Technical Project Manager – SQL Server to GCP Migration

Contract Role: Technical Project Manager – SQL Server to GCP Migration

Contract Location: London. Hybrid 2-3 days

Contract Duration: 6 months initially (with potential extension)

Contract Start Date: Immediate

Contract Classification: Inside IR35

Daily Rate breakdown Traditional Daily Rate: £400 / £500 max dependent on experience

Agreed Contract Rate (ACR): £308 / £385

Equivalent Annual Salary: £80k + £9.5K holiday pay / £100k + £12k holiday pay

Payroll provider: Rockford Payroll Info for Contingent Workers – Rockford Pay

Overview This is an exciting opportunity to join Deloitte for an engagement with a leading global Tier 1 Financial Services organisation.

We’re hiring a Technical Project Manager to lead an end-to-end migration of Microsoft SQL Server workloads to Google Cloud Platform (GCP). You’ll own delivery governance, planning and execution, testing coordination, risk/issue management, and senior stakeholder reporting. This role needs strong attention to detail, a structured approach to delivery, and the confidence to drive outcomes across engineering, infrastructure, security, and business teams.

Key Responsibilities Programme delivery & governance

• Own the integrated migration plan (scope, milestones, dependencies, resourcing, budget, RAID, and critical path).
• Establish and run delivery governance (project cadence, sprint/release planning if applicable, workstream tracking).
• Drive decision-making forums, document outcomes, and ensure actions are completed on time.
• Manage vendors/partners (if used) and ensure contract deliverables align to outcomes.

Technical Migration Management (SQL Server → GCP)

• Coordinate discovery and assessment of current SQL Server estate (versions, sizing, HA/DR, licensing, dependencies, interfaces).
• Drive agreement on target architecture with technical leads (e.g., Cloud SQL for SQL Server, Compute Engine hosting SQL Server, connectivity, encryption, backup/restore, monitoring, IAM).
• Manage data migration approach and cutover planning (downtime windows, rollback strategy, validation).
• Coordinate environment readiness: network, firewall rules, IAM, service accounts, key management, logging/monitoring, patching approach.

Testing & quality (attention to detail)

• Define and run the testing strategy and schedule across:
• Functional testing
• Data validation/reconciliation (row counts, checksums, referential integrity, key reports)
• Performance testing (baseline vs post-migration)
• Security testing / access controls
• Resilience testing (backup/restore, failover where relevant)
• Ensure clear entry/exit criteria, defect triage, prioritisation, and closure.
• Maintain traceability from requirements → test cases → evidence → sign-off.

Cutover, Release & Operational Readiness

• Own the cutover plan (dry runs, comms plan, checklist, go/no-go criteria, runbooks).
• Coordinate operational handover: support model, monitoring/alerting, SOPs, knowledge transfer, and documentation.
• Ensure post-migration stabilisation is planned, tracked, and closed with clear acceptance criteria.

Senior Stakeholder Reporting

• Provide concise weekly reporting to senior stakeholders (status, milestones, risks/issues, decisions required, financials if applicable).
• Translate technical progress into business outcomes and clear asks (removals of blockers, approvals, trade-offs).
• Maintain executive-ready artefacts: one-page status, timeline, RAID log, and benefits/impact view.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven Technical Project Manager / Delivery Manager experience delivering infrastructure or data platform migrations (cloud migration strongly preferred).
• Strong understanding of SQL Server concepts: HA/DR patterns, backup/restore, performance considerations, SSIS/SSRS/SSAS (where applicable), and dependency mapping.
• Experience coordinating cloud deployments on GCP (or equivalent cloud with ability to transfer skills).
• Strong planning discipline and attention to detail (checklists, evidence-led reporting, traceability, rigorous RAID management).
• Demonstrable experience running testing workstreams and managing defects through to closure.
• Excellent senior stakeholder management and communication skills, including steering/exec-level updates.

Desirable Experience

• Familiarity with GCP services relevant to database migrations (e.g., Cloud SQL, Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, VPC, IAM, Cloud Monitoring/Logging).
• Experience with database migration tooling (e.g., Database Migration Service, replication-based migration, ETL/ELT patterns).
• Exposure to security/compliance requirements in regulated environments (financial services preferred).
• Agile delivery experience (Scrum/Kanban) blended with traditional governance where appropriate.
• ITIL / service transition experience for operational handover.

Qualifications (Preferred):

• Prince2 / PMP / APM (or equivalent)
• Cloud certification (Google Cloud – Associate/Professional, or equivalent)