Solutions Architect

**Primary Purpose**:
The Solutions Architect will provide leadership and alignment of the solutions architecture and technology design for Bidvest Bank. This includes development of architectural principles aligned to business strategy. The Solutions Architect will engage with engineering leaders, product managers and business leaders ensure alignment on solutions ensuring technical direction and will provide thought leadership across the company.

The Solutions Architect will proactively share knowledge of architecture and design and create opportunities to build competitive advantage and improve efficiency and effectiveness of business.

Solutions Architects must be prepared to collaborate with leaders, managers, and employees across every business unit.

To successfully align IT solutions with business objectives, solutions architect must have strong leadership and communication skills, as well as both technical and business knowledge. As a solutions architect, you will need to understand the business side of the organisation to understand which IT solutions will fit the company's goals. Your leadership skills will be important for steering the overall process of identifying key business objectives and determining the requirements for each solution

**Minimum Requirements**

**Qualifications**:

- Bachelor's Degree, Postgraduate, Business Administration equivalent

Experience
- 10 to 15 years of IT and business/industry work experience
- 5 -8 years management experience
- 5 years developing and executing strategic plans and/or project portfolios

**Ideal**
- Enterprise Architecture
- Solutions Architecture
- Solutions Design
- IT Architecture

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required
- Strategic thinking and planning
- Operational execution excellence
- Ability to drive change that enables efficiencies and drives growth
- Excellent interpersonal skills to influence, persuade and motivate others
- Systems thinking
- Team and collaboration orientation
- Management and Leadership skills
- Problem solving
- Performance driven
- Learning orientation
- Effective written/verbal communication skills

**Duties and Responsibilities**

**FINANCE**
- Control and manage costs in line with the Business and bank budget expectations

**CUSTOMER EXCELLENCE**
- Responsible for the solutions architecture for the Bidvest Bank.
- Develop and maintain productive and collaborative relationships with key stakeholders, to support achievement of Business outcomes.
- Proactively serve as a “trusted advisor,” and function as the primary IT point of contact to Bank stakeholders.
- Build and drive successful relationships across the business promoting a best for business approach to solutions, architecture, and design principles.
- Operate as the key business contact representing IT in promoting IT services and capabilities
- Function as the key liaison across all functional areas, including business units, the information technology department, and outside vendors
- Advising on technological solutions available to address business problems, providing timely advice on the feasibility

**OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE**

**Strategy, design, and solutions**
- Provide strategic thought leadership with regards to the role IT plays in executing the business strategy.
- Lead the translation of strategy into the development of solution architecture deliverables to ensure alignment with Bank strategies and architecture frameworks.
- Oversee the solution architecture and design of solutions and help to maximise the positive impact on the Business.
- Actively contribute to IT strategy implementations and ongoing refinement activities in line with Bank goals.
- Strive to understand market challenges, including customer priorities and competitive issues
- Provide support in delivering solutions architecture that meet the needs of the business
- Collaborate with program/project teams to reconcile solutions to Bank architecture.

**Innovation**
- Provide thought leadership on the future of technology as it relates to the Bank, initiative-taking in getting to grips with leading edge technologies and understanding their potential.
- Ensure the business is aware of emerging trends, practice, and technologies in the marketplace and how they may contribute to business outcomes and strategies.
- Actively identify and champion innovation initiatives supporting the Bank strategy.
- Continuously seek improved ways to work and efficiencies within team

**People Management**
- Promote and foster collaborative team and stakeholder relationships based on growth and resilience, integrity, accountability, and inclusion, and adheres to the Bank value of ‘Leadership'
- Monitoring and managing deliverables, output, and performance of subordinates
- Develops talent by facilitating cross training, developing, coaching, mentoring & growing individuals & teams in the Business Units.
- Encourages career advancement endeavours to staff.
- Following up on disciplinary procedures