Application Architect

H&R Block

5d • Remote

About The Position

We care about helping people. Our purpose is to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere. Our associates feel a sense of belonging in an inclusive place with an amazing history and a sharp focus on our future. Our connected culture is who we are and how we work together to achieve our strategies, accelerate our transformation, and achieve extraordinary results. It’s an exciting time to be a part of H&R Block!
What you'll do...

The Application Architect is primarily responsible for defining technology direction and architectural strategy for the Application Enterprise Architecture Domain. They will define and execute the architecture process for technology solutions with guidance from the Director of Enterprise Architecture and the Principal Application Architects. This role is a Subject Matter Expert in the Application domain and contributes to the development of the domain as a companywide authority.
Day to day, you'll...

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or the equivalent through a combination of education and related work experience.
• 8 years’ experience in architecture, technology design, development, implementation and support functions
• Ability to work with limited direct supervision
• Ability to work creatively and analytically in meeting team needs
• Ability to mentor engineers in overall architectural best practices and depth within their domain
• Team lead experience
• Proficiency in one or more RDBMS and NoSQL platforms
• Effective oral, written and interpersonal communication skills
• Effective presentation skills
• High degree of technical and business acumen
• Ability to define Enterprise vision, strategy and principles for application desig
• Ability to liaise between the Business (product teams) and data solution development, integration and governance teams
• Ability to understand the implication of data on people, processes, products and technology
• Enterprise Application Architecture tasks such as:
• System Design principles and patterns
• Conceptual design for apps
• Sequence modeling of application workflow
• Business capabilities mapping to solution design
• Highly scalable enterprise application design with internal and external users
• Performance and memory optimization with .NET and Azure
• System to system integration
• Cloud resilient design patterns
• API design
• Engineering best practices and guidelines
• Experience with a diverse set of platforms and technologies, as well as experience with structured methods and the software development life cycle
• Application Architecture experience related to Cloud infrastructure and technology components
• Familiarity with Microservices Architecture and development patterns
• An understanding of DevOps concepts and principles
• A willingness to value progress over perfection
• Ability to manage the evolution of architectural roadmaps for your domain, showing how new features are released or updated, with an eye on paying down technical debt with minimal disruption

Nice To Haves

• AZ900 Certification
• A deep understanding of MS Azure cloud environment
• A deep understanding of Azure Database and Storage technologies
• Event driven architecture
• Distributed system architecture
• Micro Frontends
• Implementing front end SPA frameworks
• DevOps pipeline development and best practices
• UI app design standards and guidelines

Responsibilities

• Create, maintain and oversee portions of the Enterprise Architecture Strategy by applying deep expertise in the Application design area and is responsible for defining the Enterprise Application Strategy and Framework.
• Develop and establishs architectural best practices, standards and guidelines that drive the design of technology solutions and educates others throughout the organization on the function of architecture
• Guide the technical implementation of the Application domain by solving complex problems; escalating issues or risks, as appropriate; recognizing and capitalizing on improvement opportunities; evaluating recommendations made; and influencing the completion of project tasks by others.
• Responsible for time sequencing, prioritization and managing the growth of the application environments.
• Assist the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in the determination of data security, data Encryption and privacy requirements related to SOX, CCPA, GDPR and PCI Compliance.
• Guide the full lifecycle of application solutions, including requirements analysis, platform selection, technical architecture design, application design and development, testing, and Test and Deployment in Cloud Infrastructures.
• Explore emerging business functions and technology and serves as a champion for new ideas and technologies that have potential benefit either to increase revenue or improve efficiencies.
• Participate in the adoption of new technologies by researching technical trends and developments in the Application domain.
• Work with external vendors to establish a pipeline into emerging technologies.
• Evaluate the impact and feasibility of new technologies within their domain before incorporating them into their domain technical architectures.
• Lead the creation of proof of concept and prototype development using internal and external resources.
• Provide expertise and share an understanding of current capability gaps, architectural gaps, and market and industry trends that can be used to set future direction.
• Work side-by-side with other IT groups such as Development and Enterprise Technology to closely align strategy with delivery and drive adoption.
• Design, model and implement new systems architectures.
• Conduct technical walk-through sessions, participate in pre- and post- implementation project reviews, and ensure that architecture designs are developed, maintained, and accessible.
• Consult with customers to solve business problems by adapting current technology and/or capitalizing on emerging technology for competitive advantage to meet the strategic objectives of the customer.
• Drive adoption by evangelizing technologies that have applicability and benefit to HR Block.
• Conduct demonstrations and presentations to executive management of prototypes and proof-of-concepts.
• Conduct presentations to large audiences both internal as well as external to HR Block.
• Conduct technical walk-through sessions.
• Participate in pre and post implementation project review.
• Work with multiple stakeholders, including business, product, and UX team members to influence the application data-flow design and extensible product platform architecture.

Benefits

• Qualifying associates can enroll themselves and/or their eligible dependents in medical and prescription drug coverage; can participate in the H&R Block Retirement Savings Plan (401(k) Plan), the Employee Assistance Program, (virtual) fitness center programs, and the associate discount program; are automatically enrolled in Business Travel Accident Insurance; and receive Associate Tax Prep benefit.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level