Senior Staff Architect (Rationalization & Standards)

GCI Communication Corp • Anchorage, AK

20d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role owns the application portfolio and the roadmap, technology standards, buy vs build, technical debt and vendor simplification. GCI's Senior Staff Architect will define, communicate, govern, and advance architecture direction in support of business outcomes, technology modernization, operational effectiveness, and long-term organizational objectives. These roles partner with business, product, engineering, delivery, operations, and leadership stakeholders to translate organizational needs into sustainable solutions, standards, roadmaps, and technology capabilities. The job family provides architectural leadership across products, platforms, systems, services, and business capabilities by developing guidance, patterns, target-state designs, and roadmaps that reduce complexity, manage risk, improve agility, and optimize technology investments. Roles apply common architecture principles, governance practices, and industry standards across one or more architecture practice areas, with scope, autonomy, and decision influence increasing by career level.

Requirements

• A combination of education and relevant work experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the position may substitute to meet the total years required on a year-for-year basis.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, Data Management, Cybersecurity, or related discipline.
• Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience, including experience in at least two relevant architecture/technology disciplines.
• Cross-Domain scope.
• Strategy as a primary differentiator.
• Leads complex modernization, transformation, and cross-domain architecture efforts.
• Defines future-state architecture and roadmaps and resolves significant organizational, technical, and operational challenges.
• Demonstrated proficiency appropriate to level in: Architecture modeling and documentation; business and technology alignment; systems design and integration; strategy and roadmap development; governance and standards management; relevant cloud, application, integration, infrastructure, security, or data technologies; technology lifecycle planning; and risk and dependency management.

Nice To Haves

• 8 to 10 years of experience
• Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant field.
• Project management experience.
• Telecommunications experience.
• Relevant telecom industry or job-specific certifications.
• TOGAF, FEAC, Open CA, CITA, SABSA, CCAr, cloud certifications (AWS, Azure, GCP), security certifications (CISSP, CISM), Agile / SAFe certifications, or practice-specific certifications, as applicable.

Responsibilities

• Assess business objectives, customer needs, operational priorities, current-state capabilities, technologies, processes, operating models, risks, dependencies, architecture gaps, technical debt, lifecycle risks, and modernization opportunities.
• Develop target-state architectures, transition states, and roadmaps that guide technology investment, solution design, and implementation planning.
• Create architecture artifacts, models, standards, patterns, reference designs, principles, non-functional requirements, and design guardrails; evaluate alternatives and recommend fit-for-purpose solutions.
• Participate in architecture reviews and governance forums, applying architecture standards, policies, principles, and industry practices.
• Manage architecture risks, dependencies, technical debt, lifecycle considerations, exceptions, reusable assets, repositories, and technology rationalization efforts.
• Partner with product, delivery, engineering, and operations teams to provide architecture guidance through planning, design, delivery, and operationalization.
• Support road mapping, dependency management, implementation sequencing, decision facilitation, trade-off discussions, and alignment to intended architecture outcomes.
• Improve architecture methods, tools, standards, governance practices, operating models, reusable patterns, communities of practice, mentoring, knowledge sharing, innovation, and simplification.
• Defines enterprise-wide business and technology direction, target-state architecture, capability alignment, governance standards, portfolio strategy, and technology roadmaps.
• Provides strategic guidance to align investments, modernization, and architecture decisions with long-term organizational objectives.
• Defines solution direction, design, standards, and roadmaps for business initiatives and technology solutions.
• Provides guidance to align business needs with scalable, secure, supportable solutions while balancing value, cost, risk, complexity, and long-term sustainability.
• Defines architecture direction, standards, governance, configuration, integration, and roadmaps for strategic enterprise platforms.
• Provides guidance to maximize platform value, promote reuse, minimize customization and technical debt, and support sustainable platform evolution.
• Analyze and define current and future architectural requirements aligned with organizational goals.
• Lead or materially contribute to architecture initiatives supporting growth, scalability, performance, and innovation.
• Support product and service development by integrating architectural standards and best practices.
• Serve as a consulting architect on complex initiatives and provide technical guidance.
• Develop architecture artifacts, roadmaps, recommendations, and governance inputs.

Benefits

• GCI is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, family medical history, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

What This Job Offers

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