ENTERPRISE AND SOLUTION ARCHITECT

Old School Ties; Wes-Kaap; Hybrid; ZAR 1.200.000 - 2.000.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Apex Education Group in the Western Cape is seeking a hands-on Enterprise Architect to design and guide a multi-system technology strategy for schools. You will blend enterprise and solution architecture, leveraging AI tools to deliver scalable, affordable platforms across SIS, LMS, ERP and analytics.

You will lead data, security and integration designs, ensure you own the code, data and documentation, and mentor the product and development teams to embed architectural thinking across the

Qualifikationen

• Around 10 years in technology, with at least 5 in solution or enterprise architecture, built on a hands‑on engineering background.
• Strong cloud architecture experience, ideally on AWS, including cost management.
• Solid data and integration skills: data modelling, APIs, identity and single sign‑on, and data migration.
• A track record of build‑versus‑buy decisions where you modelled total cost of ownership and lived with the outcome.
• AI fluency. You use AI tools every day, understand LLM patterns such as retrieval, agents, evaluation and guardrails, and have shipped at least one AI feature into real use.
• Working knowledge of POPIA and security fundamentals.
• The ability to explain technical choices to principals, executives and funders in plain language.

Aufgaben

• Own the target architecture across learning, school administration, finance, data, identity, integration and AI, and turn our IT strategy into a clear roadmap.
• Shape the architecture for whichever School Information System route is approved, off shelf or custom, and give business owners the technical input they need for future build, buy or partner decisions.
• Land our multi tenancy position early, before it’s too late to change.
• Produce designs teams can build from, including data models, integration patterns, security and non functional requirements, and prototype when that’s the fastest way to learn.
• Prove our LMS under load and design one trusted record of every learner, staff member and guardian across our SIS, LMS, ERP and national reporting (SA‑SAMS and LURITS).
• Review our Sage Intacct integrations, including feeds into the Apex Intelligence Platform, before they go live.
• Design a repeatable, governed path for AI from prototype to production within our fixed constraints (Zero Data Retention and South African hosting), starting with our AI marking tool pilot.
• Build privacy and security in by design, including consent, retention and de‑identification for children’s personal information under POPIA.
• Provide design assurance on vendor and partner work, making sure Apex always owns and can reach its code, data and documentation.
• Coach our Application Product Owner / Development Lead so architecture thinking lives in Apex.

Kenntnisse

Cloud architecture

Data modelling

APIs / integration

AI fluency

Cost management

Communication to executives

POPIA security fundamentals

Tools

AWS

Sage Intacct

AI tooling

Jobbeschreibung

Help build the technology platform behind a growing network of schools that changes what’s possible for children

Reports to Head of Technology

Location Western Cape (Stellenbosch / Cape Town). Hybrid, with regular time on our school campuses.

Contract Fixed-term, 12 to 18 months, reviewed at 12 months. Open to moving to a fractional basis once the core architecture is in place.

Start As soon as possible

Closing date 10 November 2026

About Apex

Apex is a growing network of independent schools in the Western Cape, scaling towards ten schools and around 10,000 learners. We exist to give children from under-served communities an education that changes what is possible for them and their families.

We may be mission-driven, but we run like a startup. The team is small, the standards are high and we have a bias for action. We are now building our own technology capability for the first time, with a small internal team owning the direction and the know-how, and trusted partners adding capacity.

The role

Over the next 18 months we have a run of big technology decisions and builds landing at once: implementing whichever School Information System route is approved, scaling our Moodle-based LMS on AWS, integrating our new Sage Intacct ERP, building the Apex Intelligence Platform, our data, dashboards and analytics programme with an AI layer for natural-language queries, and, if our current pilot with teachers confirms it works, taking our in-house AI marking tool into wider use. Each choice affects the others, and everything has to stay affordable within a fixed technology budget per learner for the next ten years.

This is not a traditional enterprise architecture role. We want a hands‑on architect who can draw it, defend it, prototype it and hand it to a team to build. You’ll cover both enterprise and solution architecture, and you’ll lean heavily on AI tools to do work that used to need a bigger team.

What you’ll do

• Own the target architecture across learning, school administration, finance, data, identity, integration and AI, and turn our IT strategy into a clear roadmap.
• Shape the architecture for whichever School Information System route is approved, off‑the‑shelf or custom, and give business owners the technical input they need for future build, buy or partner decisions.
• Land our multi‑tenancy position early, before it’s too late to change.
• Produce designs teams can build from, including data models, integration patterns, security and non‑functional requirements, and prototype when that’s the fastest way to learn.
• Prove our LMS under load and design one trusted record of every learner, staff member and guardian across our SIS, LMS, ERP and national reporting (SA‑SAMS and LURITS).
• Review our Sage Intacct integrations, including feeds into the Apex Intelligence Platform, before they go live.
• Design a repeatable, governed path for AI from prototype to production within our fixed constraints (Zero Data Retention and South African hosting), starting with our AI marking tool pilot.
• Build privacy and security in by design, including consent, retention and de‑identification for children’s personal information under POPIA.
• Provide design assurance on vendor and partner work, making sure Apex always owns and can reach its code, data and documentation.
• Coach our Application Product Owner / Development Lead so architecture thinking lives in Apex.

What success looks like after 12 months

• Everyone from the CEO to our delivery partners can explain our architecture from a one‑page view.
• The approved SIS route has a clear architecture, data migration and integration design, and implementation is on track.
• Sage Intacct integrations went live only after architecture review.
• The LMS has been proven at our projected network scale.
• The AI marking tool validation is complete and, if the results support it, the tool is in wider use with teachers reviewing marks before they’re finalised.
• We know the running cost per learner of our core platforms, and it fits the budget.

What you bring

Must have

• Around 10 years in technology, with at least 5 in solution or enterprise architecture, built on a hands‑on engineering background. You can still read code and build a prototype.
• Strong cloud architecture experience, ideally on AWS, including cost management.
• Solid data and integration skills: data modelling, APIs, identity and single sign‑on, and data migration.
• A track record of build‑versus‑buy decisions where you modelled total cost of ownership and lived with the outcome.
• AI fluency. You use AI tools every day, understand LLM patterns such as retrieval, agents, evaluation and guardrails, and have shipped at least one AI feature into real use.
• Working knowledge of POPIA and security fundamentals.
• The ability to explain technical choices to principals, executives and funders in plain language.

A real advantage

• Edtech experience, especially Moodle, school administration systems, SA‑SAMS or LURITS.
• Multi‑tenant or multi‑site platforms, or low‑connectivity and offline‑first design.
• ERP integration experience, ideally with Sage Intacct.
• Standing up a technology function in a startup, scale‑up or non‑profit.
• AWS Solutions Architect Professional or TOGAF (nice to see, but never more than real experience).

This role is probably not for you if

• You prefer to set standards and leave the building to others.
• You need a large team or a big budget to be effective.
• You haven’t been close to the technology for years and don’t want to be again.

The successful candidate will be required to undergo pre‑employment checks, including a criminal record check.

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted directly. If you have not heard from us within 30 days of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful.

By applying, you consent to Apex Education Group processing your personal information for recruitment purposes in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Your information will be kept confidential and retained only as long as necessary for this process.

Apex Education Group is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to employment equity, and appointments will be made in line with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998.