Senior Solution Architect, Student Ecosystem

University of British Columbia • Vancouver, BC

1d • CA$12,057 - CA$18,813

About The Position

The Senior Solution Architect, Student Ecosystem is a university wide role accountable for the end‑to‑end architecture of UBC’s Student Ecosystem across enterprise platforms, integrations, data domains, and external vendors. This role leads the design of major student IT systems, translating architectural principles and standards into practical, scalable solution blueprints across administrative and academic systems, digital platforms, data, identity, and external services. Working at an institutional level, the role has the authority to set architectural direction, define solution standards, and guide program and vendor design decisions that have long term operational, financial, compliance, and reputational impact on the University.

Requirements

• Post-graduate degree.
• Minimum of ten years of related experience including at least four years of managerial experience plus three years of specialized experience in the design and implementation of major computer systems, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Nice To Haves

• Extensive experience in enterprise and solution architecture roles within complex organizations.
• Demonstrated experience leading architecture across large, federated portfolios involving multiple platforms and vendors.
• Experience in public sector or higher education environments is preferred.
• Strong solution architecture capability across enterprise applications, integrations, data, identity, and digital platforms.
• Proven ability to make and defend architecture decisions with institutional level impact.
• Expertise in architecture governance, risk management, and stakeholder negotiation.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage executive, technical, and non‑technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Manages the overall design and development of end-to‑end solution architectures for the Student Ecosystem, spanning multiple systems, platforms, and vendors.
• Defines target state and transition architectures aligned with UBC’s enterprise roadmaps and student experience strategy.
• Establishes and enforces solution level architecture standards, principles, and design patterns for student facing and student supporting systems.
• Provides architectural review, endorsement, and direction for student related initiatives, including major programs and vendor solutions.
• Leads and participates in Architecture Review Board (ARB) and related governance forums.
• Resolves cross program and cross vendor architectural issues, tradeoffs, and risks.
• Ensures consistent integration patterns, data flows, and ‘system of record’ decisions across the student ecosystem.
• Works with Data and Integration Architecture teams to reduce data and system fragmentation, duplication, and technical debt.
• Ensures alignment with privacy, security, identity, and regulatory requirements.
• Acts as the architectural authority across multi-vendor student programs, reviewing solution designs, integration approaches, and roadmaps.
• Identifies architectural risks early and recommends mitigation strategies to delivery and executive leadership.
• Balances time to delivery with long term sustainability and enterprise value.
• Serves as a trusted architecture advisor to senior IT and business leaders on student systems strategy and investment decisions.
• Translates complex architectural concepts into clear guidance for executive, program, and delivery audiences.
• Ensures all projects adhere to technology architecture and development standards and establishes compliance processes to review in-progress activity.
• Defines the solution architecture guiding principles and determines which integration capabilities are to be implemented.
• Provides technical leadership and expertise on architecture planning, processes and standards, system development methodologies, key business initiatives / issues, IT implications for systems or technologies and their impact on business solutions.
• Maps and analyzes the business process to the supporting applications and services to understand the impact of the requirements (functional and non-functional).
• Collaborates with senior professionals to develop a Requirements Traceability Matrix to ensure end-to-end traceability of the solution to the requirements and reuse existing technologies and/or solution patterns where appropriate.
• Researches, develops and documents advanced and specialized UBC applications, industry best practices, Higher Education standards, architecture, and technologies
• Maintains appropriate professional designations and up-to-date knowledge of current information technology techniques.
• Performs other related duties as required.

What This Job Offers

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