Technology Enterprise Architect

African Parks Network; Gauteng; On-site; ZAR 500 000 - 700 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading conservation organization in South Africa is looking for a Technology Enterprise Architect to design and implement scalable systems to improve protected area management. The role involves collaboration across teams to align technology strategy with conservation objectives, focusing on digital transformation and data-driven decision-making. Applicants should have relevant IT qualifications and experience in systems integration, data management, and network solutions. This full-time position offers a chance to contribute meaningfully to biodiversity conservation efforts.

Benefits

Opportunity to impact wildlife conservation

Dynamic work environment

Development and training opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven experience in systems architecture and integration.
• Strong understanding of data management and security protocols.
• Experience driving digital transformation initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the processes for AP's systems architecture.
• Consult with vendors to ensure compliance with technical requirements.
• Ensure data integrity and manage disaster recovery protocols.

Skills

System integration

Data management

Network management

Problem solving

Vendor management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology or related field

Tools

API management tools

Network monitoring solutions

Job description

Technology Enterprise Architect – African Parks Network

African Parks Network invites applications for the Technology Enterprise Architect role.

JOB OVERVIEW

The organisation was founded in response to the dramatic decline of protected areas due to poor management and lack of funding.

We have a clear business approach to conserving Africa's wildlife and remaining wild areas.

We currently manage 23 national parks and protected areas in 13 countries covering over 20 million hectares.

Our Organisation :

African Parks has more than 5, employees, all of whom are conservationists in their own right.

We operate in dynamic and ever-changing environments, and our work demands resilience, adaptability, and a deep respect for nature to ensure the African Parks Model is functioning optimally.

Learn more about our modelhere.

Our Technology :

AP has a variety of different systems that are interconnected.

The complexity comes not just with the different types of systems but the different operating models and environmental challenges of offline systems.

This results in a hybrid-hosted model of systems, security and accessibility.

The master‑data management for the system of systems is challenging due to the input source of information based on offline sources of data.

Why you should join our team : African Parks is developing an innovative solution that would enable decision making based on data from its ecological, social, financial and management systems brought together in a single environment.

The enterprise architect role offers the opportunity to be an instrumental part in making this system a reality and thereby push the frontiers of big data‑driven decision making in the conservation space.

Your work will end up allowing a park manager to understand, in one environment, not only how land cover and species distribution in a protected area is changing, but also how those trends may relate to the community projects, security effort and deployment capabilities of the site.

African Parks manages large conservation areas in some of the most remote places in Africa, and we use many technology tools to assist with this.

Whether it is knowing the location of a single lion in South Sudan or knowing where rangers have spent time patrolling for illegal activities, we aim to base decisions on accurate information from all over.

The conservation technology department uses technology to gather information and assist on‑the‑ground teams to better manage conservation areas.

We are responsible for all communications, ranging from the internet at head office to handheld radios to satellite emergency communications.

The conservation technology aspect : Looking for purpose, growth, and a bit of adventure?

At African Parks is at the heart of transforming conservation across Africa through innovative technology and data‑driven solutions.

The Enterprise Architect role offers a rare chance to design and implement scalable systems that improve how protected areas are managed, enhance collaboration and optimise operational efficiency.

You’ll work with cutting‑edge tools and technologies, partnering across teams to align Technology strategy with our bold conservation mission.

Systems aspect :

At African Parks is at the heart of transforming conservation across Africa through innovative technology and data‑driven solutions.

The Enterprise Architect role offers a rare chance to design and implement scalable systems that improve how protected areas are managed, enhance collaboration and optimise operational efficiency.

You’ll work with cutting‑edge tools and technologies, partnering across teams to align Technology strategy with our bold conservation mission.

IT Aspect :

At African Parks, our IT team supports operations across 24 parks in 13 African countries, including some of the largest and most remote conservation areas on the continent.

From savannahs to deep forests, you’ll be enabling critical work in places where connectivity is a challenge, but the mission couldn't be more important.

We’re looking for someone who can help us drive digital transformation in the conservation space, someone who understands that IT isn't just support; it's a strategic lever for protecting the planet.

In Conservation IT, you’ll be working at the intersection of innovation and environmental impact.

Your skills will help scientists, field teams, and decision‐makers access the tools and data they need to protect biodiversity, manage ecosystems, respond to climate challenges faster and more effectively.

The EA combines many different skills and experiences to address and solve business, information, and technology‑related opportunities and problems.

The Enterprise Architect is the "glue" that integrates complex business systems together ensures security and accessibility is maintained and ensures the platforms are scalable.

The EA usually does not specialise in a particular system functionality but rather looks at how systems will behave together in an interconnected universe of the organisational LAN, WAN, hosted environments.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Definition, implementation, and execution of the processes for the definition, maintenance, and conformance management of AP's systems architecture.

Ensure all systems and business system owners understand the operating model of the systems and their touch‑points between each other.

Define the system of systems enterprise architecture diagrams that illustrate the integrations, virtual, physical and logical views of the platforms.

Consult system vendors to ensure contractual obligations define constraints and API, integration management.

Ensure business representatives have data custodians for the management and reconciliation of data between core systems (such as finance and payroll), to ensure data integrity is audited and validated each financial cycle.

Error management controls and procedures are in place and both technical teams and vendors understand their role in maintaining production systems.

Disaster recovery procedures and business continuity is in place and tested where systems are reliant on underlying hosting within AP.

Enterprise Architecture diagrams.

API, middleware, store & forward queue definitions and ownership / role agreement.

Error management :

review, identification, resolution and reporting.

Vendor roles and responsibilities.

Technology, Super user and external vendor responsibilities.

Data integrity profiling and review frequency protocols.

Data warehouse platform architecture, the interfaces to downstream and upstream, the normalization / data relational structure mapping to APIs.

Network management – WAN, WWAN, VPN, LAN standards and SOP.

Network monitoring solution – dashboards and notifications (incl escalation).

JOB SPECIFICATION

Engages business, system vendors, technology teams and defines the architecture models that illustrate the integrations, the security, network and hosting requirements.

Security constraints, data segregation, data flows and data management for store‑and‑forward queues for offline management of systems.

Design network device management and monitoring and systems accessibility management.

The consultant in business process analysis and design, and service delivery, particularly with respect to the use of master data management to align business rules.

Consults business systems owners to advise of constraints or rules that are dependent on physical system interoperability to ensure procurement and rules are in place to govern data integrity.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Key stakeholders

Technology Vendors and Partners

Technology Management

Business System Owners

Super Users

Regional Technology Teams

Park Technology Officers

Indirect stakeholders

End users

Park management

Peripheral IT suppliers and services

Regional office staff

Audit and risk team

Seniority Level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment Type

Full‑time

Job Function

Information Technology

Industries

Non‑profit Organizations