Application Architect

Application Architect The IT Applications Architect is responsible for ensuring that various IT services and systems within the organization are properly managed and integrated to optimize cost and service delivery. This is a hands-on role that will also require people management, team leadership vendor management, and delegation skills (i.e. player/coach). The role will focus on delivering technology design, integration, and management across cloud and business-to-business solutions, including both off-the-shelf SaaS and custom application development. Additionally, this role will be the chief architect responsible for designing and implementing enterprise integrations and middleware strategy including APIs, service bus, point to point integrations, etc. to facilitate process orchestration, event processing, business rules, and activity monitoring. This role will require a hands-on technical practitioner to be well versed in custom software application development as well as enterprise integration development and implementation. The role will also provide oversight of 3rd party contract labor that will provide additional resourcing in these technical domains. The IT Applications Architect will also develop standards and policies to assist the business in evaluating cloud service vendors to make adoption and integration as seamless as possible. This individual must work closely with the SVP, Technology Business Solutions and Data Warehouse Architect amongst others to ensure enterprise-level standards and requirements are met. This position will office in Stream’s Dallas, Texas corporate office, and report to the SVP, Technology Business Solutions. PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: Strategy & Planning Assess and cultivate long-term strategic goals for IT custom applications and cross-platform integrations in conjunction with IT architects, data users, department managers, clients, and other key stakeholders. Coordinate and work with other technical staff to develop applications and integration architectures, coding standards, and quality assurance policies and procedures. Plan and implement capacity and resource expansion to ensure application and integration efficiencies and scalability. Design and implement redundant systems, policies, and procedures for disaster recovery and data archiving to ensure effective availability, protection, and integrity of data assets. Develop a service integration architecture strategy for the enterprise based on a situational awareness of various business scenarios and motivations. Apply a structured integration architecture approach and methodology for capturing the key views of the business and IT unit in the context of the enterprise. Lead functional management through the development of a service integration architecture plan for the enterprise. Evaluate and present information that will facilitate effective and timely decision-making through written and oral communication materials that effectively summarize findings with recommendations. Acquisition & Deployment Conduct research and make recommendations on integration and middleware products, services, protocols, and standards in support of procurement and development efforts. Evaluate, recommend, and select application and integration components, including hardware, database management systems, ETL (extract, transform, load) software, data mining tools, and meta data management tools. Operational Management Oversee the integration of various IT services and systems, ensuring they work in unison and in the most optimal way to help the business meet its needs. Work with stakeholders to identify, create, and deliver custom applications and integrations according to requirements. Create and support relevant supporting ETL layer needed for core software platform integrations and enterprise data warehouse platforms. Design and manage custom applications and growth projects. Identify inefficiencies and gaps in current integrations and custom applications and leverage solutions to ensure best practice enterprise standards. Identify data discrepancies and data quality issues, and work to ensure data consistency and integrity. Diagnose and resolve custom application access and performance issues. Diagnose and resolve integrations performance issues. Monitor system details within the middleware, including stored procedures and execution time, and implement efficiency improvements. Develop, implement, and maintain change control and testing processes for modifications to data systems. Enumerate, analyze, catalog, and suggest improvements to the strategic, core, and support service integration processes of the enterprise, as needed, to support strategic and operational goals. Create technical process model/flows that show technical integration points between applications based upon business requirements. Act as a subject matter expert in the development of integration architecture framework, tool suite selection, and design and methodology development. Support Operations Troubleshoot and resolve Tier 2/3 domain system issues or malfunctions. Coordinate Tier 3 escalations to relevant vendor. Analyze the current business and IT environment to detect critical deficiencies and recommend solutions for improvement. Work with the SVP Technology Business Solutions and stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of key strategic projects. Manage Projects Plan, manage, and drive applications and integration project schedules, resources, budgets, and manage stakeholder expectations, providing timely communications and reporting. Technical projects and upgrades Business functional projects QUALIFICATIONS Knowledge & Experience Working technical experience with designing, building, installing, configuring and supporting custom applications and enterprise level middleware. Experience with database platforms, including SQL Server and/or Azure. Experience in developing custom applications within SQL PaaS and Azure Tenants. Experience developing integrations within SSIS, ADF, etc. Experience transforming data via ETL concepts. Hands-on experience integrating cloud-based services and with integration tools. Extensive experience in service-oriented architecture. Strong understanding of relational database structures, theories, principles, and practices. Hands-on experience with data architecting, data mining, large-scale data modeling, and business requirements gathering/analysis. Knowledge of Windows operating system, as well as Power BI, and Office 365 including diagnostic tools preferred. Experience with data processing flowcharting techniques. Experience with best practices DevOps approaches. Proven project management (Waterfall+Agile) experience. Good knowledge of applicable data privacy practices and laws. Formal Education & Certification College diploma or university degree in the field of computer science, information systems, or computer engineering and 5+ years of relevant work experience. Certifications in architecture frameworks such as Zachman or TOGAF is a plus. Certifications in Agile/Scrum methodology is a plus. Personal Attributes Exceptional analytical, conceptual, and problem-solving abilities. Continuous improvements and scalability focused – not simply an ‘order taker’ Strong written and oral communication skills. Excellent technical architecture and technical support documentation skills. Strong presentation and interpersonal skills. Experience working in a team-oriented, collaborative environment. Ability to conduct research into database issues, standards, and products as required. Ability to present ideas in user-friendly language. Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment.