Lead Microservices & AI Technical Architect

Our Client

Our client is a large Australian Federal Government department responsible for supporting national economic development across industry, science, technology, innovation and the resources sector. Its work spans policy, programs, regulation and business-facing services designed to strengthen Australia's productivity, resilience and international competitiveness.

Operating through a nationally distributed workforce with offices across Australian capital cities and regional locations, the organisation delivers complex programs and digital services used by government, businesses and other stakeholders. Its technology environment supports major enterprise platforms, government programs and services operating at national scale.

The organisation is progressing a significant technology transformation agenda focused on modern cloud platforms, digital capability and contemporary engineering practices. This includes establishing enterprise microservices and event-driven architecture foundations and increasing the responsible use of artificial intelligence throughout technology delivery.

Why Contract With Us

At Charter Diligence, we go beyond just placement - we support our contractors with practical benefits that reflect real-life needs. All contractors engaged through us have access to early cash advances on approved timesheets, offering flexibility in cases of unforeseen expenses or cash flow challenges. Unlike traditional labour hire providers, we understand that life doesn’t always align with a pay cycle - and we're here to help when it matters most. Well, ask your mates if they’re already a Charter Diligence Contractor - chances are, they’re already benefiting from the support we provide.

About The Role

This is a senior technical leadership opportunity for an accomplished Microservices and AI Technical Architect to help shape a major enterprise application transformation program within the Australian Federal Government.

You will provide architectural direction across cloud-native platforms, distributed systems, microservices, event-driven solutions and emerging AI capabilities. The position combines strategic architecture with strong engineering leadership, requiring someone capable of influencing technical decisions while remaining sufficiently hands-on to guide delivery teams.

A major focus will be establishing sustainable architecture and engineering foundations rather than simply delivering individual applications. You will help define reusable patterns, strengthen platform engineering practices, embed responsible AI into the software delivery lifecycle and transfer capability to internal technical teams.

Microsoft Azure is the organisation's primary cloud environment, making substantial Azure architecture and engineering experience particularly valuable.

Contract Details

Position: Lead Microservices & AI Technical Architect (EL2 equivalent)Rate: $130-$140/hr+SuperLocation: ACTWorking Arrangement: Hybrid Start Date: 1 October 2026Duration: Initial 12-month contract with possibility of 12 Months extensionHours: Up to 40 hours per weekSecurity: Must be able to obtain Baseline clearance

Key Responsibilities

Lead architecture and technical decision-making across enterprise cloud-native, microservices, event-driven and AI-enabled solutions.Define target-state architecture, technical standards and reusable patterns supporting secure, scalable and maintainable enterprise services.Shape the organisation's emerging microservices and event-driven architecture foundations and guide their adoption across application teams.Establish architecture governance covering APIs, integrations, distributed services, data flows, security controls and platform capabilities.Guide the responsible adoption of AI across the software development lifecycle, from development and testing through deployment and ongoing operations.Provide technical direction for enterprise AI capabilities including machine learning, semantic search, AI-assisted engineering and intelligent application services.Establish responsible AI principles covering security, privacy, governance, transparency, risk and appropriate use of AI technologies.Drive modernisation of legacy and enterprise applications through cloud-native design, containerisation, API-led integration and reusable service patterns.Define and champion DevSecOps practices incorporating CI/CD, infrastructure automation, automated testing, security-by-design and release governance.Guide container platform architecture and workload management across technologies such as Kubernetes, AKS, OpenShift, EKS or GKE.Strengthen platform engineering practices by improving developer experience, standardisation, automation and self-service engineering capabilities.Establish observability standards spanning logging, monitoring, metrics, distributed tracing, alerting and operational diagnostics.Apply Site Reliability Engineering principles to improve availability, resilience, performance, recoverability and operational maturity.Identify architectural risks, technical debt, performance constraints and security concerns and recommend practical remediation strategies.Work closely with cyber security, infrastructure, cloud, application, data and enterprise architecture teams to maintain alignment across technology domains.Review solution designs and engineering approaches to ensure compliance with enterprise architecture and government security requirements.Provide technical assurance across delivery partners, vendors and multidisciplinary engineering teams.Translate complex business requirements into pragmatic architecture and engineering solutions that balance delivery speed, cost, risk and maintainability.Mentor architects, developers and engineers and facilitate structured knowledge transfer to strengthen internal capability.Produce architecture artefacts, technical standards, reference designs, decision records and engineering guidance.Engage senior executives and non-technical stakeholders to clearly communicate technical options, risks, dependencies and recommendations.Promote experimentation, engineering excellence and continuous improvement while ensuring appropriate governance for business-critical platforms.

About You

You are a senior technical architect or engineering leader with extensive experience delivering complex enterprise platforms and leading technology modernisation programs.

You combine strong architecture capability with practical software and platform engineering knowledge and can confidently engage everyone from software engineers through to senior executives.

You Will Ideally Demonstrate

Extensive enterprise experience designing and governing cloud-native, microservices and event-driven architectures.Strong Microsoft Azure experience, ideally gained within complex enterprise or government environments.Demonstrated experience designing highly available, scalable, resilient and secure business-critical systems.Strong understanding of distributed systems, APIs, integration patterns, asynchronous messaging and event-driven design.Practical AI engineering experience covering enterprise AI solutions, machine learning, semantic search and operational AI capabilities.Experience integrating AI-assisted capabilities into modern software engineering and delivery processes.Sound understanding of responsible AI, AI governance, security, privacy and enterprise risk considerations.Strong software engineering knowledge across contemporary development frameworks and engineering practices.Advanced understanding of DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and security-by-design.Experience with Kubernetes and container platforms such as AKS, OpenShift, EKS or GKE.Experience with platform engineering, cloud automation and infrastructure-as-code approaches.Strong knowledge of observability, application monitoring, distributed tracing and operational telemetry.Understanding of Site Reliability Engineering principles and production reliability practices.Experience defining architecture standards, reusable technical patterns and governance frameworks.Demonstrated success modernising legacy or monolithic applications into cloud-native or distributed architectures.Ability to assess technical debt and make commercially and operationally practical modernisation recommendations.Experience working within Agile and multidisciplinary technology delivery environments.Strong leadership capability with experience mentoring architects, engineers and developers.Proven ability to lead geographically dispersed teams and work effectively with external delivery partners.Exceptional stakeholder management skills with the confidence to influence senior executives and technical decision-makers.Excellent written communication skills and the ability to prepare concise architecture and technical documentation.Ability to balance strategic architecture with practical delivery constraints and changing business priorities.Experience within Australian Government or similarly complex regulated enterprise environments will be highly regarded.Relevant Microsoft Azure, architecture, Kubernetes, DevOps, security or cloud certifications will be advantageous.TOGAF, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Kubernetes or equivalent professional certifications will be viewed favourably.Australian citizenship is mandatory due to Australian Government security clearance requirements.You must hold, or be eligible to obtain, an Australian Government Baseline security clearance.Valid Australian working rights are mandatory. This engagement does not offer employer-sponsored visa arrangements, permanent residency sponsorship or other work-right sponsorship.As a mandatory requirement for this contract role required by our client, applicants are kindly asked to complete a compliance check and upload their work rights verification at www.charterdiligence.com.au/portal. Incomplete submissions may not be considered. If you have any questions or need assistance with the process, please don’t hesitate to contact our team—we’re here to help.

Application Process

Important: Due to the high volume of applications and the limited submission timeframe, we may not be able to contact all applicants. This is not a reflection of interest, but a result of operational constraints. As part of mandatory government contract requirements, priority will be given to candidates who have completed all necessary compliance checks. For applicants with privacy concerns regarding work rights verification submission, documents may be presented in person at our local offices for sighting.

We encourage candidates who are passionate about making a difference and possess the necessary experience and skills to apply. Please apply to this job post or submit your CV along with a cover letter detailing your qualifications and interest in the role to this job post. For confidential inquiries, contact our recruitment team at recruitment@charterdiligence.com.au and (02) 7208 7776 (Sydney), (03) 9001 7776 (Melbourne), (07) 3866 7776 (Brisbane), or (08) 6118 7776 (Perth).

Charter Diligence is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of their background. Join us and be part of a team that is shaping the future of the industry.