Solution Architect at KCB Bank Kenya

Job Purpose:

Reporting to Senior Manager Solutions Architecture, the job holder will be responsible for developing solution designs and specifications, reviews, recommendations and analysis of their impact on the overall business goals and outcomes. The holder of this position leverages their profound knowledge of available technologies to recommend the best solution according to the documented requirements and existing environment. The key deliverable of this role is to provide a set of technological solutions and the strategy of their implementation while minimizing technical debt.

 Key Responsibilities:

• Analyzing enterprise specifics - Facilitate the identification and analysis of the bank’s business drivers to deliver enterprise business, information, technical and solution architecture requirements. 
• Analyzing and documenting requirements - Elicit business requirements using interviews, analysis, requirements workshops, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, use cases, scenarios, business analysis, task and workflow analysis.  
• Driving the Adoption of Emerging Technologies -  Spearheading the integration of new technologies by managing and overseeing Proof of Concepts (POCs) to evaluate their viability and potential for broader implementation.
• of business solutions.
• Analyzing the technology environment - Provide an analysis to determine best path for solving business problems/opportunities that may include process improvement vis a vis information technology systems enhancement.
• Optimizing Runtime Environments - Collaborating with support teams to identify and resolve performance issues through Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and providing solutions to minimize runtime inefficiencies.
• Developing and Enhancing Architecture Standards - Creating and refining architectural guidelines that ensure the effective application and deployment of technology, optimizing both system performance and scalability.
• Controlling solution development - Participate in solution developments to ensure technical and business requirements are adhered to and any exceptions are documented for tracking and remediation of technical debt. 
• Supporting project delivery - Provide architectural oversight of projects and ensure that requirements are in alignment with business strategies and business architecture roadmap/framework
• Leverage’s business capabilities as a platform for illustrating the link between business needs with decisions to their technology, solution, business and information architecture efforts
• Translates strategic initiatives into delivery-focused change initiatives, while translating business processes and issues into effective conceptual and logical models.
• Build and maintain repository for deliverables, methodologies, and business development documents 
• Designing and Specifying Solutions - Creating detailed and comprehensive solution designs and technical specifications that align with business goals and technological requirements.
• Managing Solution Development and Technical Debt - Effectively managing the development of solutions, while separately addressing and resolving accumulated technical debt. Both tasks are essential and distinct components of this role.
• Develop and guide adoption of design patterns with a view of standardizing solution components built for the enterprise
• Participate, guide and support quality assurance team in planning and execution of performance testing and other non-functional tests
• Lead in all round capacity management for current and future solutions

Academic & Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field (Required).
• Professional certifications such as CBAP, TOGAF, ITIL Foundation, or Design Thinking & Innovation (Added Advantage).
• Project Management / Agile certifications including PRINCE II, PMP, MSP, SMC, CSM, or PMI-ACP (Added Advantage).
• Cloud certifications in AWS, Azure, or GCP at Solutions Architect level (Added Advantage).

Professional Experience

• Minimum 7 years’ progressive experience in Information Technology, with at a total of 5 years across two or more IT disciplines such as: (Required)
  • Solution or application architecture
  • Application or middleware development
  • Microservices development 
• 4+ years’ experience with Database Management Systems (Desired).
• 3+ years’ experience in the following are desired:
  • Working with enterprise architecture frameworks
  • Exposure to diverse technologies, including cloud computing and containerization
  • Software delivery methodologies (DevOps, Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid)
  • Planning, organizing, and breaking down complex tasks into actionable items
  • Interpersonal skills including teamwork, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement
  • Applying holistic enterprise architecture concepts and using graphical modeling tools
  • Balancing strategic (long-term) and tactical (short-term) project needs
  • Adapting communication styles and demonstrating empathy, active listening, and collaboration across all levels