Solution Architect

Location: Kenya

JOB PURPOSE
Reporting to Senior Manager Solutions Architecture, the job holder will be responsible for developing solution designs specifications, reviews of solution designs and completed implementations, recommendations and analysis of their impact on the overall business goals and outcomes. The holder of this position leverages their profound knowledge of available technologies to recommend the best solution according to the documented requirements and existing environment. The key deliverable of this role is to provide a set of technological solutions and the strategy of their implementation while minimizing technical debt.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Analyzing enterprise specifics - Facilitate the identification and analysis of the Bank’s business drivers to deliver enterprise business, information, technical and solution architecture requirements.

• Solution Design – End-to-end solution & architecture design for assigned projects and initiatives and ensuring solution design alignment between stakeholders before implementation.
• Analyzing and documenting requirements - Elicit business requirements using interviews, analysis, requirements workshops, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, use cases, scenarios, business analysis, task and workflow analysis. 
• Setting the collaboration framework- Liaise with the business subject matter experts in the development of clear roadmaps of business solutions.
• Analyzing the technology environment - Provide an analysis to determine best path for solving business problems/opportunities that may include process improvement vis a vis information technology systems enhancement.
• Controlling solution development - Participate in solution developments to ensure technical (as documented in solution designs) and business requirements are adhered to. Any valid deviations should be documented exceptions for tracking and remediation of technical debt. 
• Supporting project management- Provide architectural oversight of projects and ensure that requirements are in alignment with business strategies and business architecture roadmap/framework.
• Leverage’s business capabilities as a platform for illustrating the link between business needs with decisions to their technology, solution, business and information architecture efforts
• Translate strategic initiatives into delivery-focused change initiatives, while translating business processes and issues into effective conceptual and logical models.
• Build and maintain repository for deliverables, methodologies, and business development documents
• Ability to independently facilitate discussions with groups of diverse stakeholders and manage the flow of conversation while driving to meet business objectives.
• Ability to independently manage conflict among diverse cross portfolio stakeholders related to competing interests and requirements. Able to help stakeholders objectively examine real needs versus wants and ways to collaborate to achieve win/win resolutions.
• Develop and guide adoption of design patterns with a view of standardizing solution components built for the enterprise
• Participate, guide and support quality assurance team in planning and execution of performance testing and other non-functional tests
• Lead in all round capacity management for current and future solutions

 

Academic & Professional

Particulars	Detail	Specific Field or Qualification	Need Type
Education	Bachelor’s Degree	Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology or a related field of study	RQ
Professional Qualifications	CBAP, TOGAF, ITIL Foundation, Design Thinking and Innovation (One or more certification)	AA
Project Management/ Scrum Certifications	PRINCE II/PMP/MSP/SMC/CSM/PMI-ACP	AA

Experience

Detail	Minimum No of Years	Need Type
7+ years progressive experience in Information Technology	7	RQ
Experience in at least two IT disciplines such as (business architecture, application architecture, application development, middleware, microservices and Service Oriented Architecture)	5	RQ
Prior working experience with a formal enterprise architecture framework	3	RQ
Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies, cloud computing and containerization.	3	ES
Excellent understanding of software delivery processes, (DevOps) and methodologies (i.e. waterfall, agile, hybrid)	3	ES
Knowledge of all components of holistic enterprise architecture	4	ES

Reporting to Senior Manager Solutions Architecture, the job holder will be responsible for developing solution designs specifications, reviews of solution designs and completed implementations, recommendations and analysis of their impact on the overall business goals and outcomes. The holder of this position leverages their profound knowledge of available technologies to recommend the best solution according to the documented requirements and existing environment. The key deliverable of this role is to provide a set of technological solutions and the strategy of their implementation while minimizing technical debt.