Lead Microservices & AI Technical ArchitectHybrid

Location: Canberra, ACT – Hybrid / Flexible Working

Contract: 12 months + 2 x 12-month extension options

Hours: Up to 40 hours per week

Expected Start: 1 October 2026

Security Clearance: Must be eligible to obtain Baseline

About KJR

KJR is a leading Australian technology consultancy specialising in quality engineering, technology assurance and digital transformation. We partner with government and enterprise organisations to deliver complex technology programs and help our clients build secure, reliable and high-performing digital solutions.

We are currently seeking an experienced Lead Microservices & AI Technical Architect to join KJR for an exciting long-term engagement with a Federal Government client.

About the Role

This is a senior technical leadership opportunity supporting a significant business application transformation program.

The program is establishing enterprise Microservices and Event-Driven Architecture foundations while embedding AI-enabled engineering practices across the software delivery lifecycle.

As the Lead Microservices & AI Technical Architect, you will provide technical leadership and architectural authority, influence system builds and engineering decisions, guide the adoption of AI across the delivery lifecycle, and support capability uplift and knowledge transfer throughout the engagement.

The role combines architecture, technical leadership and governance with practical hands-on engineering, making it well suited to someone who can set technical direction while remaining close to delivery.

Key Responsibilities

As part of this engagement, you will:

• Provide technical leadership and architectural authority across cloud-native, microservices-based and AI-enabled platforms.
• Lead the design, governance and evolution of enterprise microservices and event-driven architectures.
• Influence key system design, architecture and engineering decisions.
• Ensure technical solutions align with enterprise architecture, security and business transformation objectives.
• Lead the establishment of AI-enabled software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices.
• Establish and mature DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability and platform engineering standards.
• Drive technology modernisation, microservices enhancement and platform adoption.
• Support containerisation and the integration of enterprise systems.
• Establish reusable engineering and architecture patterns that improve scalability, maintainability, security and operational resilience.
• Guide the development, adoption and operationalisation of enterprise AI capabilities.
• Provide technical direction to multidisciplinary teams and delivery partners.
• Build internal technical capability through knowledge transfer, coaching and engineering governance.
• Foster engineering excellence, innovation and continuous improvement.

What We're Looking For

To be successful, you will bring extensive experience in:

• Designing, implementing and governing cloud-native, microservices and event-driven architectures within complex enterprise environments.
• Delivering scalable, resilient and secure business-critical platforms.
• AI engineering and AI-enabled solution delivery, including the development, deployment and operationalisation of enterprise AI capabilities.
• Semantic search, machine learning solutions and responsible AI practices.
• Modern software and platform engineering.
• DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing and observability.
• Security-by-design and operational excellence.
• Leading enterprise technology modernisation and transformation initiatives.
• Providing technical direction and influencing significant architecture decisions.
• Improving platform reliability, security, scalability and engineering maturity.
• Leading multidisciplinary technical teams and working effectively with delivery partners.
• Engaging and influencing senior stakeholders and executives.
• Translating complex business requirements into practical technology outcomes.

Highly Desirable Experience

We would particularly like to hear from candidates with experience in:

• Kubernetes and container platforms, including AKS, OpenShift, EKS or GKE.
• Container platform automation, governance and workload management.
• Cloud platform modernisation.
• Site Reliability Engineering (SRE).
• Platform engineering and observability tooling.
• Enterprise-scale automation.
• Agile delivery environments.
• Leading and coaching geographically dispersed teams.
• Technical capability uplift and knowledge transfer.
• Building collaborative, innovative and continuously improving engineering teams.

Working Arrangements

• The client's primary location is Canberra, ACT, with hybrid and flexible working arrangements supported where operational requirements permit.
• The client has a nationally distributed workforce and maintains offices across Australian capital cities. As a result, interstate candidates may also be considered.
• The successful candidate will work with stakeholders and delivery teams located across Australia and may be required to undertake occasional travel to Canberra or other locations.
• The role is expected to be up to 40 hours per week.

Contract & Security Requirements

• This is an initial 12-month engagement, with the potential for 2 x 12-month extensions.
• The expected commencement date is 1 October 2026.
• Candidates must be eligible to obtain an Australian Government Baseline security clearance. An existing Baseline clearance is advantageous but is not mandatory for this opportunity.

How to Apply

If you're a senior technical leader with strong experience across cloud architecture, microservices, event-driven architecture, AI engineering and modern software delivery, we'd love to hear from you.

Please apply with your current CV and include:

• Citizenship status
• Current security clearance, if applicable
• Earliest available start date
• Expected hourly rate

Shortlisted candidates will also be required to provide a one-page pitch (maximum 5,000 characters) addressing the essential and desirable criteria.

Join KJR and contribute your expertise to a significant Australian Government technology transformation program.