JOB TITLE:                                      Solutions Architect

LOCATION:                                     Manchester

REPORTING TO:                               Solutions Architect Leader

DIRECT REPORTS:                            N/A

JOB PURPOSE:

As a leading supplier of systems integration to airports worldwide Ultra finds itself at the forefront of a drive for SOA solutions in international airports. Ultra’s ESB-based Airport Integration Broker sits at the heart of our integrated product suite. As a member of the Solutions Architect team you will provide technical expert support to business development teams, analyse and design solutions to meet customer requirements and provide direction and support to product development teams to deliver successful project solutions.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

With particular emphasis on SOA architecture and ESB technologies:

• Provide Subject Matter Expert vision and strategy to products, projects, senior management and business development teams;
• Own technical solution proposals in line with customer requirements, target price and direction of the company products;
• Lead the requirements analysis phase of a project and develop the system design to meet the requirements in line with technical assumptions and constraints applied at the bid stage;
• Work closely with the project manager and development team to ensure that the product and solution fulfills the requirements;
• Present technical solutions to customers, translating business requirements to system design and product development;
• Provide mentoring and guidance to engineers in the development and delivery teams;
• Understand internal and external customer needs, technology and market trends to ensure that the company’s solutions and reference architectures remain relevant and competitive;
• Share knowledge and experience with other members of the Solutions Architect team to develop a common understanding and approach to product direction and development;
• Provide expert support to the business development team positioning Ultra to win new business by understanding and presenting a marketing view of Ultra’s solutions;
• Work with all departments to assist in improvement of business processes and product development, recommending new systems or product upgrades;
• Attend training courses and conferences as necessary to maintain industry and technical awareness and self-development;
• At all times, professionally represent Ultra, the Company and its employees.

QUALIFICATIONS/KNOWLEDGE

Essential:

• Knowledge of technologies used to support Ultra’s products, including Messaging Middleware, ESB and SOA, Unix and Windows OS, Oracle RDBMS, Network Communication
• Knowledge and understanding of the software development lifecycle design and implementation
• Knowledge of and ability to employ MS office tools including Word, Visio, PowerPoint, Excel, Project

Desirable:

• Basic service qualification – e.g. ITIL Foundation.
• Basic project management methodology training – e.g. Prince II foundation.

SKILLS /EXPERIENCE

Essential:

• SOA Architecture experience functioning as a SOA Subject Matter Expert;
• Experience with architectural modeling: Systems and Application Architecture, Business Process Modeling, Service Orchestration, Workflow, UML, BPEL, etc;
• Strong knowledge of and experience with XML, XSLT, JMS and Web Services, J2EE design and development experience on enterprise systems;
• Experience working with High-Availability cluster solutions in real time operational environments;
• Strong communication, presentation and interpersonal skills with ability to negotiate with and influence a broad range of stakeholders at all levels;
• Ability to communicate technical information to a business user and translate business process requirements into technical solutions design;
• Ability to work with minimal direction, yet also able to work in a team environment.

Desirable:

• Practical experience with Progress Sonic ESB
• Airport industry knowledge and experience
• Proven experience in a Service / Account / Line Manager role
• Proven experience in an IT Operational role

PERSONAL STYLE AND BEHAVIOUR

Confronting Direct Reports - Deals with problem direct reports firmly and in a timely manner; doesn't allow problems to fester; regularly reviews performance and holds timely discussions; can make negative decisions when all other efforts fail; deals effectively with troublemakers.

Delegation - Clearly and comfortably delegates both routine and important tasks and decisions; broadly shares both responsibility and accountability; tends to trust people to perform; lets direct reports and others finish their own work.

Developing Direct Reports and Others - Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.

Informing - Provides the information people need to know to do their jobs and to feel good about being a member of the team, unit, and/or the organization; provides individuals information so that they can make accurate decisions; is timely with information.

Managing and Measuring Work - Clearly assigns responsibility for tasks and decisions; sets clear objectives and measures; monitors process, progress, and results; designs feedback loops into work.

Motivating Others - Creates a climate in which people want to do their best; can motivate many kinds of direct reports and team or project members; can assess each person's hot button and use it to get the best out of him/her; pushes tasks and decisions down; empowers others; invites input from each person and shares ownership and visibility; makes each individual feel his/her work is important; is someone people like working for and with.

Organizing - Can marshal resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done; can orchestrate multiple activities at once to accomplish a goal; uses resources effectively and efficiently; arranges information and files in a useful manner.

Planning - Accurately scopes out length and difficulty of tasks and projects; sets objectives and goals; breaks down work into the process steps; develops schedules and task/people assignments; anticipates and adjusts for problems and roadblocks; measures performance against goals; evaluates results.

Problem Solving - Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; is excellent at honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn't stop at the first answers.

Drive for Results - Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.