Solutions Architect

We are looking for a Solution Architect, who will be part of the Solution Architecture team within the Client Technology Solution Architecture function.

In this role, you will be responsible for delivering solution designs and architectures for key global initiatives hosted in a variety of environments considering re-use, scalability and reliability. You will develop relationships across the business to understand requirements, apply deep technical knowledge of solution and technical architecture to solve business problems and work closely with other architecture and development teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions.

In this role you will also create reliable solution plans that include cost estimates and optimized delivery approaches by working with the business, multi-disciplinary teams including our peers in Technical Solution Management and Product Costing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide architecture leadership & subject matter expertise to client engagements focusing on complex & innovative products and reusable assets.
• Develop solution plans, prior to kicking off a project as part of a product life cycle, intended to support business investment decisions which means they must hold the appropriate balance between costs, risks and quality of the product.
• Create innovative and practical designs that account for the end-to-end technical solution of a system, in line with the business strategy and objectives.
• Work closely and continuously with the business/client to focus on meeting business/client requirements and incorporating broader aspects such as overall product costs/revenue, data privacy & sovereignty, business continuity, information security, integration with other systems, etc.
• Identify, define and implementing reusable assets and standards. The solution architect is also responsible for adherence to these standards and consumption of reusable assets across products and portfolios.
• Ensure relevant technical strategies, policies, standards and practices are applied correctly across Technology programs/projects and products.
• Contribute to the development of architecture governance structures, methodologies and compliance activities.
• Work with the vendors to assess vendor products, understand vendor’s delivery models and assist in implementing them.
• Ability to work across multiple projects with varied stakeholders.  A Solution Architect sets architectural direction, builds consensus, mediates conflicts providing technical leadership and advisory services to the business. He/she anticipates needs and potential objections and helps to create an environment which solicits positive contributions from all participants: Solution and Technical Architects, engineering teams, product manager, project managers, product analysts, test and project teams, Information Security and Operations.
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal communication and organizational skills that are required to operate as a leading member of global, distributed teams that deliver quality services and solutions.
• Cultivate lasting relationships across business, IT and vendors / industry analysts to maintain insight into the broader enterprise as well as industry trends.
• Evangelizes and encourages the importance of technical quality, emerging technologies, sharing & experimentation across the org through mentoring, hackathons, communities etc.
• Drives an ongoing communication plan to educate stakeholders on the purpose and benefits of solution architecture.
• Guide others in resolving complex issues in solution architecture and solves complex, escalated aspects of a project.
• Monitor the progress and the quality of the project and reviews and develops due diligence to confirm the developed solution complies with architectural design.

To qualify for the role, you must have:

Advanced understanding of solution architecture.

• Ability to adopt and relate new technologies.
• Ability to communicate solutions, ideas, suggestions to a variety of (business) stakeholders effectively and comprehensibly.
• Strategic business acumen and understanding of organizational strategy.
• Deep understanding of Application, Infrastructure and security architecture and non-functional aspects like Performance, Scalability, Reliability, Availability,… all the so-called “capabilities” of a system.
• Good understanding of latest cloud computing and data technologies, business drivers, emerging computing trends, and deployment options.
• Expert-level skills in defining, designing and developing distributed and scalable products and services, including reusable domain-specific microservices on multi-platform /hybrid clouds (such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Rackspace, VMware, or OpenStack).
• Ability to navigate the organization to facilitate work beyond the immediate technical team.
• Experience with Agile & DevSecOps methodologies;
• Excellent project management, collaboration, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong collaboration abilities – willingness to share ideas, documentation and leading practices.
•  Conceptual and analytical skills – ability to extract, analyze, and document complex business and technical requirements. / strategies.
• Brings a high-energy, positive, and passionate outlook to the role with a sense of ownership.

What we look for:

We are looking for people are self-starters, who can take initiative and get things done. If you can think critically and creatively to solve problems, you will excel in this role.

You should be comfortable working with culturally diverse outsourced on/offshore team members which means you may be required to work outside of the normal working hours in your time zone to partner with other Client Technology staff globally. Some travel may also be required, both domestic and international.