Solution Architect Role at Co-operative Bank of Kenya

The role

The successful jobholder will be expected to:

• Use appropriate tools and techniques to analyze, design, simulate, and document solution and systems integration architectures in specific business or functional areas or service delivery channels. 
• Produce detailed component specifications and translate these into detailed designs for implementation using selected products. 
• Assess the systems architecture currently in place and work with system owners to recommend the best technology solutions to improve them.
• Resolve technical problems as they arise.
• Evaluate and undertake impact analysis on major design options, assess and manage associated risks and ensure that the system design balances functional, service quality and systems management requirements.
• Test and provide guidance to the development teams on integrations and software components in accordance with the solution design.
• Continually research current and emerging technologies and propose changes where needed.
• Informing various stakeholders about any problems with the current technical solutions being implemented.
• Assess the business impact that certain technical choices have.
• Provide advice on technical aspects of system development and integration (including requests for changes, deviations from specifications, etc.) and ensure that relevant technical strategies, policies, standards and practices are applied correctly. 
• Attend code reviews to ensure that platform-specific standards and best practices are followed.
• Ensure that the solution architectures align with the roadmaps established by enterprise architecture and that they adhere to the enterprise architecture principles. 

Qualifications, Skills & Attributes

The successful jobholder will be required to possess the following qualifications: –

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Technology, Electronics, Computer Engineering, IT, Telecommunication and/or related fields
• 3+ years of professional experience in solution architecture design or related role
• 4+ years of experience in the development of APIs and web services for systems integrations
• 5+ years of Excellent software development skills – Java, Spring framework, JBoss, Websphere Application Server, C#, Oracle databases, SOA/ESB/APIM, cloud-based solutions (AWS, Azure or Google), Android, REST, XML/RPC, Business process management (BPM), Active MQ
• Ability to analyze, simulate/prototype, design solutions, document and develop APIs, Web services and software component designs or products a must.
• Ability to handle complex information with accuracy and excellent attention to detail a must
• Solid grasp of design patterns, principles and SOA service contracts – particularly Object-Oriented Design (OOD), Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Microservices Architecture (MSA) and Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) experience.
• Knowledge of Enterprise service bus (ESB), Docker and Kubernetes experience is desirable
• Experience with integration to core banking, payment systems, mobile money transfer, USSD/SMS gateways, and B2B Integration
• Experience with Core banking and peripheral systems, Mobile/Internet Banking, Omni channel, ATMs, Agent Banking, Trade finance, ERP, CRM, and other systems in a financial services ecosystem are desirable.
• Experience in Agile, DevOps, Automation of testing, deployments, and monitoring is desirable.
• Familiarity with Unified Modeling Language (UML) and possesses knowledge of ancillary technologies in use such as Java, Eclipse, and Oracle, or an ability to quickly learn any of these if needed.
• Possesses a strong customer service attitude, excellent communication skills, and exhibits a passion for learning and continuous improvement. Takes responsibility for acquiring new skills and broadening knowledge
• Exhibits a commitment to the utilization of defined standards and processes with entrepreneurial flair with strong business acumen.
• High level of mathematical aptitude and strong problem-solving skills, logical, analytical and investigative mind, together with creative abilities, A wild duck – out-of-the-box thinker.