Cloud Solution Architect

Location: UK (Hybrid)
Practice: Data & AI

HSO is a Business Transformation Partner with deep industry expertise and global reach. As one of Microsoft's leading partners, we help organisations unlock the full potential of Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure, Data and AI technologies to deliver meaningful business outcomes.

With operations across Europe, North America and Asia, HSO combines industry knowledge, technical excellence and a people-first culture to help customers modernise their businesses, transform operations and embrace innovation with confidence.

As demand for Data & AI solutions continues to accelerate, we're expanding our Data & AI practice and looking for experienced Cloud Solution Architects to help shape the next generation of customer transformation programmes.

As a Cloud Solution Architect - Data & AI
, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping and qualifying customer opportunities across the Microsoft cloud ecosystem.

This is a highly visible role that sits at the intersection of sales, enterprise architecture and delivery
, combining technical leadership with commercial thinking. You'll work closely with customers, Microsoft and internal stakeholders to understand business challenges, identify opportunities, design compelling solutions and create clear pathways from initial discovery through to successful delivery.

You'll help organisations transform the way they use data, analytics and artificial intelligence, translating business ambition into practical, costed and deliverable solutions.

Success in this role requires more than technical expertise. You'll need strong consulting and stakeholder management skills, the confidence to challenge assumptions, and the commercial awareness to ensure opportunities are both valuable for clients and aligned with HSO's delivery capability.

• Lead Data & AI opportunity qualification alongside Account Managers, Business Development teams and Enterprise Architects.
• Facilitate customer discovery workshops, architecture assessments and strategic discussions.
• Understand customer business drivers, challenges and desired outcomes.
• Help customers define realistic transformation roadmaps aligned to business priorities.
• Qualify opportunities using structured sales and consulting methodologies, including MEDDIC/MEDDICC approaches.
• Design end-to-end Data & AI solutions using Microsoft technologies and best practices.
• Shape modern analytics, AI and data platform architectures that are commercially viable and technically deliverable.
• Provide architectural leadership across data platform modernisation, analytics, AI and automation initiatives.
• Ensure alignment with Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework and Azure Well-Architected principles.
• Communicate architectural trade-offs and recommendations to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Translate customer requirements into proposals, statements of work, delivery plans and business cases.
• Produce solution estimates, cost models and phased implementation approaches.
• Support customers in understanding ROI, value realisation and investment considerations.
• Challenge unclear scope and identify delivery, cost and commercial risks early in the sales cycle.
• Work closely with delivery teams to validate assumptions before commitments are made.

• Contribute to the evolution of HSO's Data & AI propositions and repeatable offerings.
• Develop demonstrations, accelerators, sales collateral and industry-specific solution narratives.
• Support RFPs, bid responses, executive presentations and proof-of-concept engagements.
• Collaborate with Microsoft stakeholders to drive pipeline growth and co-sell opportunities.
• Keep up to date with emerging Microsoft technologies and industry trends across Data & AI.

The ideal candidate combines strong technical capability with exceptional commercial awareness.

You'll be equally comfortable discussing board-level business outcomes with executive stakeholders as you are diving into architecture decisions with technical teams.

You'll have:

• Proven experience in a Solution Architecture, Pre-Sales, Consulting or Technical Advisory role.
• Experience working within a Microsoft partner, consultancy or enterprise technology environment.
• Strong commercial acumen and experience creating proposals, business cases and Statements of Work.
• The ability to qualify opportunities and challenge assumptions…