Senior Specialist: Solution Architect

Role purpose:
The Solution Architect is responsible for designing and leading the implementation of a solutions and capability architecture for a particular business capability / user journey, according to the overall digital vision and target architecture. This role is responsible for the technical analysis and holistic solution design of future capabilities and features, including external dependencies, cross-domain APIs, and technical enablers / stories. This role is responsible for reviewing the target architecture vision and roadmap, evaluating and prioritizing roadmap items, and translating them into designs and non-functional requirements. This incumbent is responsible for providing support to engineering to ensure development of technical stories are aligned to defined architecture paradigms, principles, and patterns.

Your responsibilities will include:
Translate the overall digital vision and target architecture into corresponding solution designs and change requirements

Design end-to-end solutions and cross domain integration and APIs

Define non-functional, operational, and quality requirements for solutions

Define technical stories to enable business capabilities, fostering re-use of existing components, and accept technical features following demos

Collaborate to plan the release of technical stories

Provide guidance to delivery teams to ensure alignment

Facilitate solution compliance to security, privacy, and regulatory needs

Manage technical debt and technology obsolescence at solution level

Advocate adoption of new technologies into solutions

The ideal candidate for this role will have:
Must have technical / professional qualifications:
Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Systems Analysis, or other related field

5 to 8 years of experience in at least three disciplines, such as solution or technical architecture, application development, middleware, information analysis, database management or operations in a multitier environment

Extensive exposure to multiple, diverse technologies and processing environments

Extensive experience in business capability modelling and technical and solution architecture development in a digital business context

Experience working with agile methodologies, such as Scrum, Kanban, XP, TDD, and BDD

Professional experience and knowledge of digital and Telecommunications industries strongly preferred

Core competencies, knowledge and experience:
Solution architecture and design

Feasibility analysis

Business capability / customer journey architecture governance in agile software delivery

Technical enablers, integration APIs, and detailed technical and operational story design

Infrastructure design

Estimation techniques for scaled agile

Technology Innovation: scouting, screening and evaluation

Cost of ownership of technology, application portfolio management

Web-scale cloud-native architectures including IaaS, PaaSand SaaS

Design of web-scale architectures and systems of innovation and engagement

DevOps practices and automation tools

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data technologies and architectures

Management of technical debt

Excellent analytical, technical, and problem solving skills, with high-levels of creativity

Excellent written and verbal communications skills, with both technical and business audiences

Excellent relationship building, teamwork, and collaboration skills that enables the provision of effective support and guidance across multiple DevOps teams

Understanding of both the current Telecommunications and digital services market and emerging business and technology trends

Ability to quickly comprehend the functions and capabilities of new technologies, with natural intellectual curiosity and integrity

Vendor and technology neutral driven primarily by long-term business outcomes rather than personal preferences

Sound business understanding and market awareness

Ability to understand long-term (big picture) and short-term perspectives of events and change and how they relate to achieving business outcomes

Strong time-management skills, with the ability to juggle multiple balls

Closing date for Applications: 31 July 2023
The base location for this role is, Midrand, Vodacom Campus.
The Companys approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.

Vodacom is committed to an organisational culture that recognises, appreciates and values diversity & inclusion.