Enterprise Architect (Business Architecture Specialization) at World Vision Kenya

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Enterprise architecture & alignment

• Shape architecture across multiple initiatives, products, and domains to ensure enterprise coherence
• Ensure solution designs align with enterprise standards, target architectures, and transition roadmaps
• Identify cross-domain dependencies, systemic risks, and opportunities for reuse
• Contribute to the development and continuous evolution of enterprise standards and patterns (ownership at Principal Architect level)
• Maintain and curate enterprise architecture views, inventories, and roadmap inputs within the EA repository
• Identify and prioritize architectural risk and technical debt reduction opportunities across initiatives
• Lead development of segment and enterprise architecture views in collaboration with the EA practice
• Act as Solution Architect on exceptionally complex or strategic initiatives where required
• Mentor and guide Solution and Lead Architects to raise architectural maturity
• Contribute to refinement and application of ADS artefacts within EA governance cycles
• Bridge enterprise architectural direction with solution-level execution needs and mitigations
• Act as a trusted architectural advisor to business and technology leaders
• Operate as a generalist enterprise architect with depth across multiple BDAT domains

Advisory & assurance

• Provide architectural input during idea shaping, business case development, and planning
• Review solution architectures for enterprise alignment, risk, and long-term sustainability
• Make architectural trade-offs, risks, and implications explicit to decision-makers
• Support resolution of architectural issues that span domains or teams

Technical debt & transition

• Identify and assess architectural risk and technical debt across initiatives
• Develop and maintain transition architectures (Now → Next → Later)
• Support prioritization of architectural improvements aligned to organizational strategy

PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIORS & CAPABILTIES:

The Enterprise Architect is expected to demonstrate the following behaviors:

Strategic thinking & judgment

• Evaluates architectural options across multiple initiatives or domains
• Balances business value, technical risk, cost, and long-term sustainability
• Applies enterprise-level judgment in ambiguous and complex situations

Communication & architectural storytelling

• Communicates architectural intent, options, and trade-offs clearly to senior and non-technical stakeholders
• Uses conceptual and logical views to support understanding and alignment
• Frames discussions in terms of outcomes, risks, and implications

Stakeholder leadership

• Builds trusted relationships across business, delivery, and technology
• Facilitates constructive architectural discussions and informed decisions
• Navigates competing priorities pragmatically

Influence & collaboration

• Influences through credibility and evidence rather than authority
• Works effectively across federated teams
• Supports Solution and Lead Architects through guidance and coaching

Professional integrity

• Makes risks and trade-offs explicit
• Acts transparently and ethically
• Takes accountability for architectural quality and consistency

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND EXPERIENCE:

Required Education, training, license, registration, and/or Certification

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• TOGAF, OpenCA, or equivalent enterprise architecture certification is preferred but not required.

Required Professional Experience

Architectural and technical knowledge

• Broad understanding of enterprise technology landscapes, including applications, integration, data, cloud, and security
• Strong knowledge of enterprise architecture principles, standards, and patterns at organizational scale
• Understanding of how technology enables business capabilities and value streams
• Ability to bridge architectural strategy with practical delivery execution through hands-on technical acumen
• Working knowledge of enterprise repositories and architecture artefacts (e.g., ADS views, roadmaps, transition architectures) sufficient to curate and assure quality and guide usage, not to perform administrative ownership

Experience

• Experience shaping and assuring architecture across multiple initiatives, portfolios, or domains
• Experience advising leaders on architectural trade-offs involving cost, risk, sustainability, and long-term outcomes
• Experience identifying cross-domain dependencies, risks, and opportunities for reuse
• Experience influencing stakeholders and contributing to governance and decision forums
• Experience operating within enterprise architecture standards and governance frameworks

ROLE BOUNDARIES & ESCALATION:

• This role does not act as the final technical arbiter for enterprise-wide decisions
• This role does not have people management accountability
• High-impact or unresolved architectural issues are escalated to the Principal Architect