Senior Business Solutions Architect at NCBA Group

Job Purpose Statement:

The Senior Business Solutions Architect is responsible for designing and implementing innovative, scalable, and efficient IT solutions that align with the organization's business objectives and strategic goals. This role involves collaborating with various stakeholders, including clients, technical teams, and management, to ensure the successful delivery of technology solutions that drive business value. The focus is on applying the different elements of business, information, and technology to solve problems while maximizing the return on technology investment. The architect identifies, reviews, and proposes the various building blocks that will actively lead the technical vision to success. They review deviations from specifications and ensure that relevant technical strategies, policies, standards, and practices are applied correctly. Additionally, the architect participates in the stewardship of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Microservices Architecture (MSA), and Application Programming Interface (APIs) artifacts and definitions.

Key Accountabilities (Duties and Responsibilities):

• Architecture Roadmap (35%): Develop and maintain a comprehensive architecture roadmap that outlines the strategic direction for IT systems and infrastructure. This roadmap should align with the organization's business goals and objectives, ensuring that technology investments support the overall strategy. Develop a phased implementation plan for the architecture roadmap, outlining key milestones, deliverables, and timelines. Monitor progress against the plan and make adjustments as needed to ensure successful execution. Conduct regular assessments of the current IT landscape to identify gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement. Use these assessments to inform the development of the architecture roadmap. Collaborate with business leaders, stakeholders, and technical teams to gather requirements and ensure that the architecture roadmap addresses the needs of the organization. This includes understanding business processes, identifying key drivers for change, and aligning technology solutions with business priorities. Stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends to ensure that the architecture roadmap incorporates innovative solutions that can provide a competitive advantage. Evaluate new technologies and recommend their adoption where appropriate.
• IT Portfolio and Asset Management (25%): Oversee the management of the IT portfolio, including the evaluation and prioritization of projects and initiatives. Ensure efficient utilization of IT assets and resources. Monitor and report on the performance of IT investments and their alignment with business objectives.
• Digital Transformation (20%): Drive adoption of technology-driven initiatives such as cloud, Microservices adoption, DevOps, API Banking, and Integration modernization. Lead digital transformation initiatives to modernize and optimize business processes. Identify opportunities for leveraging digital technologies to improve efficiency, enhance customer experience, and drive innovation. Collaborate with business units to develop and implement digital strategies.
• Architecture Governance (10%): Establish and enforce architecture governance frameworks and standards. Ensure compliance with enterprise architecture principles and best practices. Conduct architecture reviews and assessments to ensure the integrity and quality of IT solutions.
• Team Leadership and Stakeholder Management (10%): Provide technical leadership and mentorship to the architecture team. Foster a collaborative and innovative work environment. Engage with stakeholders to understand their needs and requirements. Communicate complex technical concepts and solutions to non-technical stakeholders in an understandable manner.

Job Specifications

Ideal Job Specifications:

• Degree in Science, Computer Science, Engineering, or a Business-related degree from a reputable institution. A master’s degree in Information Technology or an MBA will be an added advantage.
• Training and certification in IT Service Management, e.g., ITIL, COBIT, ISO.
• IT Architecture Training and Certification, e.g., TOGAF.
• Infrastructure and Cloud-related certification and training.
• Business Continuity training.
• 8+ years of experience in IT applications, infrastructure, or security operations and management.
• 4+ years of professional experience in IT solution architecture, deployment of APIs, cloud, Docker, and Kubernetes experience is desirable.
• Solid grasp of design patterns and principles, particularly Object-Oriented Design (OOD), Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Microservice Architecture (MSA), and Event-Driven Architecture (EDA).
• Experience in systems such as Core Banking Systems and integrations to Mobile money transfer, USSD / SMS, Omni Channel, Internet Banking, BPM, ERP, CRM, and other systems in a financial services ecosystem are a MUST.
• Possesses a strong customer service attitude and excellent communication skills and exhibits a passion for learning and continuous improvement.