Applications Architect

Two Primary Skills SoughtMost be able to demonstrate expertise in design Concepts and patterns such as – SOA, MDM, MOM, EAI, BPM, BRE, ECMTechnologies (design experience in some of these) – Java, AIX, p-Series, iSeries, zSeries, Wintel, Websphere, Siebel, SeeBeyond, Pega,

 Duties and Responsibilities

 Responsible for research and strategy development for application architecture, driving the direction of application development around SOA and Integration Patterns.Drive both service oriented architecture and integration strategy as it applies to the design, deployment, maintenance, enhancement, communication and governance of application architecture.Work closely with the business, IS personnel and other architectural areas to provide research and development around application trends (i.e. Service Oriented Architecture), integration patterns (i.e. MOM, EJBs), vendor direction (i.e. IBM WBI) and development methodologies.Participate in a cross-functional IT Architecture group that reviews designs from an enterprise perspective.  Participate in the design review process and support the overall Enterprise Architecture Management process. Research and stay abreast of application and technology trends.Provide input into IS systems strategies.Support and assist project Application Architects in their design role on a given full SDLC project, developing and maintaining application architecture throughout the project.Research and develop application, integration, workflow and web service standards

 Accountable for key design decisions including:Selection of structural elements and their interfaces, by which a system is composedBehavior as specified in collaborations amount those elementsComposition of these structural and behavioral elements into larger subsystemsArchitectural system that guides this organizationInvolved in supporting pre-delivery efforts in terms of working with the user team during meetings/presentations, crafting solutions, assisting with time estimates, and documenting designs.

· Provide technical expertise/coaching for others (i.e. EAI, J2EE); develop and provide direction on application design patterns around services and interfaces; and monitor application architecture related to other areas of IS, the business community, and outside vendors to ensure the relevance of architecture to meet business needs.

 

 Hiring Requirements/Qualifications

 

Education/Experience

· BS or MS Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, MIS or related fields required (or MBA with strong systems implementation experience acceptable).

· Cumulative ten years of Application Architecture, Technical Architect, Lead Designer, Business or Systems Analysis, Application Development or Project Management experience required within a business application or consulting environment (i.e. working on projects for external clients).

· Experience with object-oriented system architectures utilizing use cases, Unified Modeling Language (UML), Visio and the Rational Unified Process (RUP) or similar methodology is preferred.

· Experience in application design principles, practices, system development methodologies, and software life cycles with experience in a combination of system and application architectures is required.

· Three to five years of application development experience delivering quality scalable software on time, on budget, and in compliance with customer requirements.

· Experience with clients to document requirements by conducting interviews and facilitating JAD sessions.

· Excellent interpersonal, oral/written communication and organizational skills.

Req’d Professional Certifications

Not required, but preferred.  Some level of architecture certification and/or certifications in technologies/concepts listed above under “Primary Skills Sought”

Leadership Experience

Thought leadership and technical leadership to drive and influence architecture recommendations and direction, is required.  Management experience is good, but not a requirement for this position

 

 Hiring Preferences

 

Additional Education/Experience Preferences

Preferred, but not required: Knowledge and understanding of:

· Regulatory and legislative impact on health plans

· Health insurance and plan administration

· Experience mentoring development team members

· Strong visual modeling skills using UML

· Knowledge in SOA, SoDA, OOA/OOD

· Broad knowledge of mainframe, AS400, middleware and client-server technologies, as well as specific knowledge of Java and Microsoft technologies, is desirable

Abilities/Soft Skills

· Excellent interpersonal, oral/written communication and organizational skills.

· Must be able to lead collaborative efforts to conclusion and recommendation

Preferred Professional Certifications

Not required, but preferred.  Some level of architecture certification and/or certifications in technologies/concepts listed above under “Primary Skills Sought”