Client Solutions Principal (Application Modernisation)

Employment: Full-time Experience: Director Codurance is hiring an Application Modernisation Principal into Client Solutions, reporting to the Client Solutions Director. You'll spend about 40% of your time shaping modernisation work before it's sold, and 60% delivering it. It's a senior, hands-on role with no line management. You'll be based in the UK, with travel to client sites as engagements need it. We want someone who can design the target architecture for the modernisation of an aging application estate, then sit in front of a client CTO and explain how to get there without stopping the business, and what AI changes about the approach. Why Codurance We're a software craftsmanship consultancy, and we do the work properly. Here is what you'd get, and what you should know going in. Craftsmanship, not bodies in seats. We deliver through testing, pairing, and knowledge transfer. We coach and enable clients rather than supply resources. Real AI work. We have production AI deployments with clients, AI hyperscaler and cloud partnerships, and live AI and engineering service lines such as AI and Engineering Assessment and Codebase Intelligence. Influence. You'd help shape how we design, sell and deliver modernisation work rather than slot into a finished model, and you'd report to the person who built the Client Solutions function. Variety. A mix of pre-sales and delivery across different clients suits people who have outgrown a single product backlog. Straight talk on pace. The pipeline is busy and senior people are stretched across discovery and bids. Part of this hire is fixing that. What you'll do The target is roughly 40% pre-sales and solutioning and 60% billable delivery, measured over a quarter rather than a fixed week. Delivery is normally one engagement at a time. Pre-sales and solutioning Own the modernisation architecture story in proposals and discovery: target architecture, migration approach and risk Join client calls and workshops, and explain technical approaches to non-technical buyers Help scope work, build estimates and defend them Shape repeatable modernisation offers, such as an assessment-to-roadmap package or a phased migration approach Delivery Lead or work hands-on in live modernisation engagements: architecture, decomposition, incremental migration and re-platforming Advise clients on how AI tooling changes modernisation work, and say plainly where it doesn't help Set architecture and engineering standards and mentor engineers, without line management Pass knowledge to client teams as the work goes, so they can run it themselves Requirements The core is application modernisation design and architecture, and a consultancy background. Data and applied AI experience help, but we don't screen on them. Must have Proven design and architecture of application modernisation: moving legacy or monolithic systems to modern architectures in increments while the business keeps running A strong application development background, with hands-on credibility in at least one mainstream stack such as .NET, Java or Node.js Cloud-native delivery experience on at least one of Azure, AWS or GCP Engineering discipline: automated testing, CI/CD and safe, incremental change to legacy code Around five years or more in a consultancy, agency or embedded client delivery environment Evidence of client-facing work, such as shaping scope, running discovery, or explaining a technical approach to a non-technical buyer Credible AI literacy: you can explain how AI tooling changes modernisation work and have used it on real code in some form Care about how the work is done, including testing, pairing and passing knowledge to client teams Strongly preferred You've supported sales in the bid process, for example by contributing to proposals, estimates or client presentations Nice to have Data platform experience, such as lakehouse design and migration on Databricks, Fabric or Snowflake, or an open table format stack like Delta or Iceberg Production applied AI experience, such as RAG pipelines, evaluation, or MCP and agentic work you can talk through in detail Experience in a formal pre-sales role Benefits Uncapped training support – No fixed training budget: if it’s relevant and you share your learnings, we’ll cover the cost. We encourage continuous development at all levels. Personal learning budget - Use Learnerbly to access curated courses, books, and coaching resources to support your growth and progression. Transparency – From day one, you’ll have access to company financials and salary bandings, reflecting our commitment to openness and trust. Private medical cover & life assurance – Includes dental and optical. Life cover provides a lump-sum payment for additional peace of mind. Pension (4% top-up) and income protection - Option to choose from an employer pension top-up to 5% or a holiday voucher for the value of £1000 after 5 years of service. 8% pension top-up or a holiday voucher for the value of £2000 after 8 years of service Employee assistance program (EAP), including access to wellbeing support (counselling, therapy) Enhanced parental leave – Supporting you and your family with more time and flexibility when it matters most. Electric Vehicle and Cycle to Work Scheme Everyone should have the right to bring their whole self to work and be celebrated for who they are. Our people are hired purely on their commitment to these values and their ambition to deliver outstanding results for our clients. Codurance is proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace.