Baker McKenzie - Application Architect

The Senior Enterprise Applications Architect at Baker McKenzie is responsible for designing, overseeing, and evolving the firm’s global application landscape. This role ensures that all applications, whether custom developed or commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), are robust, scalable, secure, performant, and seamlessly integrated to support the firm’s strategic imperatives, particularly delivering excellence in complex, cross-border, high-value work and amplify data. This architect provides technical and thought leadership to development teams within the Technology Enablement group within Baker McKenzie and guides the selection and integration of third-party solutions., * Define and maintain the firm’s global application strategy and roadmap, ensuring alignment with business capabilities and enterprise architecture principles.

• Lead and supervise the architectural design of complex application solutions, including custom development projects, proof of concepts and integration patterns for COTS products and innovation initiatives.
• Help evaluate, recommend, and select appropriate application technologies, frameworks, and platforms (e.g., cloud-native services, microservices, APIs) that meet performance, scalability, and security requirements.
• Establish and provide architecture guidance for robust and scalable integration solutions between diverse applications and systems across the global enterprise.
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, and mentorship to development teams within Custom Development (System Engineering), Data Operations, Innovation and Integration teams.
• Ensure application architectures and designs are optimized for performance, scalability, and reliability in a global, 24/7 operational environment.
• Ensure security best practices is embedded into all phases of the application development lifecycle.
• Collaborate with vendors for COTS solutions, ensuring their products integrate effectively into Baker McKenzie’s architectural landscape.
• Work with the Innovation Group to evaluate and prototype new application technologies and patterns.

Must Have

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.
• 20+ years of experience in software development and application architecture, with at least 10 years in a senior architect role within a large, complex enterprise.
• Extensive experience with modern application architectures (e.g., microservices, event-driven, serverless) and cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP).
• Proficiency in multiple programming languages (e.g., C#, Java, Python, JavaScript) and associated frameworks.
• Strong understanding of API design, integration patterns, and data exchange formats (REST, SOAP, JSON, XML).
• Understanding of architectural frameworks and languages (TOGAF, SparX, Archimate).
• Experience with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing.
• Experience in the legal or professional services industry is highly desirable.
• Experience working in a global organization with diverse, distributed teams.
• Deep technical expertise in software design, development, and integration.
• TOGAF Certification.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with an ability to think strategically about application ecosystems.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Leadership and mentoring abilities, fostering a collaborative and high-performing team environment.
• Negotiation, mediation and diplomatic skills in dealing with complex, multi-dimensional stakeholder groups.
• Ability to balance technical excellence with business pragmatism.
• Proactive in identifying and addressing technical debt and architectural risks.

Established in 2004, ALLSTARSIT was founded with a clear vision: to enhance the landscape of global IT employment by bridging the gap between companies and skilled professionals. The core belief was that assembling a team shouldn’t be hindered by geographical constraints. Fast forward to the present day, ALLSTARSIT stands as an international outstaffing service provider committed to change the way businesses recruit, compensate, and oversee top talent worldwide.

With operational hubs scattered across Europe, Asia, and LATAM, and its headquarters situated in San Francisco, US, the company boasts a workforce of over 1,000 adept professionals. Spanning across more than 20 countries, ALLSTARSIT offers a diverse range of skilled employees across various verticals, including AI, cybersecurity, healthcare, fintech, telecom, media, and so on.