Principal Architect at Ventula Consulting, London, £Contract Rate

Principal Architect/Technology Thought Leader - £700 p/d (Outside IR35) - 6-week initial contract - London (2/3x a Week Onsite)

A growing technology consultancy is looking for an experienced Principal Solutions Architect/Technology Thought Leader to support enterprise clients with solution architecture, technical advisory and modern technology adoption. This is an exciting opportunity to combine strategic architectural leadership with hands-on technical delivery, helping organisations translate emerging technologies into practical business solutions.

Working closely with senior client stakeholders, engineering teams and technical leadership, the Principal Solutions Architect will design enterprise-grade solutions, develop technical roadmaps and provide architectural guidance across complex client engagements. You will also support pre-sales activities, lead Proof of Concepts (PoCs) and contribute to technical thought leadership through industry articles, whitepapers and technology forums.

Key Responsibilities

• Design scalable enterprise solutions, translating complex business requirements into technical architectures and integration strategies.
• Develop technical blueprints, architecture specifications and technology roadmaps for enterprise clients.
• Lead hands-on Proof of Concepts (PoCs) and support the development of reusable software frameworks.
• Provide architectural guidance across cloud-native applications, microservices and modern software engineering practices.
• Assess emerging technologies, including Generative AI, Agentic AI and cloud-native architecture patterns.
• Lead technical discovery workshops, platform assessments and pre-sales engagements.
• Produce technical whitepapers, articles and architectural guidance on emerging technology trends.
• Identify technical risks and ensure architectural designs align with security, governance and regulatory requirements.
• Mentor engineering teams and provide technical direction across onshore and offshore delivery functions.

Required Experience

• Extensive experience as a Principal Solutions Architect, Enterprise Architect or senior technical advisor.
• Strong software engineering background, with expertise in .NET Core/C#, Java/Spring Boot and microservices.
• Proven experience designing enterprise solutions across AWS, Azure or GCP.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native architectures, serverless technologies and event-driven systems.
• Knowledge of modern architecture patterns, including Hexagonal Architecture and AI/GenAI integrations.
• Experience leading technical PoCs and guiding engineering teams through Agile delivery.
• Proven experience engaging senior UK enterprise stakeholders and supporting technical pre-sales activities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to C-suite stakeholders.
• Experience producing technical publications, presenting at industry events or contributing to open-source projects (desirable).

If you're an experienced Principal Solutions Architect with strong technical breadth, hands-on architectural expertise and a passion for emerging technologies, we'd be keen to hear from you.

Day Rate: £700 p/d (Outside IR35)

Location: London, 2/3x a week onsite

Duration: Initial 6-week contract