Principal Modern Work & AI Architect & Service Tower Lead
Shape Intercity’s Modern Work and AI services, turning Microsoft 365 and Copilot innovation into secure, scalable solutions with measurable customer and business outcomes.
Why join Intercity Technology: Office of the CTO
Intercity has been helping businesses Do More with technology for over 40 years. The Office of the CTO sets the direction for how we turn Microsoft innovation into services our customers love, and this role owns one of our biggest bets. We’re an Investors in People Gold employer, and we back our people with learning and development opportunities and a genuine path to grow.
The role:
This role combines senior technical authority with end-to-end ownership of our Modern Work and AI service portfolio. You’ll define the technology and service strategy, architecture, standards, roadmap, commercial propositions and lifecycle for Microsoft 365, Copilot, collaboration, employee experience, workplace productivity and AI transformation.
Working with Product and Services, Platforms and Engineering, Alliances and Technology, Sales, Marketing and Customer Success, you’ll translate Microsoft innovation into secure, scalable, supportable and profitable services that deliver measurable customer outcomes. A priority is taking Copilot adoption beyond chat into agents, automation, knowledge management and business process transformation, and helping Intercity show what Microsoft-first workplace innovation looks like.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy and architecture
Define and maintain the strategy, roadmap, architectural principles, reference architectures and standards for the Modern Work and AI tower
Act as senior technical authority for Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online, Intune, Viva, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Power Platform and related AI
Turn Microsoft product developments, market trends and customer needs into service innovation and investment priorities, in line with our Microsoft-first strategy
Govern solution design, technical assurance, data readiness, security, compliance and AI governance on strategic customer engagements
Portfolio ownership and productisation
Own the Modern Work and AI portfolio from concept, design and launch through to continuous improvement and retirement
Develop repeatable managed services, consultancy offerings, assessments, adoption frameworks, packages, pricing models and go-to-market propositions
Lead service development across Copilot adoption and extensibility, AI agents, knowledge management, process automation and workplace transformation
Work with Platforms and Engineering to standardise, automate and scale services
Use customer feedback, service performance and market intelligence to set roadmap, lifecycle and investment priorities
Commercial performance and growth
Own portfolio revenue, profitability and growth targets
Build business cases for investment and innovation, with clear pricing, value propositions and measurable benefits
Work with Sales, Marketing and Customer Success on acquisition, adoption, retention, upsell and cross-sell
Work with Microsoft Alliances to make the most of incentives, funding, certifications and specialisations
Copilot, AI adoption and customer outcomes
Lead Copilot and AI architecture and service growth, setting best practice for adoption, governance, security and data readiness
Guide strategic customers through AI transformation programmes, workshops, executive briefings and roadmaps
Develop customer success and value-realisation frameworks that show productivity gains, business outcomes and return on investment
Act as a trusted technical and commercial adviser to senior customer stakeholders, and bring the voice of the customer into portfolio decisions
Technical leadership
Provide architectural oversight for major opportunities and projects, and act as an escalation point for complex solution design
Mentor Solution Architects, Consultants and Technical Specialists, building capability and promoting engineering excellence and accountability
Partner across Product and Services, Platforms and Engineering, Alliances and Technology, delivery, operations, Sales and Customer Success
Explain complex technical and commercial ideas to technical, business and executive audiences
Key Experience
Significant experience designing and delivering Microsoft Modern Work solutions, with deep expertise in Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online and Intune
A strong understanding of Copilot, AI agents, automation, workplace transformation, AI governance, data security and adoption
Experience defining architecture standards, reference designs and technology roadmaps, and supporting complex customer transformations
Experience owning, managing or developing Modern Work, collaboration or AI services, including repeatable managed services or consultancy propositions
Commercial understanding of pricing, portfolio revenue, profitability, product lifecycle and service growth
Customer-facing advisory, pre-sales and executive stakeholder experience, including working with Sales and Customer Success
Experience in an MSP, systems integrator, consultancy or enterprise environment, with strong communication, presentation and stakeholder management skills
A degree in IT, computer science, engineering or business, or equivalent industry experience
It’s a bonus if you have:
Power Platform, Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI services, Viva, Copilot Studio and AI agents
Microsoft 365 security, compliance, identity, Zero Trust and data governance
Workplace adoption and change management, value-realisation frameworks and service productisation
Core networking principles and technologies
Certifications
None of these are essential, but any of them will help: Microsoft 365 Certified Enterprise Administrator Expert, Power Platform Solution Architect Expert, Azure Solutions Architect Expert or Azure AI Engineer Associate, Microsoft Applied Skills and Copilot certifications, Information Protection and Compliance certifications, TOGAF, ITIL, Prosci Change Management, or a recognised product management qualification.
Key Skills and Behaviours
Strategic thinking: you see Microsoft and market developments coming and line up technology decisions with long-term commercial goals
A commercial mindset: you balance growth, profitability, customer value and investment
Customer focus: you understand business challenges and build trusted relationships with executives
Innovation: you champion AI, automation, experimentation and continuous improvement, with the right governance
Communication and influence: you explain complex topics clearly and bring technical, commercial and operational stakeholders together
Leadership: you lead through expertise, mentor talent and promote engineering excellence and accountability
What we offer
33 days holiday (including bank holidays), increasing by one day for each full year with us, up to five additional days
Holiday buy scheme
All-company bonus scheme
Company pension
Death in service cover
Employee assistance programme
Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
Cycle to work scheme
Specsavers eye tests
Colleague discounts and incentives
Values Champion of the Quarter and Year awards
Active social calendar
Learning and development opportunities
Ready to Do More? If you want to shape how Microsoft innovation becomes secure, scalable and profitable services for our customers, we’d love to hear from you.
Equal opportunities
Intercity is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to a fair, inclusive and unbiased recruitment process for every candidate. We make reasonable adjustments throughout our process, so if you need any support at any stage, just let us know.
Pre-employment checks
As a specialist in secure technology solutions and a certified ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus organisation, all successful candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks, including vetting and references, as part of our onboarding process. You’ll also need the right to work in the UK.
Your data
Any personal information you share with us will be handled securely and in line with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. We will keep your application for six months after the close of the campaign unless you tell us you are happy for us to hold it longer. You may also be invited to share voluntary, anonymous information about your background for equal opportunities monitoring, which has no bearing on your application.
For our full privacy policy or to exercise your data rights, contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@intercity.technology or on 0808 500 1436.
- Department
- CTO Office
- Role
- Modern Work and AI Principle Architect
- Location
- Birmingham Head Office
- Remote status
- Hybrid
About Intercity Technology
For over 40 years, Intercity has grown from a family-owned Midlands business into one of the UK's leading technology service providers. We're still independent, still guided by the same values and still in control of our own future. That independence gives us the freedom to think long term, invest where it matters and make decisions based on what's right for our customers, colleagues and business. With ambitious plans for continued growth, we're building something special and everyone who joins us has the opportunity to help shape where we go next.