Senior Solutions Architect-Cloud

About the role

This position performs work in an Azure environment. It involves coordinating with Enterprise Architecture, Data & Information Services, InfoSec, senior management, and other IT teams. It also includes providing technical oversight and guidance across multiple projects, ensuring designs are technically correct and meet business requirements.

Responsibilities

• Coordinates with Enterprise Architecture, Data & Information Services, InfoSec, senior management, and other IT teams, escalates technical risks, proposes mitigation plans and oversees change control to drive projects to success.
• Captures and coordinates the technical design and data integration of systems involving multiple technologies that span across the enterprise.
• Identifies strategy gaps in existing solutions and works with team members and senior management to develop plans to rectify gaps in a phased approach.
• Provides technical advice to the Enterprise Strategy Initiatives during the design phase and/or perform design as necessary.
• Participates in the procurement process and helps with the development of Statement of Work and takes part in vendor design review, solution evaluation and product selection.
• Supports the portfolio and project management processes by assisting in prioritization and sequencing of projects, support project work breakdown activities, help remove roadblocks, and lead resolution to disagreements related to solution design.
• Operates as one architecture team representing both Enterprise Architect and Solution Architecture with a focus on standardizing and maintaining current technology investments.
• Maintains knowledge management as a core practice within IT, including both the repository of knowledge, as well as the practice of managing knowledge.
• Recommend proactive, innovative IT solutions for the improvement of IT design and operation whenever and wherever possible.
• Champion architecture framework and supporting services, and provide guidance to management on the design and planning of IT systems, phases, always seeking opportunities to standardize, with a strong focus on capacity, recovery, performance, and security needs.
• Broad in focus but shallower in depth. Assume technical responsibility for IT standards, policy, and design for all significant projects and major areas, covering application, data and infrastructure domains, as well as enterprise applications, business tools, and transit systems, ensuring that all services meet their service levels and targets.
• Takes full responsibility for the design aspects of all stages of the lifecycle of IT systems, including investigation, analysis, specification, design, development, construction, testing, maintenance, upgrade, transition, operation, and improvement.
• Broker the understanding of our solution architecture needs with key business partners. This understanding will answer how a business need is solved, ensuring that the functional and non-functional needs are satisfied.
• Responsible for the project’s design or oversight of a vendor’s provided design. These activities should include driving the approval of the design and build efforts as well as translating the design concepts to IT Operations (From Build to Run).
• The result will be consistency across the various projects within and between programs.
• Provide technology governance by conducting architectural assessments or leading design tasks so as to drive alignment to standards, best practices, and appropriate enablement of solutions.
• Coach, mentor, guide other Solution Architects.
• Proactively stay current with new technology directions and prepare the team for the future.
• Attends professional group meetings; stays abreast of new trends and innovations in the field of data and information technology.
• Plan, organize and otherwise work in an independent and self-directed fashion to accomplish assignments, potentially leading others.
• Actively participates in as-is and to-be solutions for enterprise systems, especially as it relates to developing plans and roadmaps.
• Translate logical designs into physical designs, taking account of business requirements, target environments, processes, performance requirements, existing systems and services, and any potential safety-related aspects.
• Interface with designers and planners from external suppliers and service providers, ensuring all external IT services are designed to meet their agreed service levels and targets.
• Support the review of processes, roles and responsibilities, and documentation in support of agency audit and compliance activities.
• Lead strategic analysis and collaboration efforts related to strategic planning, selection, and implementation of strategy and solutions, including needs such as cloud strategy, infrastructure strategy, and enterprise system replacement.
• Champions and models Sound Transit's core values and demonstrates values-based behaviors in everyday interactions across the agency.
• Contributes to a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion in alignment with Sound Transit’s Equity & Inclusion Policy.

Requirements

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Management, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field. Six years of experience in senior level technical IT position including specific design and architecture experience; Or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred Licenses Or Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
• ITIL v3 or v4 Certification.

Skills

Strong technical knowledge of IT enterprise systems at all layers including COTS and custom applications, middleware, operating systems, databases, servers, IaaS , PaaS, SaaS, networks, and virtualization technologies.

Concepts, principles, and practices of enterprise architecture, IT governance, and project management.

Strong understanding of business objectives, drivers and principles, and how they relate to technology solutions.

Business and technology strategy; developing architectural approach to meet both.

Modeling, prototyping, and alternatives analysis.

Principles, practices, methods, and techniques used in information technology systems architecture, design, implementation, and ongoing administration.

Capacity management and designing scalable solutions.

ITSM, PMLC, SDLC, and strategic planning of Information Technology including corporate business systems and transit systems.

In depth understanding of key issues and success factors within an IT organization.

Pertinent federal, state, and local laws, codes, and regulations.

Possesses a solid technology culture with a strong interest and ability in learning new technologies in both corporate business technologies and transit technologies.

Senior level experience in systems design and architecture for large scale enterprise solutions.

Strong experience managing and leading change within an organization.

Strong facilitation skills including conflict management, issue resolution, brokering agreements, and removing roadblocks.

Excellent communication and leadership skills with the ability to coach and mentor others.

Ability to advocate, promote, and sell ideas to achieve architectural goals, improve efficiency, and reduce complexity.

Experience modeling, analyzing, and prototyping alternate solutions.

Continuous improvement.

Developing architectural standards, documents, and presentations.

Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with other department staff, management, vendors, outside agencies, community groups, and the general public.

Working effectively under pressure, meeting deadlines, and adjusting to changing priorities.

Responding to inquiries and in effective oral and written communication.

Researching, analyzing, and evaluating new service delivery methods and techniques.

Working cooperatively with other departments, Agency officials, and outside agencies.