Solution Architect

Description

This competition is open to all applicants however; internal candidates and applicants who were former employees of the University of Alberta will be given priority consideration before external candidates. Please log in to verify your internal candidate status.

Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person. Work primarily takes place at North Campus and Enterprise Square, Edmonton.

Are you prepared to influence the digital ecosystem of one of Canada's leading research universities? In the role of Solution Architect within IST, you will be much more than a system designer; you will serve as a primary enabler of innovation. We invite you to join us in transitioning toward a model of strategic architecture that will intentionally bridge complex institutional potential with scalable, forward-looking technology, ensuring our digital environment matches the ambition of the research we enable.

As a vital contributor to the Information Services & Technology (IST) department, you will report to the Chief Enterprise Architect and hold a central role in connecting intricate business needs with technical solutions. We are seeking a strategic visionary—someone dedicated to fostering innovation and sustainability while leaving a meaningful legacy. You will be responsible for conceptualizing and overseeing the deployment of architectures that advance the University of Alberta's mission of impact. You will act as a primary advisor for critical technological decisions that adhere to our enterprise architecture principles and respect our architectural standards. You will do so by building strong partnerships across various faculties and departments that will allow you to convert institutional objectives into secure, scalable architectural frameworks.

If you are energized by complex problem-solving and collaborative solution delivery, we encourage you to apply.

Responsibilities

Interpret Business Needs

• Translates business and technical requirements into an architectural blueprint to achieve strategic business objectives; documents all solution architecture design and analysis work.
• Drives fiscal discipline and platform agility by enforcing "Adopt, Adapt, Develop" and other architectural principles, prioritizing commercial off-the-shelf solutions, and building custom only for truly differentiating capabilities.
• Optimizes our institutional technology portfolio by identifying technical debt and proactively defining a technical runway that ensures future business requirements are sustainably met with little to no compromise.

Assesses Technology

• Act as an advocate for technical health, assessing our application portfolio to reduce complexity, eliminate technical debt, and create a clear runway for modernization.
• Understands emerging technology trends and disruptions and their practical application to enable new and evolving business and operating models.
• Analyzes the business-IT environment to detect critical deficiencies, legacy and technical debt, and also recommends solutions for improvement.
• Champions Architectural Standards by defining and driving the use of design patterns that drive fiscal discipline and agility—balancing 'Adopt, Adapt, Develop' principles to ensure our technology ecosystem is secure, sustainable, and truly value-adding.

Design Solutions

• Evaluates and selects the appropriate technologies, tools, processes and products that guide the creation of solutions that are feasible, scalable, secure, and maintainable.
• Documents and communicates the solution architecture to the relevant parties, and provides guidance and support throughout the solution development life cycle.
• Ensures that developed solution architectures are consistent and compatible with the Enterprise Ecosystem and Enterprise Architecture Principles (EAPs).

Technology Governance

• Actively participates in the review and assessment of proposals submitted through the technology governance processes, engaging IST and other University stakeholders as required.
• Provides guidance, advice, and support to the University community regarding the technology governance processes.
• Supports IST Directors and Managers in the definition, assessment and prioritization of IST-driven and managed projects and initiatives.

Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in an area of Information Technology, Business, or an area of related study.
• A minimum of five years of expertise across IT disciplines, demonstrating the ability to mentor project teams and provide technical leadership throughout the solution development and delivery life cycle.
• Good understanding of strategic and emerging technology trends, and the practical application of existing and emerging technologies to new and evolving business and operating models.
• Good understanding of product management, agile principles and development methodologies and capable of supporting agile teams by providing advice and guidance on opportunities, impact and risks, taking account of technical and architectural debt.
• Practical experience in delivering projects under project management principles.
• Hands-on experience with different modeling languages (ArchiMate and UML preferred).
• Proficient in translating future-state business capabilities and requirements into solution architecture requirements.
• Proven analytical, planning, organizational, technical, strategic, and relationship building skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Organizationally savvy, with the ability to navigate organizational politics with tact and ease.
• Skilled at influencing, guiding and facilitating stakeholders and peers with decision making.
• Ability to articulate new ideas and concepts to technical and nontechnical audiences alike.
• Skilled at understanding the long-term ("big picture") and short-term perspectives of organizational decision making and problem solving.

Application Instructions

Click "Apply Now" to submit your resume and cover letter.

This position has a comprehensivebenefits packageand an annual salary range of $81,048 to $135,078.

The terms and conditions of this appointment are governed bySchedule Fof the collective agreement between the Board of Governors of the University of Alberta and the Association of Academic Staff of the University of Alberta.