Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Senior Technical Engineer – Microsoft Azure

Role Type: Permanent circa. £80-90k plus benefits.

Role Summary

The Senior Technical Engineer is responsible for providing hands‑on technical leadership across the design, build, and delivery of enterprise‑scale solutions on the Microsoft Azure platform. This role combines deep technical expertise with leadership, architecture ownership, and close collaboration with product, delivery, and business stakeholders to ensure high‑quality, secure, and scalable solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Accountable for the end‑to‑end technical design of solutions built on Microsoft Azure, ensuring quality, scalability, resilience, security and adherence to the high-level architectural design.
• Define and govern technical standards, patterns, and best practices across cloud and application services.
• Act as the senior technical authority for Azure‑based solutions, providing guidance on design decisions and trade‑offs.
• Leverage AI responsibly throughout the delivery process and implementation of business solutions.

Delivery & Engineering

• Lead and contribute to hands‑on development using technologies such as .NET / C#, APIs, microservices, and Azure PaaS services.
• Lead and contribute to hands-on development of integration solutions using Logic Apps, Function components, Message Bus services, Event Grid services, and API Manager instances
• Oversee code quality through design reviews, code reviews, and continuous improvement of engineering standards.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and drive root‑cause analysis and long‑term fixes.

Azure & DevOps

• Design and implement solutions using core Azure services (e.g. App Services, Azure Functions, Azure SQL, Storage, Service Bus, Kubernetes).
• Design and implement solutions using Azure integration services (e.g. Logic Apps, Function components, Message Bus services, Event Grid services, and API Manager instances)
• Champion DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automation, infrastructure‑as‑code, and release management using Azure DevOps or equivalent tooling.
• Ensure solutions comply with standards, security, compliance, and operational requirements.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to developers and engineers, supporting skills growth and career development.
• Work closely with Product Owners, Delivery Leads, Architects, and Business Stakeholders to translate requirements into effective technical solutions.
• Work with solution architects to provide feedback and implement the architectural solution.
• Support estimation, planning, and risk management from a technical perspective.

Required Skills & Experience

Core Experience

• Strong experience as a Technical Lead / Senior Engineer delivering complex systems.
• Extensive hands‑on experience with Microsoft Azure cloud services.
• Strong background in .NET / C# application development and API‑based architectures.
• Experience designing and implementing integrated services e.g. microservices and data integrations.
• Working knowledge of how-to best leverage Azure AI services for business solutions.
• Solid understanding of the Microsoft ecosystem for Copilot, AI agents and Power Platform integration.

Cloud & Engineering

• Solid understanding of cloud architecture principles, security, networking, and performance.
• Experience with CI/CD, automated testing, and DevOps pipelines.
• Familiarity with containerisation and orchestration (e.g. Docker, AKS) advantageous.

Leadership & Communication

• Proven ability to lead technical teams and influence technical direction.
• Strong communication skills, able to explain complex technical concepts to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Pragmatic, delivery‑focused mindset with strong problem‑solving skills.

Qualifications & Certifications

• Microsoft Azure Certifications desirable but not mandatory.

What Success Looks Like

• High‑quality Azure integration solutions delivered to agreed standards.
• Clear technical direction and strong engineering discipline across teams.
• Improved reliability, scalability, and security of cloud platforms.
• Strong, capable engineers who are supported and mentored effectively.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

• Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.