Description :
Job Title: Principal Architect
Job Category: IT Operations
Product: (Not Product Specific)
Date Posted: 08/17/2008
Job Code: 240532
Location: WA - Redmond
Travel Required: 1-10%
This Job is eligible for the following work arrangements :Flex Time
Do you want to work on solutions involving Microsoft's hardware and entertainment business on products like Xbox 360, Zune, Roundtable, and Surface? Do you love designing solutions and want to impact manufacturing, supply chain, and entertainment solutions? How about being part of the growing software architecture profession and becoming a catalyst to drive solutions that matter? Join Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Systems division as a Solution Architect! This team provides great exposure to the entire breadth of enterprise solutions in a dynamic environment offering senior leadership opportunities and business engagement as well as deep involvement in new technology planning, design, and implementation.
The primary job responsibility of the Entertainment and Devices Solution Architect will be defining and driving the Future State Architecture of our applications that support our business capabilities. This will include immersion into the latest Microsoft products and technologies, working with other architecture roles and project teams implementing new business capabilities, solving complex technical issues, establishing patterns and practices, and setting standards and guidance for using the Future State Architecture services that you will define and design. Our architecture will support solutions ranging from Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Finance and Sales and Marketing groups, and our online businesses (Xbox Live, Games Certification) within the E&D Division. The Solution Architecture's team's primary goal will be to deliver enhanced capabilities through Service Oriented Architecture and unified platforms, applications, services, and technology.
The Supply Chain Management Solution Architect will recommend, architect and establish services and technical system integrations between SAP supply chain tools for forecasting, planning, procurement, purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, distribution, and inventory management. These systems are integrated closely with: PLM tools, supplier relationship management applications (SRM), and a significant number of vendor applications.
Core Job Responsibilities:
* Partner with Business Architects to understand and design business and solution capabilities to meet business needs and translate Business Architectures into a cohesive solution within a specific business domain (PLM, SCM, ERP, CRM, etc.)
* Deliver solutions that improve business capabilities through service-based design and delivery (Service Oriented Architecture)
* Collaborate with Technical Architects to mesh the solution into a broader framework and determine technical architecture partitioning, linkages and data structures that effectively integrate into the future state E&D technical system architecture
* Determine legacy systems, processes and solutions and provide for replacement strategies
* Join with Technical Architects to develop detailed technical system implementation structures including database architecture, data, metadata and schema models and structures, workflow implementations and business intelligence solutions.
* Define comprehensive solutions for thin and thick clients that deliver unified/integrated user environments within the Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Interactive Entertainment Businesses (engineering, sourcing, planning, manufacturing, logistics, repair, games certification, etc.).
* Identify, influence and manage technical system roadmaps for vendor applications and drive adoption of future Microsoft technology
* Drive and deliver the Future State Architecture for the Microsoft E&D Core Businesses and Platforms.
* Support Technology Architects through input into and driving use of core platforms
* Create linkages between E&D and MSIT Enterprise Architecture and Development Delivery (COEs).
* Build relationships with key Microsoft product groups
* Recommend how specific technologies, standards, methods and techniques are to be used throughout the E&D solutions delivery community.
* Designs and facilitates larger research and proof of concept projects as an individual contributor and in collaboration with Technical Architecture
* Makes architectural presentations and submits written reports for publication to internal and external stakeholders.
* Understand, advocate usage of, and ensure alignment (governance) to Enterprise-wide and Application Architecture principles, standards, and best practices within investment decision-making and project processes
* Understand and articulate business strategies and challenges and based on that understanding, drive modeling of high-level EA application designs that will meet requirements of business strategies & processes
* Analyze existing project-level application architectures, detect critical deficiencies, and recommend solutions for improvement compliant with future state EA application architecture (retirement, consolidation, gaps)
* Knowledge and experience with application frameworks and associated data structures
* Provide coaching and mentoring to less experienced team members
Experience and Qualifications
Required:
8+ years industry experience in at least 2 IT disciplines in a client/server environment (e.g. - technical architecture, network management, application development, database management, operations)
Proven understanding and cross-functional experience or collaboration with all architecture functions: business, information, application (solution), and technology
Knowledge and experience in IT processes necessary for analyzing, designing, and developing highly complex IT solutions. Experience with an established modeling toolset or framework preferred.
Demonstrated knowledge in one or more of Microsoft's core or enabling business processes and related capabilities, as well as the value of them to Microsoft
Exceptional communication skills - written, verbal, listening
Exceptional interpersonal skills, including teamwork, facilitation, and negotiation
Proven ability to mentor and transfer knowledge to other team members
Ability to work with customers to understand business strategies & requirements, and translate into IT solution architectures that meet business needs
Expertise and knowledge in current Software Development Life Cycle methodologies
Extensive experience implementing 3rd Party Packages including fit/gap analysis (e.g. - SAP, Siebel)
Knowledge of business re-engineering principles and processes
Strong conceptualization, analytical, and logic skills enabling comprehension and development of complex technical and business issues, topics, and plans
Proven ability to interpret and develop highly complex technical specifications, diagrams and database schemas
Demonstrated ability to design solution that are scalable, usable and have acceptable performance
Extensive experience designing and developing n-tier and service based solutions
Proven skills and knowledge in OS, platform and emerging technologies; latent, current and emerging programming languages and protocols; server technologies
Strong leadership skills
Ability to develop a plan for long term application and business solutions
Education:
BA/BS degree in Computer Science, MIS or related field is or equivalent experience is required.
