Senior Manager – Domain Architect Integrations & Middleware at KCB Bank Kenya

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain the integration strategy for the bank, aligning it with the overall enterprise architecture goals and business objectives. This includes defining standards, best practices, and guidelines for integrating systems, applications, and data across the organization.
• Design end-to-end integration solutions and middleware architectures to support the bank's business processes and IT systems. This involves collaborating with business stakeholders, technology teams, and third-party vendors to gather requirements and translate them into technical designs & specifications.
• Lead the integration efforts for new systems, applications, and services into the bank's Technology landscape. This includes defining integration patterns, protocols, and APIs, as well as defining data mapping, transformation, and routing mechanisms across the tech stack to facilitate seamless data exchange.
• Ensure fit for purpose middleware solutions that meet performance, scalability, security, and compliance requirements.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to development teams, architects, and other stakeholders involved in integration projects. Foster collaboration and communication between cross-functional teams to drive alignment and consensus on integration solutions.
• Identify and mitigate risks associated with integration projects, including security vulnerabilities, data privacy concerns, and regulatory compliance issues. Ensure that integration solutions adhere to industry standards, regulatory requirements, and internal Bank policies.
• Drive continuous improvement and innovation in integration practices, tools, and technologies. Address the accrued technical debt in the Integrations & Middleware space.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in integration and middleware architecture to enhance the bank's competitive advantage.
• Contribute to the bank's digital transformation initiatives by architecting future ready integration solutions that enable the actualization of the Business strategy.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation for integration and middleware architectures.

The Ideal Candidate: Academic, Professional & Experience:

Academic & Professional Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field — Required 
• Master’s degree in technology, Business, or related field — Added Advantage 
• TOGAF Certification — Desired 
• Professional Cloud Certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect, or GCP Cloud Solutions Architect — Desired 

Experience Requirements:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in Information Technology 
• 7+ years’ experience in at least two IT disciplines such as Cloud Computing, Systems Integration, Enterprise Architecture, or Infrastructure Technologies 
• 7+ years of hands-on experience with integration patterns, middleware technologies, APIs, and messaging protocols 
• 5+ years’ experience designing and architecting enterprise solutions across hybrid cloud and on-premises environments 
• 5+ years’ experience working with software delivery methodologies including Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid, and DevOps practices 
• 5+ years’ experience in enterprise architecture frameworks, governance, and technology strategy 
• 5+ years’ experience using architecture modeling tools and repositories 
• 5+ years’ experience engaging cross-functional stakeholders, senior leadership, and technical teams to drive enterprise architecture adoption 

Key Competencies

• Strong understanding of enterprise-wide architecture principles and best practices 
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills 
• Strong planning and organizational capabilities with the ability to translate complex concepts into actionable solutions 
• Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement, negotiation, and collaboration skills 
• Ability to balance strategic long-term architecture objectives with short-term operational priorities 
• Strong leadership capability with the ability to influence technology direction and innovation initiatives