved design
• Assist the PM to coordinate testing in the development environment, including functional testing, interface testing and user acceptance testing.
• From a technical perspective, ensure that the migration plan removes or minimises the operational disruption/impact
• Provide advice and guidance on technical standards, issues and recommendations on any variations to the agreed design or implementation plan from a technical perspective.
• Identify any deviations from the Technical Standards/Architecture and provide an impact statement, covering the level to which costs, support or risk would increase due to the deviation.
• Provide expert technical advice, direction and support to KEP technical staff.

Randstad Business Support is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.