Solution Architect, Loyalty

Circle K Stores • San Antonio, NC

19d

About The Position

The Solution Architect, Loyalty proactively and holistically leads and supports architecture activities that guide the development and management of a portfolio of solutions within Enterprise Architecture. The portfolio may include loyalty engines, offer management systems, discount engines, promotional tools, communication platforms, content management and digital asset management systems, mobile apps, websites, personalization and recommendation engines, customer and master data platforms, in-store digital screens, ERP, HRMS, and POS. The architect provides leadership, analysis, and design to develop technology solutions that meet business needs and align with architectural governance and standards.

The role translates customer journeys and business requirements into technical requirements, capability and value-stream maps, architectural blueprints, and technology enablers. It assesses the solution portfolio and technology landscape, guides architecture across applications and projects, develops roadmaps from current to future state, and provides enterprise-wide guidance on standards, patterns, governance, and compliance. The architect works with business and technology leaders, product owners and managers, project and product managers, agile teams, application architects, developers, and other technical resources.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, engineering, system analysis, or a related study, or equivalent experience.
• At least five years of experience in at least two IT solution development disciplines, including solution, application, technical, or infrastructure architecture; network management; application development; middleware; database management; or cloud development.
• Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies, platforms, and processing environments.
• 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, with the ability to advise agile teams on opportunities, impact, and risks while accounting for technical and architectural debt.
• Experience implementing an enterprise loyalty platform.
• Experience developing architecture blueprints, strategies, and roadmaps.
• Experience delivering presentations to senior-level executives and technical audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work with developers in an outsourced environment.
• Ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in a relevant industry is helpful, but not required.

Responsibilities

• Translate customer journeys and business requirements into technical requirements, business capability maps, value-stream maps, architectural blueprints, and technology enablers; document solution architecture design and analysis.
• Work with product owners and product managers to maintain an architectural runway that supports future business requirements throughout the product lifecycle.
• Understand business drivers and current and future business capabilities, and determine solution designs and change requirements that support targeted business outcomes.
• Monitor the current solution portfolio for technology aging, deficiencies, and misalignment with business requirements.
• Support product managers with end-of-life decisions to maintain, refresh, or retire services and systems, including applications, technologies, processes, and information.
• Assess emerging technology trends, industry and competitor activity, and market trends for their potential implications and practical application to solutions and business models.
• Analyze the business-IT environment to identify critical deficiencies, legacy systems, and technical debt, and recommend improvements.
• Facilitate evaluation and selection of software product standards and services, and design standard and custom software configurations.
• Consult with application and infrastructure development projects and products to align systems and infrastructure with architecture, identifying when designs need modification.
• Lead evaluation, design, maintenance, and evolution of solution architecture across a group of business applications or technologies, aligned with business strategy, capabilities, value streams, requirements, and enterprise standards.
• Manage and develop architecture across a broader scope of projects or products, guiding application architects and other technical resources.
• Develop roadmaps for evolving the enterprise solution portfolio from its current to future state.
• Advise on a broad range of technologies, platforms, and vendor offerings to drive business outcomes.
• Create architectural designs that guide and contextualize solution development across products, services, projects, and systems.
• Work with business and technology leaders and project and product managers to ensure execution aligns with plans and commitments throughout the project or product lifecycle.
• Provide consulting support to application architects in agile teams to align projects and products with enterprise architecture.
• Provide standard definitions, reference models, and architecture designs to support governance and assess the business and IT impact of technology investments.
• Support a community of practice, guiding agile teams and product owners in alignment with enterprise architecture governance and assurance.
• Design and direct governance activities that ensure solution architecture assurance and compliance.
• Define principles, guidelines, standards, and solution patterns that align solution decisions with the enterprise’s future-state architecture vision.

Benefits

• Competitive salary plus annual bonus payment.
• Complete benefits packages, including medical, dental, 401(k), and employee stock plan.
• People Perks discounts on food and fuel.
• Tuition reimbursement of $5,000 per year.
• Learning opportunities to develop new skills and evolve professionally.

What This Job Offers

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