Lead Infrastructure Architect

Job Title: Lead Infrastructure Architect

Working Pattern: Monday to Friday, 36.25 hours per week, with participation in a 24/7 on-call rota as required.

Salary: £60,000 - £75000 and up to 20% bonus and benefits

Location: London - Hybrid (Holborn)

Shape the Future of Our Digital Infrastructure

At Tandem, we're not just a bank - we’re a movement for positive change. If you’re an ambitious and experienced Lead Infrastructure Architect ready to design, evolve, and lead enterprise-grade technology platforms that power a greener digital future, we’ve got a place for you.

Reporting to the Infrastructure Manager, you’ll be the technical authority and design lead for our hybrid infrastructure - spanning corporate WAN/LAN, on-premises and Azure server environments, WiFi, and Microsoft 365 (including Intune, Defender, and Compliance). You’ll work closely with Information Security and Network Engineering teams to ensure our architecture is secure, resilient, scalable, and aligned with business goals.

We are Tandem - Where Impact Meets Innovation

Tandem is the UK's greener digital bank on a bold quest to revolutionise the way we save, borrow, spend, and share - all while nurturing our planet, our people, and our customers.

As one of Europe’s fastest-growing digital banks, our values - Brave, Enterprising, Simple, and Together (BEST) - guide our 500-strong team to collaborate, innovate, and deliver a brighter, greener future.

Your Team: Architects of Change

You’ll join a team of talented Network and Infrastructure Engineers, collaborating to deliver an integrated, modernised environment across three legacy domains (network, AD, O365). As the Lead Infrastructure Architect, you’ll provide both strategic direction and hands-on expertise, ensuring the successful evolution of our hybrid and cloud-first platforms.

Your Impact: Building a Greener, Resilient Tomorrow

Key Responsibilities:

• Define, design, and maintain enterprise infrastructure architecture across on-premise and cloud environments (Palo Alto SASE, Azure, VMware, Hyper-V).
• Drive the modernisation and integration of legacy infrastructure into a unified, secure, and scalable platform.
• Own and maintain the infrastructure roadmap, ensuring alignment with security, compliance, and business objectives.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to a team of network and systems engineers.
• Act as the final escalation point for complex infrastructure issues, ensuring stability and reliability.
• Collaborate with the Information Security team to embed security best practices (NIST, CIS Benchmarks, RBAC, IDAM) into design and operations.
• Partner with third-party vendors to ensure service continuity, value, and architectural integrity.
• Lead on documentation, governance, and standards for infrastructure design and configuration.
• Conduct on-site reviews and audits to ensure quality and compliance across environments.

What We’re Looking For

Essential Skills & Experience:

• IT degree or equivalent industry experience (demonstrable experience in senior infrastructure or architectural roles).
• Strong technical leadership and stakeholder communication skills — able to explain complex concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Proven hands-on experience with networking, network design, and security technologies (Palo Alto Firewall, Juniper Switches, VLAN, VPN, routing, WiFi).
• Expertise in Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, PowerShell, and virtualisation technologies (VMware, Hyper-V, Azure).
• Strong background in Microsoft 365 administration and Azure AD management.
• Experience with Backup and DR solutions (Veeam, Azure, MS Backup).
• Strong understanding of infrastructure monitoring, automation, and configuration management.
• Excellent documentation and architectural design skills.
• Proven experience working to security and compliance frameworks (NIST, CIS, RBAC, IDAM).

Desirable Skills:

• Experience with Intune, Defender, and Microsoft Compliance solutions.
• Hands-on experience with Juniper Mist and Palo Alto Strata Cloud Manager.
• Familiarity with Cisco Meraki environments.
• Exposure to Linux (Ubuntu) systems.
• Industry certifications (e.g., MSP, MCSE, CCNA, Azure Architect Expert, CISSP, ITIL).

The Qualities That Set You Apart

• Passionate about creating secure, sustainable, and high-performing technology environments.
• Purpose-driven, with high integrity and strong ownership of outcomes.
• Equally comfortable operating at strategic architecture and hands-on implementation levels.
• A clear, confident communicator and collaborator who brings teams together.
• Forward-thinking, pragmatic, and innovative in approach.
• A strong sense of accountability, with excellent planning and organisational skills.
• Motivated by challenge, learning, and continuous improvement.

Rewards That Reflect Your Value

At Tandem, your hard work is rewarded in many ways, starting from day one:

• 25 days annual leave plus 8 Bank Holidays
• An additional ‘celebration day’ (birthday, wedding, graduation, etc.)
• Buy or sell up to 5 days’ holiday a year
• Healthcare cash plan via Westfield Health
• Electric Vehicle and Cycle to Work salary sacrifice schemes
• 4% pension contribution match (subject to eligibility)
• Smart Tech purchase scheme
• 10% discount on solar panels
• Tandem Hub for discounts and cashback
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Free snacks, drinks, and social budgets each quarter

Our Green Deal: Your Impact Amplified

We’ll plant a tree in your name when you join — and through our “Green Deal”, you can earn extra rewards for living sustainably:

• Volunteer 2 days/year → Early Friday finish
• Raise £200/year for charity → PR & marketing support
• Use renewable energy at home → +1 day annual leave
• Drive an electric car → £500 toward a home charger

Ready to Architect the Future?

Apply now and help us design a greener, smarter, and more resilient digital world - together.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to fairness under the Equality Act (2010). We celebrate diversity in all its forms and ensure no candidate is disadvantaged based on gender, age, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.

Please note: background checks (including credit, criminal, and CIFAS Internal Fraud Database checks) form part of our recruitment process, in accordance with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.