Identity & Collaboration Architect

Location: United Kingdom On behalf of UKRI we are looking for an Identity & Collaboration Architect (Inside IR35) for an initial 4 month contract. Remote working with occasional office travel. The Identity & Collaboration Architect will lead the architecture and design of a large-scale Microsoft 365 consolidation programme involving the migration of multiple Microsoft 365 tenancies, mail domains and identity platforms into a single strategic environment. The role is accountable for developing the future-state architecture for identity, authentication, directory services, email namespace, collaboration services and associated governance models. The architect will work across technical, operational and business stakeholders to establish a coherent, sustainable target operating model that balances organisational requirements with Microsoft's strategic cloud architecture. A key aspect of the role is the development of target-state identity and namespace strategies, including the transition from multiple independentlymanaged directories and Microsoft 365 tenancies to a consolidated identity platform centred on Microsoft Entra ID. As an Identity & Collaboration Architect your main responsibilities will be to: Develop target-state identity architecture for a multi-organisational Microsoft 365 environment. Define authoritative sources for identity information and attribute ownership. Establish identity lifecycle architecture covering joiners, movers and leavers. Define future-state email namespace strategy. Develop mail domain architecture covering multiple existing SMTP domains. Analyse impacts of domain consolidation, retention and rationalisation. Support definition of future-state architecture for Microsoft 365 services and ancillary solutions Support tenant consolidation strategy and migration planning. Design core platform services including Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online and OneDrive. Develop architectural principles and standards. Establish decision frameworks for identity and namespace management. Lead discovery activities across multiple organisations. Analyse current-state identity, directory and messaging environments. Engage senior stakeholders across IT, security, HR and business functions. Facilitate workshops to define identity, namespace and governance requirements. Essential: Demonstrable experience in designing and delivering Identity Architecture within complex enterprise environments. Strong understanding of directory services, domain architecture and identity lifecycle management. Hands-on experience with Microsoft Entra ID, including authentication, conditional access, identity governance and privileged identity management. Proven experience designing and implementing Microsoft 365 architectures. Experience developing target-state architectures, migration strategies and transition roadmaps across multiple organisations or business units. Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to facilitate workshops and present architectural recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences. Experience defining governance frameworks, operating models and architectural standards. Desirable: Experience with Microsoft Azure and/or AWS cloud platforms. Experience working within hybrid or legacy technology environments. Experience within the Public Sector or similarly regulated environments. Familiarity with security, compliance and identity governance requirements in complex organisations. Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas. Disability Confident As a Disability Confident employer, UKRI encourage applications from disabled and neurodivergent candidates. Applications from candidates who identify as having a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be prioritised for review. Where application volumes are high, additional role-specific and desirable criteria may be applied as part of the shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance. In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".