Solution Architect

Compunnel Inc.; Aliso Viejo (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Job summary

Compunnel Inc. is seeking an experienced Enterprise Architect to lead architecture governance across a portfolio of engagements in the United States. You will define architectural patterns, drive design reviews, and ensure adherence to non-functional requirements while mentoring a team of architects.

In this role you will partner with clients and internal stakeholders to articulate roadmaps, assess feasibility, and deliver optimized, reusable solutions within multi-vendor environments.

Qualifications

• Define and govern architecture across large engagements.
• Review projects for architecture quality and compliance with NFRs.
• Mentor architects and drive capability development.
• Gather requirements and align with business objectives.
• Assess feasibility and define solution roadmaps.

Responsibilities

• Perform architecture governance and design reviews for projects.
• Identify reusable assets and optimize across accounts.
• Mentor and guide architects and senior technical leads.
• Conduct formal technical audits on complex initiatives.
• Define and measure architecture quality metrics and regulatory alignment.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure successful delivery.

Skills

Architecture governance

Solution design

Pre-sales

Mentoring

Stakeholder management

Technical audits

Tools

TOGAF

Architecture reviews

Job description

JOB SUMMARY

1. Define architecture for large engagement involving cluster of technologies and act as design authority for the engagement.
2. Ensure technical quality of deliverables under their portfolio of projects with strict adherence to architecture principles and design standards.
3. Conceptualize technical platform which addresses similar patterns of need for a domain or horizontal segment.
4. Provide conceptual solution model as part of pre-sales activities
5. Evangelize industry better practices across multiple accounts
6. Mentor group of architects and support them in getting right type of exposure

Key Responsibilities

Architecture Governance & Review

1. Perform architecture review of all projects within portfolio
2. Conduct design review of all framework elements including architecturally significant components
3. Identify the common themes across projects within account/vertical and identify opportunity for optimization by creating reusable assets hence saving time & cost. Guide Technical Architects and Sr. Technical Leaders when they are stuck with any design challenges during the course of project delivery
4. Conduct planned and unplanned technical audits for complex projects as applicable
5. Define and measure project /program specific architectural and technology quality metrics
6. Review outputs to ensure NFRs are met

Knowledge Management & Capability Development

1. Partner with UST GAMA team in creating training program for new service offerings.
2. Mentor group of Architects
3. Gain and cultivate domain expertise to provide best and optimized solutions to customer

Requirement gathering and Analysis

1. Understand and conceptualize architecturally significant requirement
2. Validate the cross application / cross technology requirements to ensure integration ability and reconciliation of conflicting requirements; working with customers and other stakeholders

Talent Management

1. Provide support to delivery management team in identification of training needs of the team
2. Conduct training / certifications with the help of GAMA and mentoring with respect to technical skills on projects
3. Support technical evaluation of external and candidates to meet project requirements
4. Perform career guidance and performance management for team members

Technology Consulting

1. Define problem statement for the customer in alignment with primary business objectives of the client.
2. Assess existing landscape across relevant dimensions e.g. Business Architecture/Application Architecture/Data Architecture and Technology Architecture. Identify gaps between current state and potential target state. Define solution roadmap which enables organization to transition to new state in an agile manner
3. Analyse solution fitment across various dimensions like technical feasibility, cost vs. benefit, people dimensions plus others.
4. Demonstrate value add and get buy-in from key stakeholders on customer side at every stage of consulting engagement.

Solution Definition & Design

1. Define architectural solution models by leveraging the latest architectural paradigms better suited for customer needs
2. Define Architecture Principles and Patterns for engagement.
3. Adopt appropriate technical stack.
4. Ensure complete adherence to Adopted Architecture Principles & Design Standards in compliance with applicable regulatory mandates
5. Guide technical team in adoption of principle and pattern and technical stack.
6. Perform architecture and design review using industry standard methodologies.
7. Partner with appropriate stakeholders in multi-vendor environment to ensure successful delivery of overall solution.
8. Define non-functional requirements and ensure solution’s ability to meet the same at various stages of development.
9. Resolve any issues based on industry expertise; leveraging partners

Delivery Management Support

Proactive identification and management of technical risks

Stakeholder Management

1. Build credibility with the client as a technical go-to person and be their trusted partner.
2. Work to expand professional network in the client organization
3. Manage the expectations of key stakeholders effectively to ensure success of the engagement.

Asset Development and Governance

1. Provide thought leadership in conceptualizing the need and design of assets
2. Track implementation of assets
3. Improve asset effectiveness
4. Improve deployment effectiveness

Required Qualifications

Skill Examples

1. Use domain and industry knowledge to understand business requirements. Create POC to meet business requirements and contextualize the solution to the industry under guidance. Create business logic, interacting with SMEs at various stages of the development. Translate business requirements to system requirements and perform impact analysis of changes in requirements
2. Use Technology Knowledge to build solutions that interface multiple products/ technologies under guidance. Design technology roadmap for the client, define POC specifics and provide technical guidance to teams to create the same. Create assets independently and provide technical guidance to practitioners; identifying and evaluating new technologies. Create white papers on Enterprise Architecture, and conduct demos to the client to showcase the features of the solution; review and audit solution independently
3. Use knowledge of Technology Trends to identify technologies/ product relevant to UST in the short term (1- 2 years) within own area/ multiple areas. Forecast trends on new solutions/products/ technologies required in UST. Create and review technology roadmap for the client
4. Use knowledge of Architecture Concepts and Principles to evaluate the readiness and relevance of architecture solutions; evaluating existing client implementations for performance bottlenecks and suggest improvements. Create value proposition, presentations and demos, and provide thought leadership within UST. Provide training on best practices in architecture; providing technical guidance to teams during system architecture. Define enterprise architecture frameworks, independently validate application architecture solutions and define system architecture for complex applications within the boundaries of the enterprise architecture
5. Use knowledge of Design Patterns, Tools and Principles to identify optimized patterns within the given requirements. Review and suggest applicability of design/ patterns to business needs. Define design best practices at project level; provide technical guidance to create high level design
6. Use knowledge of Software Development Process Tools & Techniques to identify and assess incremental improvements for software development process, methodology and tools. Take technical responsibility for all stages in the software development process. Conduct optimal coding with clear understanding of memory leakage and related impact. Implement global standards and guidelines relevant to programming and development, to come up with 'points of view' and new technological ideas
7. Use knowledge of Project Management Tools and Techniques to plan and manage simple, small or medium size projects/ modules as defined within UST. Identify risks and mitigation strategies and implement the same to manage simple, small or medium size projects/ modules
8. Use knowledge of Project Governance Framework to support development of communication protocols, escalation matrix, reporting mechanisms, for small / medium projects/ modules as defined within UST
9. Use knowledge of Project Metrics to understand relevance in project. Collect and collate project metrics; share it with the relevant stakeholders
10. Use knowledge of Estimation and Resource Planning to consolidate estimates at a solution level. Evaluate risks and validate estimates from a technical standpoint, assumptions, scope and boundaries defined. Conduct resource planning (pyramid, people development) at a project level based on project requirements. Conduct impact analysis of changes and analyse corresponding impact to overall estimates, resource loading and MPP (re-baseline)
11. Use knowledge of Knowledge Management Tools & Techniques to leverage existing material/ re-usable assets in knowledge repository. Independently create and update knowledge artefacts. Create and track project specific KT plan. Provide training to others, write white papers/ blogs at internal level. Write technical and user understanding documents at the end of the project
12. Use knowledge of Technical Standards, Documentation & Templates to create documentation appropriate for the project needs. Create documentation appropriate for the reusable assets/ best practices/ case studies
13. Use knowledge of Requirement Gathering and Analysis to create requirements documents and high level process maps. Identify gaps on the basis of business process, analyse responses to clarification questions, produce design documents, RTM independently. Create and review estimates and solutions at project level. Create and review design artefacts, update resourcing and schedule based on impacted areas identified; create design specifically for the non-functional requirements
14. Use knowledge of Solution Structuring to carve out complex solutions/POCs for the customer based on their needs. Recommend technology specific accelerators and tools for the overall solution along with optimal features e.g. time savings, cost benefits

Knowledge Examples

1. Domain/ Industry Knowledge: Working knowledge of standard business processes within the relevant industry vertical, customer business domain
2. Technology Knowledge- a. Broad Knowledge: multiple technologies (Java/Microsoft), multiple frameworks (Struts, JSF, Hibernate, etc.) within one technology area and their applicability, low level details such as data structures, algorithms, APIs and libraries and best practices for multiple technology stacks, best practices for high performance and well-designed applications across multiple technologies b. In-depth knowledge of at least two technologies within customer technology landscape
3. Technology Trends: Demonstrates broad knowledge of technology trends related to multiple inter-related technologies
4. Architecture Concepts and Principles: a. Applies specialized level of understanding of standard architectural principles, models, patterns (e.g. SOA, N-Tier, EDA etc.) and perspective (e.g. TOGAF, Zachman etc.), system integration points, integration architecture including input and output components, existing integration methodologies and topologies, source and external system, non-functional areas and architecture trends b. Broad understanding of enterprise assets, deployment architecture, architecture governance c. Working knowledge of data architecture, capacity planning, security architecture
5. Design Patterns, Tools and Principles: Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of design patterns, design principles, practices and design tools
6. Software Development Process Tools & Techniques: Demonstrates thorough knowledge of end to end SDLC process (Agile and Traditional), SDLC methodology, programming principles, tools, and best practices (refactoring code, code package etc.)
7. Project Management: a. Demonstrates working knowledge of project management process (such as project scoping, requirements management, change management, risk management, quality assurance, disaster management etc.) and tools (MS Excel, MPP, Client specific time sheets, capacity planning tools, UST 2.0, etc.) b. Demonstrates working knowledge of Project Governance Framework, RACI matrix c. Basic knowledge of Project Metrics such as utilization, onsite to offshore ratio, span of control, fresher ratio and Quality Metrics
8. Estimation and Resource Planning: Specialized knowledge of estimation and resource planning techniques (e.g. TCP estimation model, case based, scenario-based estimation, work breakdown structure estimation, etc.)
9. Knowledge Management Tools & Techniques: Demonstrates working knowledge of: industry knowledge management tools (such as portals, wiki, UST and customer knowledge management tools, techniques (such as classroom training, self-study, application walkthrough and reverse KT