Solutions Architect, It Jobs

This position is a part of the Association of the Academic Staff of the University of Alberta (AASUA).

In accordance with the Administrative and Professional Officer Agreement , this full time continuing position offers a comprehensive benefits package found at Faculty & Staff Benefits and annual salary range of $66,167 - $110,279.

Location - North campus. This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in person

Department Summary

Information Services & Technology (IST) is the central IT group that provides services related to Information and Technology across the University community including but not limited to, digital infrastructure and data center management, application support and development, research services technology, information security, endpoint support and classroom and lab technologies.

The Service Design and Improvement team (SDI) within IST facilitates the embedding of Service Excellence principles into the services, roadmaps and governance processes of IST. We are responsible for the frameworks and processes of new service design, continual service improvement, service reporting, service costing, service portfolio management, service catalog, and solutions architecture. In our client-facing capacity, we are responsible for ensuring clients have a clear, simple and transparent view of the scope, value, direction and cost of IST Services.

Position Summary

The IT Solutions Architect is responsible for managing the process by which business opportunities and proposals are evaluated and aligned with existing technology services and strategic roadmaps. The Solutions Architect is accountable for recommending appropriate solutions to proposals and ensuring system designs are reviewed in the context of IT standards and best practices. The remit of this role extends to all IST services except those related exclusively to research at the University.

The IT Solutions Architect will be a key facilitator of the Solutions Advisory Group (S.A.G), a committee made up of IT Service Delivery Owners that recommends solutions to proposals from clients or from within IT. As part of the IT Governance processes at the University this role will be the key resource to determine the appropriate channel for new proposals and for facilitating the first steps from initial proposal to either project delivery, service design or operational execution.

This role will also be responsible for working with the S.A.G members and the IST Exec to mature S.A.G and the processes it operates. In order to do this the solutions architect will construct an architecture library of relevant artifacts, part of which will include ensuring that the technology roadmaps are up to date and available to business and IT decision makers. Technology architecture maps will also be a key deliverable from the Solutions Architect to facilitate strong understanding of the technology solutions available to the University community and to facilitate swift decision making around new opportunities. On a daily basis the Solutions architect supports project execution and IT solution development activities to ensure that technical resources, risk recognition, and planning stay aligned with the solution goals.

Duties

Technology Architecture, Roadmaps and IT Standards

• Manages the Solutions Advisory Group to provide a forum for discussing technology solutions. This forum will act as one of the key first steps when new opportunities from IT Business partners and/or PMO can be discussed to determine the appropriate path forward (buy, build, create new service, use existing etc.).
• Assist in and support ad-hoc initiatives as required in such areas as strategic planning, exercises in roadmap development by teams, invest/divest exercises and service mapping activities.
• Provide connections between ‘Service Architects’ (Service Portfolio analysts and Service Design analysts) and ‘Technology Architects’ (Subject Matter Experts) in order to ensure elements of technology best practices and strategy are combined with service management principles and included in decision making. Where necessary, participate in Service Design exercises to ensure service definitions are aligned with current and future technology roadmaps.
• Consults with and advises stakeholders on the use of technology roadmaps.
• Manage technology support level/lifecycle models that show if technologies are fully supported, limited support, unsupported or prohibited by IST.
• Provide a single point of contact for PMs, BAs, management, business partners, etc. to view the full technology portfolio of IST and to be advised on approved solutions for specific business needs and future direction of technology.
• Creates and maintains technology architecture reference models and roadmaps and maintains the library of IT guidelines and standards.

Solutions Design

• Assess how the different elements of business processes, information, and technology can be applied to solve a specific problem or opportunity
• Manage relationships with industry best practice sources (e.g. Gartner, Forrester, Info-Tech, Pink/Axelos) for use in solutions design or ad-hoc research.
• Provide information on industry trends in technology or future predictions for technology direction for use in planning by IT staff
• This role may be assigned to a project or initiative to conduct research into specific technology options in order to meet project requirements or address a problem statement and to provide information for further solutions discussions with Subject matter Experts and other project stakeholders.
• Facilitate IT architecture assessments through the Solutions Advisory Group as required (for example when a Service offering is reviewed or periodically as technology offerings in the marketplace indicate a shift in approach.
• Facilitate discussions around new technology based solutions to new requirements from clients in line with the technology roadmap and aligned with the standards/principles of service excellence. These exercises might be initiated from a new technology proposal by clients, an internal initiative or a new service design
• Document impact of outcomes of new solutions discussions related to technology roadmaps or IT standards/guidelines.
• Prepare summary and detailed briefs on proposed IT solution for IT governance bodies

Document Librarian

• Facilitate IT architecture assessments through the Solutions Advisory Group as required (for example when a Service offering is reviewed or periodically as technology offerings in the marketplace indicate a shift in approach.
• Document impact of outcomes of new solutions discussions related to technology roadmaps or IT standards/guidelines.
• This role may be assigned to a project or initiative to conduct research into specific technology options in order to meet project requirements or address a problem statement and to provide information for further solutions discussions with Subject matter Experts and other project stakeholders.
• Prepare summary and detailed briefs on proposed IT solution for IT governance bodies
• Manage relationships with industry best practice sources (e.g. Gartner, Forrester, Info-Tech, Pink/Axelos) for use in solutions design or ad-hoc research.
• Facilitate discussions around new technology based solutions to new requirements from clients in line with the technology roadmap and aligned with the standards/principles of service excellence. These exercises might be initiated from a new technology proposal by clients, an internal initiative or a new service design
• Assess how the different elements of business processes, information, and technology can be applied to solve a specific problem or opportunity
• Provide information on industry trends in technology or future predictions for technology direction for use in planning by IT staff

Document Librarian

• Manage IST information related to technology roadmaps, standards, guidelines and policies.
• Collaborate with the Service Portfolio Analyst and the CMDB owner to create links and mappings between the Service Catalogs and supporting technologies
• Work with Application Development team to create an application architecture that aligns application layer with IT services
• Facilitate forums where relevant information from industry best practice sources can be used as part of technology solution or service design without violating the license agreements with information source providers.

Minimum Qualifications

• 6 to 10 years of experience in the following areas:
• Influencing across the organization
• Software architecture design
• Infrastructure architecture management
• DevOps
• TOGAF 9 Certification
• Cloud development
• Solution Design

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong meeting facilitation skills
• Strong Business Analysis skills and experience
• Strong understanding of managing standards, guidelines and technical documentation within IT.
• Ability to work with and influence at all levels of the organization from senior leadership to individual contributors
• Exemplary interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.
• Bachelor’s Degree
• Strong collaboration skills with ability to influence and effect change in areas not directly accountable for.
• Experience in creating and continuously updating technology roadmaps.
• Strong understanding of technology solutions across infrastructure, ERP and application development.
• Familiarity with ITSM processes, especially those related to Strategy management, Portfolio management and Architecture management.