Principal Solutions Architect Consultant – Data & Analytics

About Agile Insights

Agile Insights is a Microsoft-focused Data & AI consultancy helping organisations turn data, AI and cloud investments into measurable business outcomes. We are a Microsoft Managed Partner across Data & AI, with Advanced Specialisation in Azure Analytics & AI, and a certified Databricks partner. Our 70+ consultants across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane deliver for government agencies, financial services, higher education, healthcare and mid-to-large enterprises across Australia.

We are AI-first in how we work: every consultant uses AI tooling, accelerators and repeatable frameworks to deliver faster and better. We have been recognised in the Fast50 four times and are Great Place to Work certified.

The role

This is a senior technical leadership role that sits at the intersection of project delivery and technical pre-sales, working across all of our practices, not just Data & Analytics. Pre-sales is a first-class part of this job, not a side activity: you will be the technical face of Agile Insights in the sales cycle, partnering with our account executives and sales leadership on qualified opportunities, running discovery workshops, shaping winning solutions, building estimates, responding to tenders and standing up proofs of concept that get deals over the line. The balance of your time is spent leading the architecture and delivery of those same solutions, so you are accountable for what you sell.

This is a tech lead position, not a heads-down build role. You set direction, make the architectural calls, review the work of strong engineers and consultants, and stay hands-on where it matters most: reference architectures, proofs of concept and the hard problems. Clients will look to you for direction on platform strategy, and our consultants will look to you for technical leadership and mentoring.

Our work is aligned to where Microsoft is heading: Microsoft Fabric and Purview as the unified data platform, agentic AI built on Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, and Microsoft’s newest Data & AI offerings, including Fabric IQ and Foundry IQ for grounding agents in enterprise data and Agent 365 for governing an agent workforce at scale. You will help our clients make sense of this roadmap and turn it into deliverable solutions.

What you will do

• Solution architecture: Own end-to-end data and AI solution architectures on Azure and Microsoft Fabric, from ingestion and integration through to analytics, AI agents and governance
• Requirements gathering: Run discovery workshops and stakeholder interviews to elicit, challenge and prioritise requirements, translating ambiguous business needs into clear, deliverable solution scope
• Business outcomes focused: Anchor every architectural decision to measurable business value, ensuring solutions solve the real problem and deliver outcomes clients can quantify, not technology for its own sake
• Problem solving: Bring structured, pragmatic thinking to the hard problems, cutting through complexity to find workable solutions under real-world constraints of time, budget and legacy environments
• Technical pre-sales: Lead the technical side of the sales cycle on qualified opportunities: solution shaping, effort estimation, proposal and tender responses, SOW input, client presentations, demos and proofs of concept, working hand in hand with our sales team to win the right work
• Commercial rigour: Ensure proposed solutions are commercially sound: realistic estimates, the right delivery mix and margins that hold up in delivery
• Technical leadership: Lead delivery on client engagements as the senior technical authority: setting standards, reviewing designs, unblocking teams and owning solution quality, without needing to write every line yourself
• Modernisation and migration: Shape data platform modernisation and migration roadmaps: legacy BI and warehouse estates onto Fabric, workloads onto Azure, aligned to Microsoft’s Cloud & AI Platforms priorities
• AI and agents: Architect AI and agentic solutions with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI and Copilot Studio, grounded in well-governed enterprise data, and bring Microsoft’s latest Data & AI offerings (Fabric IQ, Foundry IQ, Agent 365) into client conversations early
• Governance: Advise clients on data governance and AI-ready data protection with Microsoft Purview and security-by-design principles for regulated environments
• Capability building: Mentor consultants across practices, contribute to our accelerators and IP, and support our Microsoft Advanced Specialisation audits and certifications
• Technology leadership: Stay ahead of the Microsoft roadmap (Fabric, AI Foundry, Copilot, Purview, agentic AI) and translate it into practical guidance for clients and our team

What you bring

Core skills (must have)

• Deep Microsoft Fabric expertise: OneLake, Data Factory, lakehouses, warehouses, real-time intelligence, capacity planning and migration approaches
• Strong command of the analytics and Power BI landscape: enterprise semantic model design, governance and deployment patterns, with enough depth to set standards and review the work of specialist developers
• Strong data engineering and data architecture foundations: lakehouse and warehouse design, pipeline and integration patterns, DevOps for data, and the judgement to lead and review engineering work at a high standard
• Working knowledge of AI on Azure: AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, RAG and agent patterns, Copilot Studio, and a clear view of where AI genuinely adds value (and where it does not)
• Proven pre-sales capability: comfortable presenting to executives, running workshops, estimating, and writing solution content for proposals and tenders
• Requirements and stakeholder skills: able to run discovery with business and technical audiences and turn ambiguity into scope
• Consulting experience with the commercial awareness that comes with it: you understand utilisation, margins and scope

Nice to have (a working understanding is enough)

• Microsoft Purview: data cataloguing, lineage, classification and governance operating models
• Azure platform services: landing zones, core infrastructure and integration services
• Azure security concepts: Entra ID, RBAC, private networking and data protection patterns for government and regulated clients
• Azure Databricks and the broader open Lakehouse ecosystem
• Relevant Microsoft certifications (e.g. DP-600, DP-700, AZ-305, AI-102)

What we offer

• A senior seat in a growing, profitable, Australian-owned consultancy with a strong Microsoft alliance and genuine breadth across AI, Data & Analytics and Platform practices
• A great collaborative environment and a fun office in North Sydney, with monthly team gatherings, team building activities and an annual all-of-company gathering
• Wellbeing support including hybrid working, our Employee Assistance Program and an individualised gym and wellbeing program
• Work-from-anywhere policy for up to 6 weeks per year, on top of hybrid arrangements
• Up to 5 days extra paid leave for exams and conferences, including Agile-sponsored Microsoft and Databricks certifications
• Training and certification costs covered as part of your development plan, plus access to our digital learning library
• Hardware allowance for your home office setup, and after 2 years of service the equipment is yours to keep
• Salary packaging through our novated lease partner
• A values-first culture with little to no politics and a get-stuff-done mentality

How to apply

Send your CV and a short note on the most interesting solution you have architected to careers@agile-insights.com.au.

Agile Insights is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants must have full Australian working rights; some engagements require the ability to obtain an Australian government security clearance.