Contractor job Principal Technical Architect

The Technical Architect - Principal will lead the architecture, design, and technical governance of an enterprise observability and telemetry platform.
This role is responsible for designing major solution components, defining reference architectures, and guiding development teams through POCs to production-scale implementations.
The role has a strong open-source, distributed systems, and data architecture focus, with frequent CIO-level technical interactions.


Your responsibilities:
Architecture & Blueprint Design
* Define end-to-end architecture blueprints covering:
o OTEL collectors and agents
o OPAM agents
o Kafka-based data ingestion pipelines
o Time-series and telemetry data storage layers
* Create reference architectures, patterns, and guardrails.
Solution Design & POC Leadership
* Design and review major solution components for scalability, resilience, and performance.
* Lead tool selection and POC execution, validating architectural choices.
* Guide teams from conceptual design to production-ready architecture.
Open Source & Platform Architecture
* Act as the open-source architecture authority, ensuring correct adoption and customization.
* Evaluate and recommend open-source technologies aligned to enterprise requirements.
* Ensure architectural alignment with security, compliance, and operational standards.
CIO & Senior Technical Engagement
* Participate in CIO discussions focused on platform components and architecture decisions.
* Clearly explain technical trade-offs, risks, and long-term impacts.
* Influence strategic decisions through strong architectural rationale.
Engineering Enablement
* Work closely with developers to:
o Provide architectural guidance during POC and build phases
o Review designs and implementations
o Ensure adherence to architecture standards
* Support Business Analysts by clarifying technical flows for documentation.



Your Profile
Essential skills/knowledge/experience:
Core Experience
Core Experience
* 10+ years of experience in enterprise architecture or principal technical roles.
* Strong background in distributed systems and data platforms.
* Hands-on experience with OpenTelemetry, Kafka, and time-series data platforms.
Technical Expertise
* Architecture of high-volume telemetry and event-driven systems.
* Deep understanding of stream processing and data ingestion patterns.
* Experience designing cloud-native and hybrid architectures.
Leadership & Communication
* Proven ability to operate at principal architect level.
* Comfortable influencing CIOs and senior architects.
* Strong written and visual documentation skills.


LA International is an award-winning partner of choice for many of the world's most influential companies and government organisations. Holding Enhanced Government Security Accreditation, we are recognised as the European market leader in the delivery of Security Cleared talent to organisations that demand the very highest levels of security, compliance and assurance.

A multiple award-winning organisation, having secured the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade over consecutive years. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace where everyone feels valued and supported. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of background or identity, and we encourage candidates who may not meet every listed requirement to still apply. If you require any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to ensure a fair and accessible experience.

Please Note: If a high volume of applications is received, only candidates shortlisted will be contacted.