Job Specifications
The solution architect leads architecture activities to develop and manage technology solutions, including projects, products, systems, and shared services. They provide technical leadership and oversee analysis and design to ensure solutions meet business needs and comply with governance and standards.
Requirements
What You'll Do:
Technical Design & Architecture:
Design Solution: Business Context, Component Model, Deployment Model, Security Model, Service Model, Transition & Migration Planning
Architecture Blueprints & Standards: Apply enterprise blueprints and standards to guide the design of new applications and govern compliance within the current application landscape. Identify and highlight architectural risks, constraints, assumptions and decisions.
Integration and Data Architecture: Define and enforce enterprise integration patterns (APIs, Event-Driven, Microservices, SOA) to ensure scalable and secure interoperability between cloud PaaS, SaaS and third-party APIs. Oversee the end-to-end API lifecycle, from design and documentation (OpenAPI/Swagger) to security, versioning, and deprecation. Partner with Data Architecture and Engineering to ensure designs leverage modern storage patterns (Cloud Storage Containers, Data Lakes, Warehouses, Lakehouses) for high-performance analytics and AI/ML.
Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs): Drive the definition and enforcement of Non-Functional Requirements by designing resilient, high-availability architectures that guarantee business continuity, elastic scalability, and optimal performance. Ensure operational excellence and compliance by embedding deep observability, auditability, and DevOps readiness into the core of every solution design.
Capability Analysis, Ideation & Estimation:
Capability Analysis: Conduct capability analysis to develop business and technology capability models. Collaborate with Business Analysts, Product Owners, and Delivery Managers to define and validate the current state and business requirements. Verify that a valid business case and formal approval are secured prior to initiating solution design.
Ideation & Vision: Facilitate ideation and shape the solution vision by demonstrating the "art of the possible" across a broad technology landscape to refine the business brief. Conduct solution options analysis to recommend approaches that align with both the business need and broader digital strategy, strictly adhering to the "Re-use, Extend, Buy, Build" principle.
Estimation & Planning: Assess technical feasibility and architectural risks early in the lifecycle to inform the roadmap and delivery strategy. Provide horizon-level cost and effort estimates, breaking down high-level scope into order-of-magnitude complexity sizing to facilitate informed "Go/No-Go" decisions.
Security Architecture & Compliance Requirements:
Identity & Access Management (IAM): Design robust IAM frameworks that strictly adhere to Zero Trust principles, utilizing RBAC, ACLs, and modern authentication protocols (OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML) to govern internal and external identity lifecycles.
Data Protection: Embed end-to-end data security into solution designs, mandating encryption for Data at Rest and In Transit, while enforcing strict data segregation, anonymization, and residency controls to meet regulatory standards.
Data Lifecycle Management: Define mechanisms for Data Retention, Archival, and Destruction (DRAD) to ensure compliance and minimize risk exposure across the data lifecycle.
Network Security: Architect secure, segmented network topologies using VPCs/vNets, Subnets, and Network Security Groups (NSGs). Ensure secure connectivity via Private PaaS endpoints, VPN Gateways, and the implementation of CDNs and Load Balancers for edge protection.
Discovery & Innovation:
Market Research: Research and analyse emerging digital technology trends to drive innovation and identify opportunities for business value. Attend technology and product events and training from technology providers.
Proof of Concept (PoC) Leadership: Provide technical leadership for PoC and prototype initiatives, validating hypotheses before full-scale implementation.
Product Selection: Lead the technical evaluation and selection of third-party products and platforms, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and business requirements.
High-Level Discovery: Provide architectural guidance during the high-level discovery phase to shape project scope and technical feasibility.
Technical Governance & Strategy:
Design Authority: Actively participate in Design Authority meetings and technical workshops to ensure solution compliance and architectural consistency.
Roadmap Alignment: contribute to Product Roadmaps from a technology perspective, ensuring future capabilities are planned for and aligned with IT strategy.
Knowledge Management: Create and maintain up-to-date architecture documentation in the central repository for both new designs and existing solution assets.
Delivery
About the Company
Control Risks is a global specialist risk consultancy that helps to create secure, compliant and resilient organisations. Combining unrivalled expertise, experience and reach with the power of data and technology, we provide the insight and intelligence needed to stay on track, realise opportunities and grow.
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