IT Solutions Architect II

A Boar's Head Systems Analyst (SA) is a key analytical resource in the Enterprise Applications Team. They play a crucial role in ensuring that an organization's enterprise applications meet the business's needs., * Business Needs and Objectives: Must understand the business needs and objectives and determine how IT can support those needs leveraging software, hardware, or infrastructure.

• Coordinating with Stakeholders: Must involve both technical and non-technical stakeholders, and make sure that each party's needs are considered and factored into the project's scope.
• Systems Analysis and Improvement: Must analyze existing systems and recommend improvements as needed to support Business and IT strategic initiatives and direction.
• Application Tools and Frameworks Analysis: Must evaluate and select suitable tools and frameworks to support Business and IT strategic initiatives and direction.
• Project Estimation: Provide estimates of technical level of effort, assist with total cost of ownership and project goals, objectives, and outcomes.
• Proof-of-Concept Development: Must develop proof-of-concept projects to validate the proposed solutions.
• Architecture and Solutions Approval: Must review and validate solutions designs from other team members.
• Implementation and Integration Solution Delivery: Must oversee all aspects of the design, implementation and integration of solutions.
• Technological Scalability and Security Compliance: Must ensure technological scalability and compliance with security standards.
• Process Monitoring: After the stakeholders and IT Leadership have approved a project, the solutions architect is responsible for monitoring the process and keep IT Leadership Team updated and informed on the progress.
• Technical Documentation and Architectural Diagrams: Must create technical documentation and architectural diagrams.

Specific Duties

• Strategic Roadmap: Assists in designing and documenting a 3-5 year strategic roadmap for business verticals to achieve long-term goals.
• Resident Expert: Develops and maintains a comprehensive understanding of business operations across the enterprise including Manufacturing, Distribution, Finance, Planning, Sales, and Marketing organizations and identifies efficiency opportunities through automation; and effectively utilizes existing and new systems, tools, and applications.
• Data Streaming Lead: Leads all aspects of development and maintenance of data pipelines using Boar's Head streaming technologies (Kafka, Flink, and Clickhouse).
• Data Quality/Data Observability Lead: Oversees organizational Data Quality (i.e. how well data sets meet criteria for accuracy, completeness, and timeliness).
• Data Fixing: Ensures proper monitoring of data across various processes and pipelines within the organization and assists in fixing data when required.
• Technical Solutions: As part of the Enterprise Applications Team, assists IT Leadership in conducting decision support analysis and identifying potential technical solutions.
• Collaboration: Collaborates with Technical Delivery Managers, Infrastructure Team, Development and QA teams along with cross-functional business teams to develop state-of-the-art solutions to solve business challenges and requirements. Identifies and documents data needs, data analytics objectives, "As Is" and "To Be" operational reporting issues.
• Integration: In scenarios where a tool will be built involving Integrations with existing or new Enterprise Applications, collaborates with Project Management, Infrastructure leads, and Technical Delivery Managers to define resource requirements for implementation and future scalability of IT solutions.
• Gap Analysis: Leads Gap-Fit Analysis to evaluate states, identify gaps, and provide recommendations for achieving the desired future state.
• Vendor Selection: Oversees efforts in identifying and vetting technology partners and provides expertise in contract reviews and negotiations.
• Continuous Improvement: Reengineers core business processes for standardization and optimal effectiveness while fostering an understanding of software functions, user interactions, limitations, usage scenarios, error handling, and expected success measures (targets, metrics for continuous improvement).
• Documentation: Outlines the current state and designs future state process diagrams using Visio or other advanced modeling tools, and provides technical process documentation and data flows, including system/application dependencies across auxiliary systems.
• All Other: Other duties and responsibilities may be added at the manager's discretion., * Technical Requirements: Provides expertise and guidance to the definition of technical requirements for assigned projects and approves level of effort estimates.
• PM Assistance: Assists the Project Manager with schedules, resources, and scope; defines change requests for missed technical requirements and/or scope change or other constraints (schedule, resources, and scope/quality).
• Agile Tools: Experience with Atlassian project management tools (JIRA, Confluence) is required

This role involves understanding business processes, needs, and challenges and defining technology solutions to address them. This includes gathering requirements, designing and documenting functional processes, testing, and troubleshooting. An SA must be technically savvy while also able to communicate and collaborate effectively with Team members, IT Leadership, and Stakeholders., * Education: Bachelor's degree in a tech-related field such as computer science or software engineering or a related field.

• Experience: At least 6 years' experience in a role equivalent to Solutions Architect or Data Engineer.
• Data Science: Familiarity with data streaming (Kafka, Flink or equivalent, Clickhouse or equivalent), wrangling, modeling, and analytics.
• Data Quality/Data Observability: Experience in data quality, data observability, data governance, data integrity, data analytics and validation.
• Topology: Conceptual understanding in technical topology, overarching technical footprints.
• Cyber Security: Basic understanding of Cyber Security concepts and Oracle EBS.
• Reporting: Tableau or similar analytics tool knowledge is beneficial.
• Microsoft Proficiency: Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Visio, and SmartDraw is advantageous., * Adaptability & Communication: Demonstrates ability to adjust to various situations and environments, and effectively convey and receive information.
• Critical Thinking & Leadership: Demonstrates ability to analyze and evaluate issues to form sound judgments, and guide, inspire, and organize individuals towards a common goal.
• Problem Solving, Professionalism, Teamwork & Time Management: Demonstrates the ability to identify, analyze, and find solutions to problems, maintain a professional demeanor and ethics, work collaboratively with others, and effectively manage one's time and priorities.

• This is primarily a first shift position but adjustments to shift start/end times may be required depending on future production support schedules.
• Availability of on-call during non-business hours is required.
• After-hours and weekend work is intermittently required for system troubleshooting, maintenance, and upgrades.