A national FMCG company located in Cape Town, has an opportunity for a top performing SOLUTION ARCHITECT to join their information technology team.

For the pharmaceutical wholesale, distribution and retail business domain to understand business requirements, to create data, application and technology architectures and designs, and to lead the realization and implementation of the design into the final solution.


QUALIFICATIONS Degree in Information Systems / B Sc Computer Science (or similar)

EXPERIENCE 7-10 yrs Working experience within the IT industry.
3+ yrs Pharmaceutical wholesale, distribution and Pharmacy retail subject matter expertise – not simply from an IT perspective, but from a detailed business knowledge of the Pharmaceutical wholesale, distribution and Pharmacy retail business domain.
5+ yrs Experience with all aspects of IT projects from business analysis, architectures, system analysis and design through development, testing, implementation, and production support (SDLC).
5+ yrs Excellent design and architecture skills and proven track record delivering well designed complex enterprise class systems.
3+ yrs Excellent technical development and be able to mentor others to improve their design and development skills.
5+ yrs Identification and formulation of solution architecture and solution alternatives and their assessment.
5+ yrs Demonstrated expertise in a variety of application development methodologies and practices.
2-3 yrs Lead a team through an architectural development process and collaborate with application development teams, architects and other members of the software development team.
2-3 yrs Experience with current research and standards in Solution Architecture.


KNOWLEDGE Architecture and solution design (UML, OO, SOA, etc.)
Software development frameworks and methodologies (RUP, Agile, Scrum, TOGAF, etc.)
Solid track record in successful delivery in the solution architecture discipline
Strong analytical, problem-solving and logical skills
Excellent team-working, inter-personal skills
Develop of proposals and excellent written communication & presentation skills
Strong analytical, problem solving and logical skills
Excellent team-working, inter-personal skills
Develop of proposals and excellent written communication and presentation skills
Excellent organisation and facilitation skills
Strong conflict management skills

SKILLS Architecture and solution design (UML, OO, SOA, etc.)
Software development frameworks and methodologies (RUP, Agile, Scrum, TOGAF, etc.)
Solid track record in successful delivery in the solution architecture discipline
Strong analytical, problem-solving and logical skills
Excellent team-working, inter-personal skills
Develop of proposals and excellent written communication & presentation skills
Excellent organisation and facilitation skills
Strong conflict management skills
Certified in SAP HR

JOB OBJECTIVES

Understand current business trends in pharmacy retailing and the wholesale and distribution of pharmaceutical products.

Understand current trends in Information Technology and emerging technologies that can be leveraged in the Pharmaceutical IT landscape.

Identify suitable solution(s) to address the business requirements of key stakeholders and engage with stakeholders to obtain agreement on solutions identified.

Create business, data, application, and technology architectures and conceptual, logical and physical solution designs, using appropriate modeling techniques and methodologies.

Update and maintain enterprise architecture repository.

Provide architecture leadership and oversight to projects and ensure that the solution implementation remains aligned to the overall solution architecture:

Be clearly identified and recognized as the main solution architect and Technical lead on assigned projects - provide technical direction and mentoring for all project resources.

Provide technical direction, architectural oversight and mentoring to the relevant SDLC stakeholders that results in the delivery of high-quality technical solutions.

Collaborate with external technology and service providers to drive the successful implementation of pharmaceutical solutions.

Evaluate solution architecture, designs and specification deliverables throughout the system lifecycle for compliance to architecture principles and standards.

Detect critical deficiencies in the current solution architecture and recommend and drive the implementation of the identified improvements.

Ensure solution architecture and design quality, participate in architecture assurance reviews and improve the overall solution architecture capability:

Develop and maintain solution architecture principles and quality compliance criteria to guide technology decisions.

Ensure solution quality and robustness by participating in architecture reviews of proposed solution architectures.

Contribute to the development of the Solution Architecture Framework (policies, processes, review gates, tools, and modeling standards) that guide and govern the Solution Architecture capability.

Identify and analyze solution architecture best practices and emerging technologies, determine their potential impact on the enterprise, and drive adoption where appropriate.

Contribute to the definition of metrics to measure and report on the performance of the solution architecture capability.