Colleague spotlight: Introducing Mark Sailes
Before joining Leighton, Mark Sailes spent six years at AWS, helping to deliver cloud solutions and drive customer success across a range of industries.
He now brings that experience to Leighton, where he’s focused on helping our customers get the most from AWS technology.
In November’s colleague spotlight, we chat to Mark as we hear about his journey, how he’s helping Leighton to accelerate innovation and the impact he’s making across our customer projects.
I’m a Solutions Architect within the commercial team at Leighton acting as a bridge between our technical and client-facing functions. My role involves working closely with our account directors to deeply understand our customers’ needs, business challenges and growth ambitions, then translating those into innovative software solutions that deliver impact.
Once we’ve identified how we can help, I support the ideation and design of the solution, collaborating with our engineering team to develop detailed proposals that bring those ideas to life. I also play a key role in presenting and refining these solutions with our customers to ensure alignment and success.
Although I haven’t been at Leighton long, I’ve already had the opportunity to contribute to some pretty impressive projects, including our work with Greggs, one of our newest customers, as well as British Airways and Avios.
I joined Leighton in July having previously worked at AWS and what really drew me in was the opportunity to work for a company that gives me the freedom to explore a variety of roles. While I love being involved in the technical side of solution design, I also want to broaden my skills and get hands-on experience in sales, marketing and business development. It’s a place where curiosity and versatility are genuinely valued and that really appealed to me.
I also must give a special mention to Lee Gilmore, our AWS practice lead, who played a big part in my decision to join. I’d met Lee a few times before coming to Leighton and his knowledge, enthusiasm for AWS and clear vision for how Leighton is positioning itself as an AWS partner really stood out. Hearing how he saw the company growing, both in its technical capability and its collaborative culture made it an easy decision to join.
I don’t think anyone sets out with a clear plan to become a Solutions Architect, it’s such a broad and evolving role that it tends to find you rather than the other way around. I’ve always enjoyed technology; I started out as a programmer because I loved writing code when I was in the earlier stages of my career. But I quickly realised that my strengths lay not just in the technical side, but in bringing people together, understanding complex situations and helping non-technical audiences make sense of technical concepts.
Those softer skills proved to be incredibly valuable. Overtime, I found that blending my technical knowledge, architectural understanding, and ability to communicate across different teams and stakeholders naturally led me toward the Solutions Architect role.
It’s important, first and foremost, to have a genuine technical curiosity and hands-on experience, if you have those two ingredients, everything else tends to follow. But beyond that, what really defines success in this role is the ability to understand business needs and translate them into tangible outcomes, while bringing the right people on the journey with you.
Having a strategic mindset is essential, constantly asking “How will this solution be delivered? What’s the cost and value? What risks need to be mitigated?” is key. To answer those questions effectively, you need a blend of technical acumen, commercial awareness and strong collaboration skills. It’s about balancing innovation with pragmatism, ensuring that every technical decision ultimately drives real business value.
During my time at AWS, I was heavily involved in the development of Lambda SnapStart, a feature designed to dramatically improve Lambda function cold-start performance, a long-standing challenge for many customers. I contributed throughout the process, from early beta testing to collaborating with the open-source community, a diverse ecosystem of developers, contributors and organisations who build and maintain open-source software.
My role went beyond the technical implementations; I helped ensure the right support, documentation and code samples were in place, contributing to blog posts and shaping the go-to-market strategy from a technical perspective.
Thanks to that deep involvement (and a little bit of good timing), I had the incredible opportunity to present the first breakout session about Lambda SnapStart at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, my first major speaking engagement. Having worked on the project for nearly two years before launch, it was incredibly rewarding to see it go live, hear how valuable it was for customers and share the story of how we brought it to life.
What I enjoy most is the variety of work and the opportunity to help people solve complex problems by offering a fresh perspective. My role is all about finding the right solutions, not just technically, but strategically and delivering products and services that we can confidently stand behind, knowing they’ll genuinely help our customers achieve their goals.
The calibre of colleagues at Leighton sets an exceptionally high standard. Each person brings something distinctive, whether it’s deep technical expertise, creative insight, or innovative approaches to complex challenges. I truly enjoy collaborating across disciplines and seeing how these diverse perspectives come together to create solutions that are far greater than the sum of their parts.
That’s an easy one, the AWS North Community Conference. It was pretty special to see so many people benefiting not only from the time and effort we invested in organising the event, but also from attending the sessions themselves. I was fortunate to experience both sides of the conference: helping organise it and presenting as a speaker.
My session ended up with 48 attendees, far more than I expected. The audience was highly engaged, asked thoughtful questions and the energy throughout the day made it feel like a real achievement.
One day, I hope to launch my own technology startup and put into practice all the skills I’m currently developing. I have a few ideas of what I’d eventually like to pursue, but for now, my focus is on learning, growing and contributing as much as I can to help Leighton continue to thrive.
I am an avid Lego fan. I have over 30,000 pieces in my collection.
I have recently taken up camping which I’ve been enjoying, however that’s through the summer months, I’m not sure I’ll be enjoying it quite so much throughout winter...
Internally, colleagues might not always realise how technical I am in my role, but I’m very hands-on and love getting stuck into coding and building solutions. Externally, what people might not see is the relationship-building side of what we do, earning our customers’ trust, understanding their challenges and working collaboratively to plan, strategise and minimise risks. It’s a balance of technical depth and strategic partnership and that’s what makes the role so rewarding.
The book ‘Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less’ captures the idea of asking yourself: “What are your goals and what are you trying to achieve?” perfectly. Early in your career, the focus is on learning your craft and saying “yes” to opportunities that help you grow. But as you progress and become known for what you do, more people start asking for your time and input and that’s when essentialism becomes vital. It’s about learning to say no to the things that might not necessarily align with your goals, so you can focus your energy on what matters and where you can make the greatest impact.
That advice has really shaped the way I approach my work and make decisions throughout my career.
Learn to be happy and stay curious. Take satisfaction in the small wins along the way. Balancing the frustration when things don’t go to plan is a skill in itself but so is taking real joy in the moments when everything finally comes together.
Before joining Leighton, Mark Sailes spent six years at AWS, helping to deliver cloud solutions and drive customer success across a range of industries.
He now brings that experience to Leighton, where he’s focused on helping our customers get the most from AWS technology.
In November’s colleague spotlight, we chat to Mark as we hear about his journey, how he’s helping Leighton to accelerate innovation and the impact he’s making across our customer projects.
I’m a Solutions Architect within the commercial team at Leighton acting as a bridge between our technical and client-facing functions. My role involves working closely with our account directors to deeply understand our customers’ needs, business challenges and growth ambitions, then translating those into innovative software solutions that deliver impact.
Once we’ve identified how we can help, I support the ideation and design of the solution, collaborating with our engineering team to develop detailed proposals that bring those ideas to life. I also play a key role in presenting and refining these solutions with our customers to ensure alignment and success.
Although I haven’t been at Leighton long, I’ve already had the opportunity to contribute to some pretty impressive projects, including our work with Greggs, one of our newest customers, as well as British Airways and Avios.
I joined Leighton in July having previously worked at AWS and what really drew me in was the opportunity to work for a company that gives me the freedom to explore a variety of roles. While I love being involved in the technical side of solution design, I also want to broaden my skills and get hands-on experience in sales, marketing and business development. It’s a place where curiosity and versatility are genuinely valued and that really appealed to me.
I also must give a special mention to Lee Gilmore, our AWS practice lead, who played a big part in my decision to join. I’d met Lee a few times before coming to Leighton and his knowledge, enthusiasm for AWS and clear vision for how Leighton is positioning itself as an AWS partner really stood out. Hearing how he saw the company growing, both in its technical capability and its collaborative culture made it an easy decision to join.
I don’t think anyone sets out with a clear plan to become a Solutions Architect, it’s such a broad and evolving role that it tends to find you rather than the other way around. I’ve always enjoyed technology; I started out as a programmer because I loved writing code when I was in the earlier stages of my career. But I quickly realised that my strengths lay not just in the technical side, but in bringing people together, understanding complex situations and helping non-technical audiences make sense of technical concepts.
Those softer skills proved to be incredibly valuable. Overtime, I found that blending my technical knowledge, architectural understanding, and ability to communicate across different teams and stakeholders naturally led me toward the Solutions Architect role.
It’s important, first and foremost, to have a genuine technical curiosity and hands-on experience, if you have those two ingredients, everything else tends to follow. But beyond that, what really defines success in this role is the ability to understand business needs and translate them into tangible outcomes, while bringing the right people on the journey with you.
Having a strategic mindset is essential, constantly asking “How will this solution be delivered? What’s the cost and value? What risks need to be mitigated?” is key. To answer those questions effectively, you need a blend of technical acumen, commercial awareness and strong collaboration skills. It’s about balancing innovation with pragmatism, ensuring that every technical decision ultimately drives real business value.
During my time at AWS, I was heavily involved in the development of Lambda SnapStart, a feature designed to dramatically improve Lambda function cold-start performance, a long-standing challenge for many customers. I contributed throughout the process, from early beta testing to collaborating with the open-source community, a diverse ecosystem of developers, contributors and organisations who build and maintain open-source software.
My role went beyond the technical implementations; I helped ensure the right support, documentation and code samples were in place, contributing to blog posts and shaping the go-to-market strategy from a technical perspective.
Thanks to that deep involvement (and a little bit of good timing), I had the incredible opportunity to present the first breakout session about Lambda SnapStart at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, my first major speaking engagement. Having worked on the project for nearly two years before launch, it was incredibly rewarding to see it go live, hear how valuable it was for customers and share the story of how we brought it to life.
What I enjoy most is the variety of work and the opportunity to help people solve complex problems by offering a fresh perspective. My role is all about finding the right solutions, not just technically, but strategically and delivering products and services that we can confidently stand behind, knowing they’ll genuinely help our customers achieve their goals.
The calibre of colleagues at Leighton sets an exceptionally high standard. Each person brings something distinctive, whether it’s deep technical expertise, creative insight, or innovative approaches to complex challenges. I truly enjoy collaborating across disciplines and seeing how these diverse perspectives come together to create solutions that are far greater than the sum of their parts.
That’s an easy one, the AWS North Community Conference. It was pretty special to see so many people benefiting not only from the time and effort we invested in organising the event, but also from attending the sessions themselves. I was fortunate to experience both sides of the conference: helping organise it and presenting as a speaker.
My session ended up with 48 attendees, far more than I expected. The audience was highly engaged, asked thoughtful questions and the energy throughout the day made it feel like a real achievement.
One day, I hope to launch my own technology startup and put into practice all the skills I’m currently developing. I have a few ideas of what I’d eventually like to pursue, but for now, my focus is on learning, growing and contributing as much as I can to help Leighton continue to thrive.
I am an avid Lego fan. I have over 30,000 pieces in my collection.
I have recently taken up camping which I’ve been enjoying, however that’s through the summer months, I’m not sure I’ll be enjoying it quite so much throughout winter...
Internally, colleagues might not always realise how technical I am in my role, but I’m very hands-on and love getting stuck into coding and building solutions. Externally, what people might not see is the relationship-building side of what we do, earning our customers’ trust, understanding their challenges and working collaboratively to plan, strategise and minimise risks. It’s a balance of technical depth and strategic partnership and that’s what makes the role so rewarding.
The book ‘Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less’ captures the idea of asking yourself: “What are your goals and what are you trying to achieve?” perfectly. Early in your career, the focus is on learning your craft and saying “yes” to opportunities that help you grow. But as you progress and become known for what you do, more people start asking for your time and input and that’s when essentialism becomes vital. It’s about learning to say no to the things that might not necessarily align with your goals, so you can focus your energy on what matters and where you can make the greatest impact.
That advice has really shaped the way I approach my work and make decisions throughout my career.
Learn to be happy and stay curious. Take satisfaction in the small wins along the way. Balancing the frustration when things don’t go to plan is a skill in itself but so is taking real joy in the moments when everything finally comes together.
Before joining Leighton, Mark Sailes spent six years at AWS, helping to deliver cloud solutions and drive customer success across a range of industries.
He now brings that experience to Leighton, where he’s focused on helping our customers get the most from AWS technology.
In November’s colleague spotlight, we chat to Mark as we hear about his journey, how he’s helping Leighton to accelerate innovation and the impact he’s making across our customer projects.
I’m a Solutions Architect within the commercial team at Leighton acting as a bridge between our technical and client-facing functions. My role involves working closely with our account directors to deeply understand our customers’ needs, business challenges and growth ambitions, then translating those into innovative software solutions that deliver impact.
Once we’ve identified how we can help, I support the ideation and design of the solution, collaborating with our engineering team to develop detailed proposals that bring those ideas to life. I also play a key role in presenting and refining these solutions with our customers to ensure alignment and success.
Although I haven’t been at Leighton long, I’ve already had the opportunity to contribute to some pretty impressive projects, including our work with Greggs, one of our newest customers, as well as British Airways and Avios.
I joined Leighton in July having previously worked at AWS and what really drew me in was the opportunity to work for a company that gives me the freedom to explore a variety of roles. While I love being involved in the technical side of solution design, I also want to broaden my skills and get hands-on experience in sales, marketing and business development. It’s a place where curiosity and versatility are genuinely valued and that really appealed to me.
I also must give a special mention to Lee Gilmore, our AWS practice lead, who played a big part in my decision to join. I’d met Lee a few times before coming to Leighton and his knowledge, enthusiasm for AWS and clear vision for how Leighton is positioning itself as an AWS partner really stood out. Hearing how he saw the company growing, both in its technical capability and its collaborative culture made it an easy decision to join.
I don’t think anyone sets out with a clear plan to become a Solutions Architect, it’s such a broad and evolving role that it tends to find you rather than the other way around. I’ve always enjoyed technology; I started out as a programmer because I loved writing code when I was in the earlier stages of my career. But I quickly realised that my strengths lay not just in the technical side, but in bringing people together, understanding complex situations and helping non-technical audiences make sense of technical concepts.
Those softer skills proved to be incredibly valuable. Overtime, I found that blending my technical knowledge, architectural understanding, and ability to communicate across different teams and stakeholders naturally led me toward the Solutions Architect role.
It’s important, first and foremost, to have a genuine technical curiosity and hands-on experience, if you have those two ingredients, everything else tends to follow. But beyond that, what really defines success in this role is the ability to understand business needs and translate them into tangible outcomes, while bringing the right people on the journey with you.
Having a strategic mindset is essential, constantly asking “How will this solution be delivered? What’s the cost and value? What risks need to be mitigated?” is key. To answer those questions effectively, you need a blend of technical acumen, commercial awareness and strong collaboration skills. It’s about balancing innovation with pragmatism, ensuring that every technical decision ultimately drives real business value.
During my time at AWS, I was heavily involved in the development of Lambda SnapStart, a feature designed to dramatically improve Lambda function cold-start performance, a long-standing challenge for many customers. I contributed throughout the process, from early beta testing to collaborating with the open-source community, a diverse ecosystem of developers, contributors and organisations who build and maintain open-source software.
My role went beyond the technical implementations; I helped ensure the right support, documentation and code samples were in place, contributing to blog posts and shaping the go-to-market strategy from a technical perspective.
Thanks to that deep involvement (and a little bit of good timing), I had the incredible opportunity to present the first breakout session about Lambda SnapStart at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, my first major speaking engagement. Having worked on the project for nearly two years before launch, it was incredibly rewarding to see it go live, hear how valuable it was for customers and share the story of how we brought it to life.
What I enjoy most is the variety of work and the opportunity to help people solve complex problems by offering a fresh perspective. My role is all about finding the right solutions, not just technically, but strategically and delivering products and services that we can confidently stand behind, knowing they’ll genuinely help our customers achieve their goals.
The calibre of colleagues at Leighton sets an exceptionally high standard. Each person brings something distinctive, whether it’s deep technical expertise, creative insight, or innovative approaches to complex challenges. I truly enjoy collaborating across disciplines and seeing how these diverse perspectives come together to create solutions that are far greater than the sum of their parts.
That’s an easy one, the AWS North Community Conference. It was pretty special to see so many people benefiting not only from the time and effort we invested in organising the event, but also from attending the sessions themselves. I was fortunate to experience both sides of the conference: helping organise it and presenting as a speaker.
My session ended up with 48 attendees, far more than I expected. The audience was highly engaged, asked thoughtful questions and the energy throughout the day made it feel like a real achievement.
One day, I hope to launch my own technology startup and put into practice all the skills I’m currently developing. I have a few ideas of what I’d eventually like to pursue, but for now, my focus is on learning, growing and contributing as much as I can to help Leighton continue to thrive.
I am an avid Lego fan. I have over 30,000 pieces in my collection.
I have recently taken up camping which I’ve been enjoying, however that’s through the summer months, I’m not sure I’ll be enjoying it quite so much throughout winter...
Internally, colleagues might not always realise how technical I am in my role, but I’m very hands-on and love getting stuck into coding and building solutions. Externally, what people might not see is the relationship-building side of what we do, earning our customers’ trust, understanding their challenges and working collaboratively to plan, strategise and minimise risks. It’s a balance of technical depth and strategic partnership and that’s what makes the role so rewarding.
The book ‘Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less’ captures the idea of asking yourself: “What are your goals and what are you trying to achieve?” perfectly. Early in your career, the focus is on learning your craft and saying “yes” to opportunities that help you grow. But as you progress and become known for what you do, more people start asking for your time and input and that’s when essentialism becomes vital. It’s about learning to say no to the things that might not necessarily align with your goals, so you can focus your energy on what matters and where you can make the greatest impact.
That advice has really shaped the way I approach my work and make decisions throughout my career.
Learn to be happy and stay curious. Take satisfaction in the small wins along the way. Balancing the frustration when things don’t go to plan is a skill in itself but so is taking real joy in the moments when everything finally comes together.
Before joining Leighton, Mark Sailes spent six years at AWS, helping to deliver cloud solutions and drive customer success across a range of industries.
He now brings that experience to Leighton, where he’s focused on helping our customers get the most from AWS technology.
In November’s colleague spotlight, we chat to Mark as we hear about his journey, how he’s helping Leighton to accelerate innovation and the impact he’s making across our customer projects.
I’m a Solutions Architect within the commercial team at Leighton acting as a bridge between our technical and client-facing functions. My role involves working closely with our account directors to deeply understand our customers’ needs, business challenges and growth ambitions, then translating those into innovative software solutions that deliver impact.
Once we’ve identified how we can help, I support the ideation and design of the solution, collaborating with our engineering team to develop detailed proposals that bring those ideas to life. I also play a key role in presenting and refining these solutions with our customers to ensure alignment and success.
Although I haven’t been at Leighton long, I’ve already had the opportunity to contribute to some pretty impressive projects, including our work with Greggs, one of our newest customers, as well as British Airways and Avios.
I joined Leighton in July having previously worked at AWS and what really drew me in was the opportunity to work for a company that gives me the freedom to explore a variety of roles. While I love being involved in the technical side of solution design, I also want to broaden my skills and get hands-on experience in sales, marketing and business development. It’s a place where curiosity and versatility are genuinely valued and that really appealed to me.
I also must give a special mention to Lee Gilmore, our AWS practice lead, who played a big part in my decision to join. I’d met Lee a few times before coming to Leighton and his knowledge, enthusiasm for AWS and clear vision for how Leighton is positioning itself as an AWS partner really stood out. Hearing how he saw the company growing, both in its technical capability and its collaborative culture made it an easy decision to join.
I don’t think anyone sets out with a clear plan to become a Solutions Architect, it’s such a broad and evolving role that it tends to find you rather than the other way around. I’ve always enjoyed technology; I started out as a programmer because I loved writing code when I was in the earlier stages of my career. But I quickly realised that my strengths lay not just in the technical side, but in bringing people together, understanding complex situations and helping non-technical audiences make sense of technical concepts.
Those softer skills proved to be incredibly valuable. Overtime, I found that blending my technical knowledge, architectural understanding, and ability to communicate across different teams and stakeholders naturally led me toward the Solutions Architect role.
It’s important, first and foremost, to have a genuine technical curiosity and hands-on experience, if you have those two ingredients, everything else tends to follow. But beyond that, what really defines success in this role is the ability to understand business needs and translate them into tangible outcomes, while bringing the right people on the journey with you.
Having a strategic mindset is essential, constantly asking “How will this solution be delivered? What’s the cost and value? What risks need to be mitigated?” is key. To answer those questions effectively, you need a blend of technical acumen, commercial awareness and strong collaboration skills. It’s about balancing innovation with pragmatism, ensuring that every technical decision ultimately drives real business value.
During my time at AWS, I was heavily involved in the development of Lambda SnapStart, a feature designed to dramatically improve Lambda function cold-start performance, a long-standing challenge for many customers. I contributed throughout the process, from early beta testing to collaborating with the open-source community, a diverse ecosystem of developers, contributors and organisations who build and maintain open-source software.
My role went beyond the technical implementations; I helped ensure the right support, documentation and code samples were in place, contributing to blog posts and shaping the go-to-market strategy from a technical perspective.
Thanks to that deep involvement (and a little bit of good timing), I had the incredible opportunity to present the first breakout session about Lambda SnapStart at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, my first major speaking engagement. Having worked on the project for nearly two years before launch, it was incredibly rewarding to see it go live, hear how valuable it was for customers and share the story of how we brought it to life.
What I enjoy most is the variety of work and the opportunity to help people solve complex problems by offering a fresh perspective. My role is all about finding the right solutions, not just technically, but strategically and delivering products and services that we can confidently stand behind, knowing they’ll genuinely help our customers achieve their goals.
The calibre of colleagues at Leighton sets an exceptionally high standard. Each person brings something distinctive, whether it’s deep technical expertise, creative insight, or innovative approaches to complex challenges. I truly enjoy collaborating across disciplines and seeing how these diverse perspectives come together to create solutions that are far greater than the sum of their parts.
That’s an easy one, the AWS North Community Conference. It was pretty special to see so many people benefiting not only from the time and effort we invested in organising the event, but also from attending the sessions themselves. I was fortunate to experience both sides of the conference: helping organise it and presenting as a speaker.
My session ended up with 48 attendees, far more than I expected. The audience was highly engaged, asked thoughtful questions and the energy throughout the day made it feel like a real achievement.
One day, I hope to launch my own technology startup and put into practice all the skills I’m currently developing. I have a few ideas of what I’d eventually like to pursue, but for now, my focus is on learning, growing and contributing as much as I can to help Leighton continue to thrive.
I am an avid Lego fan. I have over 30,000 pieces in my collection.
I have recently taken up camping which I’ve been enjoying, however that’s through the summer months, I’m not sure I’ll be enjoying it quite so much throughout winter...
Internally, colleagues might not always realise how technical I am in my role, but I’m very hands-on and love getting stuck into coding and building solutions. Externally, what people might not see is the relationship-building side of what we do, earning our customers’ trust, understanding their challenges and working collaboratively to plan, strategise and minimise risks. It’s a balance of technical depth and strategic partnership and that’s what makes the role so rewarding.
The book ‘Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less’ captures the idea of asking yourself: “What are your goals and what are you trying to achieve?” perfectly. Early in your career, the focus is on learning your craft and saying “yes” to opportunities that help you grow. But as you progress and become known for what you do, more people start asking for your time and input and that’s when essentialism becomes vital. It’s about learning to say no to the things that might not necessarily align with your goals, so you can focus your energy on what matters and where you can make the greatest impact.
That advice has really shaped the way I approach my work and make decisions throughout my career.
Learn to be happy and stay curious. Take satisfaction in the small wins along the way. Balancing the frustration when things don’t go to plan is a skill in itself but so is taking real joy in the moments when everything finally comes together.
