Staff Systems Architect (Netcracker)

GCI Communication Corp•Anchorage, AK

About The Position

GCI’s Staff Systems Architect (Netcracker) defines, designs, communicates, and evolves systems architecture for enterprise IT systems, integrations, and application environments. The role ensures solutions are scalable, secure, resilient, supportable, and aligned with business outcomes and enterprise technology strategy. It partners with business owners, product and delivery teams, engineering, security, infrastructure, operations, and architecture stakeholders to translate business capabilities, epics, features, non-functional requirements, and value stream objectives into architecture models, architectural runway, enabler work, system designs, integration approaches, technical roadmaps, and delivery guidance. The architect provides leadership from intake and discovery through PI planning, iterative delivery, release, system demonstration, operational readiness, and continuous improvement. The position manages performance, interoperability, compliance, risk, technical debt, and long-term sustainability while supporting measurable business value. It is described as an intermediate-level systems architecture role, working under moderate supervision with latitude for independent judgment and general guidance on complex systems analysis, architecture, integration, and design assignments. The Netcracker billing focus provides technical architecture leadership and hands-on expertise in the Netcracker billing platform and its integrations. Responsibilities include architecture and solution design, configuration, troubleshooting, and optimization of core billing functions and upstream/downstream integrations. The role leads technical design discussions, resolves complex system issues, validates architecture and integration requirements, and collaborates with engineering, operations, business stakeholders, and Netcracker technical teams. Its primary expertise is Netcracker core billing rather than Product Catalog or CRM functionality. Work is primarily sedentary and involves routine computer use in a standard office or home-office setting. The role may require shifts as assigned, occasional travel between locations, and additional work on weekends, holidays, or outside normal hours when necessary. GCI operates critical services in a 24/7 environment, and employees may be contacted outside core hours to respond to emergencies. Virtual workers must comply with remote-work policies and agreements.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Systems Analysis, Engineering, or a relevant field.
At least six years of experience in at least two disciplines in a telecommunications and/or IT environment; relevant work experience and/or education may substitute year-for-year toward the total years required.
Demonstrated hands-on Netcracker billing experience in configuration, solution design, troubleshooting, and integration.
Strong knowledge of core billing processes, including rating, invoicing, payments, collections, and mediation.
Ability to lead complex technical solutions while remaining actively involved in design validation and troubleshooting.
Primary expertise in Netcracker core billing rather than Product Catalog or CRM functionality.
Broad domain experience across multiple telecommunications disciplines, potentially including data or information architecture, software development, CI/CD and DevOps, automation and orchestration, telecommunications core and access technologies, virtualized and cloud compute platforms, integration, infrastructure and network architecture, and governance, security, and compliance.
Knowledge of solutions strategy and development, current architecture methodologies, systems technologies, and standards.
Ability to translate business capabilities and requirements into solution architecture.
Strong organizational, technical problem-solving, research, and decision-making skills; ability to quickly and thoroughly understand technologies.
Ability to produce timely, thorough architecture documentation and models and to estimate the financial impact of technical architecture alternatives using basic knowledge of financial models and budgeting.
Experience with architecture modeling techniques and tools; business process design and technology modeling tools and techniques are relevant.
Experience applying Lean/Agile frameworks and practices.
Exceptional interpersonal skills, including collaboration, facilitation, negotiation, and persuasion; ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to varied audiences, both virtually and in person.
Proficient computer skills and MS Office knowledge, including Outlook, Teams, Word, and Excel.
Ability to work collaboratively with business users, product management, technical teams, and diverse groups of people and customers.
Ability to work shifts as assigned, use standard office equipment, communicate information effectively, make valid judgments and decisions, and perform job duties safely and effectively.
May need access to reliable transportation for occasional travel between retail stores, offices, worksites, or other locations.
Must be available for additional time on weekends, holidays, or before or after normal work hours when necessary, and may be contacted outside core hours for emergencies.
Virtual workers must comply with remote-work policies and agreements.

Nice To Haves

CCAr, TOGAF, CEA, Certified SOA Architect, CITA, EACOE, Open CA, or FEAC certification.
Agile team leadership or project management experience.
Cloud certification in Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, or Oracle Cloud.
Telecommunications experience.
Other relevant telecommunications industry or job-specific certifications.
ServiceNow Certified Technical Architect (CTA) certification.
ArchiMate modeling language experience is highly desired.
Experience with business process design and technology modeling tools such as Archi or Signavio.

Responsibilities

Partner with business owners, product management, product owners, scrum teams, delivery leads, release train engineers, technical teams, solution architects, and enterprise architects to understand business outcomes, value stream needs, customer experience goals, ART objectives, and technology constraints.
Translate business capabilities, epics, features, and non-functional requirements into system intent, architectural guidance, enabler work, and technology recommendations that support iterative and incremental delivery.
Evaluate system options across applications, integrations, data, cloud, infrastructure, security, compliance, and operations, and recommend approaches that balance business value, cost, complexity, risk, technical debt, and sustainability.
Support SAFe and Agile planning events, including PI planning, backlog refinement, dependency identification, architecture reviews, system demos, inspect-and-adapt activities, and delivery alignment.
Facilitate architectural decisions by communicating tradeoffs, assumptions, constraints, risks, and implementation considerations in business and technical terms.
Maintain alignment among product roadmaps, value stream priorities, ART execution plans, architectural runway, compliance expectations, operational readiness, and continuous improvement objectives.
Create and maintain system architecture artifacts, including system solution context, capability maps, integration views, data flows, interface considerations, dependency maps, architecture decision records, and transition-state designs.
Define system guardrails, design constraints, acceptance considerations, enabler stories, and non-functional requirements for performance, resiliency, scalability, security, maintainability, observability, automation, and operational support.
Collaborate with engineering, application development, infrastructure, cloud, data, security, QA, and operations teams to ensure designs are executable, testable, deployable, supportable, and aligned to standards.
Identify cross-team and cross-ART dependencies, architectural risks, technical debt, sequencing considerations, and capacity impacts that may affect delivery, release readiness, customer experience, or operational stability.
Support Agile delivery teams during implementation by clarifying system intent, reviewing design decisions, resolving architecture-related impediments, enabling timely decisions, and ensuring architecture enablers are visible in team and program backlogs.
Contribute to release, deployment, DevOps, operational readiness, support model, KPI, system demo, and post-implementation review activities.
Apply IT standards, security requirements, compliance expectations, and technology governance processes in a pragmatic manner that supports Lean-Agile delivery and decentralized decision-making.
Contribute to reusable system solution patterns, reference architectures, decision frameworks, architecture repositories, templates, and practices that improve delivery consistency and architectural maturity.
Participate in architecture communities of practice, technical governance forums, and continuous improvement activities; stay current with relevant architecture and technology practices.
Provide technical architecture, solution design, and hands-on support for Netcracker billing functions, including rating, invoicing, payments, collections, and mediation.
Design, configure, troubleshoot, and optimize Netcracker billing solutions and upstream/downstream system integrations.
Lead technical design discussions, resolve complex system issues, and validate architecture and integration requirements.
Collaborate with engineering, operations, business stakeholders, and Netcracker technical teams to support implementation and system reliability.
Ensure Netcracker solutions align with enterprise architecture, security, and operational standards.
Contribute to documentation, templates, processes, and the model repository.
Follow workplace safety rules, security policies, internal controls, and GCI’s conduct and ethics requirements.