Azure Solution Architect - Digital Platforms (Contract)

Location: Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Department: Digital

Workplace: hybrid

Employment Type: contract

Description

Shape scalable, secure, Azure-first solutions across application, platform, and cloud.

Take the next step in your career with a bold move to a highly regarded, New Zealand-owned technology company. We offer a creative and stimulating work environment and value and respect inclusivity and diversity.

About this role | Mō tēnei tūranga mahi

Role Overview

You will be the Solution Architect shaping the end-to-end design of a large-scale digital transformation programme for a New Zealand-based global customer. Where others focus on individual components, you see the whole — how applications, platforms, and services fit together to deliver real business outcomes. We estimate this contract to be at least 6 months.

Microsoft Azure is the primary platform (approximately 90% of the footprint), with AWS and on-premises environments in scope where the solution demands it. You apply well-architected frameworks with rigour, introduce the right platforms and services to enable modern service composition, and ensure the architecture supports a fast, agile delivery cycle.

Equally important is your ability to operate at the executive level. You translate architectural decisions into clear business value, articulate trade-offs in terms stakeholders understand, and support the business cases that fund the work. You are as effective in a boardroom as you are in a design workshop.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and govern the holistic solution architecture across application, integration, data, and platform layers — ensuring cohesion and alignment across all workstreams.
• Lead Azure-first platform design aligned to the Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework: reliability, security, cost optimisation, operational excellence, and performance efficiency.
• Design service composition strategies — identifying when to introduce API gateways, event streaming, service mesh, or integration middleware, and justifying those choices in business terms.
• Evaluate and recommend technologies and platforms across a polyglot environment; bring familiarity with .NET and modern backend ecosystems (e.g. Go) and the ability to reason about language and runtime trade-offs.
• Define environment topology and platform requirements to support modern agile delivery: CI/CD pipelines, environment strategy, deployment patterns, and IaC standards.
• Articulate business value clearly — translating architectural decisions into language that resonates with exec sponsors, product owners, and business stakeholders; support business case development with tangible benefit framing.
• Facilitate architecture workshops, design reviews, and governance checkpoints with C-suite, product owners, delivery partners, and offshore teams.
• Collaborate closely with the Software Architect and Technical Engagement Lead to ensure solution-level decisions are grounded in delivery reality and engineering capability.
• Maintain awareness of cloud cost optimisation (FinOps) and ensure architectural choices remain economically sustainable.
• Mentor architects and senior engineers on solution-level thinking; champion well-architected practices across the programme.

Skills and Experience | Ngā pūkenga me ngā wheako

Essential:

• Proven track record as a Solution Architect or Principal Architect on large-scale cloud-native programmes, with Microsoft Azure as the primary platform.
• Deep, applied knowledge of the Azure Well-Architected Framework — able to demonstrate how its pillars have shaped real architectural decisions, not just describe them in theory.
• Experience designing service composition strategies and knowing when to introduce platforms (API gateway, event broker, integration middleware) to simplify complex architectures.
• Broad technical foundation — comfortable reasoning across application design, integration patterns, data architecture, networking, identity, and security without needing to be the hands-on expert in every layer.
• Familiarity with .NET and at least one other modern language or runtime (e.g. Go); able to evaluate architecture trade-offs in a polyglot environment.
• Strong grasp of modern agile delivery methodologies and how architectural decisions either accelerate or impede delivery velocity.
• Exceptional communication skills — able to articulate business benefits, frame trade-offs for non-technical stakeholders, and hold the room with C-suite executives.
• Experience working across multi-cloud or hybrid environments (Azure primary; AWS or on-premises secondary).

Desirable:

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
• Familiarity with Zero-Trust security, DevSecOps, and FinOps practices.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Bicep) at a design and governance level.
• Previous experience in a consulting or multi-client environment.

About us | Mō mātou

We have 30 years of experience as a New Zealand-owned technology consultancy. We take pride in our multicultural and diverse team of 300+ skilled professionals. Our offices are in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, and Christchurch.

Working with customers in both the public and private sectors, we strive to deliver innovative solutions and enable smarter outcomes. Our company attracts some of the brightest minds in the industry, as we foster a culture of excellence and continuous learning.

Our values are:

• Our people are our greatest asset.
• We conduct business ethically.
• Invention, imagination and creativity are the foundation for growth.
• We work with positive energy, enjoyment, humour and work/life balance.
• Excellence is our passion and we deliver what we promise – or more!
• We strive to take a pragmatic approach to all of our activities
• We value and appreciate our natural environment and seek to play our part to maintain it

Benefits of working at Theta | Ngā hua ka puta i te mahi ki Theta

Theta offers a family friendly work environment with flexible work hours where practical; especially relevant for caregivers.

We embrace gender equality and are committed to providing a supportive, diverse and inclusive work environment.

Theta is committed to giving back to the community and are avid supporters of Cure Kids. We compete in various adventure races and do many other things to raise money for Cure Kids. And we make time for the fun things in life!

We currently provide the following benefits to ensure your professional development and personal wellbeing:

• Hybrid working model (from a minimum of 2 days in the office)
• Internal Referral Incentive
• Staff Assistance Programme
• Daily fresh fruit basket, coffee machine, wide selection of teas and biscuits in all of our offices.

Please note, potential employees will be required to consent to a Ministry of Justice.

We are only accepting applications from those already residing in NZ with the relevant visas. 

Apply now | Tono ināianei 

Ready to take your career to the next level? We would love to hear from you!