Azure Cloud Architect – AI Enablement VP

Embark on a transformative journey as a Senior Azure Cloud Architect – AI Enablement VP.  At Barclays, our vision is clear –to redefine the future of banking and help craft innovative solutions. In this role, you will help shape the future of AI at Barclays. Your work in Generative AI and Machine Learning will directly influence the scale of intelligent automation and the delivery of exceptional client experiences. You will design and build cutting-edge AI products that enable strategic decision-making and drive operational efficiency across the bank. As a key technical leader, you will have the autonomy to experiment, lead high-visibility initiatives, and see your innovations deliver tangible impact across a global organization.

To be successful as a Senior Azure Cloud Architect – AI Enablement VP, you should have:

• Extensive expertise in designing and building scalable cloud architectures

• Deep knowledge of Azure services, DevOps practices, automation, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Power Platform, and LLM/NLP fundamentals

• Practical experience with core Azure components, including Compute, Storage, Networking, AKS, App Services, API Management, Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Azure Functions, and CI/CD DevOps pipelines

• Considerable understanding of multi-agent system design, including MCP and agent-to-agent (A2A) architectural patterns

• Proven experience with Azure Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Other highly valued skills include:

• Ability to translate business requirements into scalable technical architectures while collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams

• Translate business needs into agent-driven automation strategies and end-to-end AI product designs

• Provide technical leadership through proof-of-concept development, roadmap planning, and adoption of Azure AI best practices

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in this role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking, digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is located in our Whippany, NJ office.

Minimum Salary: $170,000

Maximum Salary: $230,000

The minimum and maximum salary/rate information above includes only base salary or base hourly rate. It does not include any other type of compensation or benefits that may be available.

Barclays employees are eligible for a suite of competitive and generous employee benefits, including medical, dental and vision coverage, 401(k), life insurance, and other paid leave for qualifying circumstances.

This position is eligible for an incentive award.

Purpose of the role

To design, develop, and implement solutions to complex business problems, collaborating with stakeholders to understand their needs and requirements, and design and implement solutions that meet those needs and create solutions that balance technology risks against business delivery, driving consistency. 

Accountabilities

• Design and development of solutions as products that can evolve, meeting business requirements that align with modern software engineering practices and automated delivery tooling. This includes identification and implementation of the technologies and platforms.
• Targeted design activities that apply an appropriate workload placement strategy and maximise the benefit of cloud capabilities such as elasticity, serverless, containerisation etc.
• Best practice designs incorporating security principles (such as defence in depth and reduction of blast radius) that meet the Bank’s resiliency expectations.
• Solutions that appropriately balance risks and controls to deliver the agreed business and technology value.
• Adoption of standardised solutions where they fit. If no standard solutions fit, feed into their ongoing evolution where appropriate.
• Fault finding and performance issues support to operational support teams, leveraging available tooling.
• Solution design impact assessment in terms of risk, capacity and cost impact, inc. estimation of project change and ongoing run costs.
• Development of the requisite architecture inputs required to comply with the banks governance processes, including design artefacts required for architecture, privacy, security and records management governance processes.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
• OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.