Technical Architect - Skills & Responsibility
Post date: May 4, 2012 7:26:36 PM
Definitions:
You will find definition of Technical Architecture but finding definition of Technical Architect is difficult. To my surprise when I searched wikipedia for term "Technical Architect", I didn't fine any page. Reason of I being surprised was lots of jobs titles Technical Architect but no page on wiki. The reason may be stadardisation of term architecture but non standard architect roles. Best definition you can find is somewhere in the job postings. An architect (solution architect or technical architect or else) is supposed to work on or create various architecture views. There may be one architect role but he may beresponsible for Technology Architecture, Business Architecture, Application Architecture and Data Architecture. After googling a lot I found few definitions:-
A Technical Architect works with the overall behaviour of the infrastructure of various different things, such as the technical environment, the software environment, as well as the networking environment that connects a company's various infrastructures. [Source:- http://www.discoverit.org/technical_architect.aspx]
In industry I have seen trend of giving title of Technical Architect to senior engineers. Earlier team leads or technical leads who used to take up design, modeling, coaching team, discussing technical topics, issues with client and third parties and who used to have better technical skills as compared to other team members were considered as technical leads earlier and now (if I look at majority of job postings) similar role is called Technical Architect.
Common skills:
Ability to create technical specifications from requirements.
Ability to design (high level and low level design (for an example for software role TA should be able to create class diagrams, sequence diagrams etc using UML).
Troubleshooting capabilities- Should be able to resolve programing issue team member/members are facing.
Expert in technology areas which are new or team is not so expert in that. For an example when Struts came in the market average team members were hardly aware of it but TA were supposed to know it and they were supposed to coach team in how to configure Struts.
Specifc technical skills requirements examples may be: Java, J2EE, OOAD, UML, Hibernate, Liferay Portal, Business Objects, Design Patterns, strong database skills etc.
Toubleshooting performance issues, product configuration issues etc.
Obviously soft skill are defacto - communication skills, presentation skills, interpersonal skills,
Supposed to have a degree (engineering prefered but I have seen many architctshaving BA, BCom and other degrees as well so don't worry if you don't have a BE, B. Tech Degree)
Experience level goes up to 10 years and may be 11-12 also but role is of a senior engineer so coding is a must in most of the cases. If you don't know coding this is not the place for you (for most of the cases).
Note: You may not be doing coding all the time but you may have to do it. You must have to see it and resolve the issue in code for your team. Other Architect Roles (like Solution Architect, Enterprise Architect etc most of the time can not write a code to draw a circle. If you don't believe me test their coding expertise.)
Common Responsibilities:
Create design from requirements.
Troubshoot technical issues.
Guide other team members on how to use best practices.
Reviews of technical work done by team.
Research/learning new technology and trend (expectation but no time from your company or manager for you to invest in learning. Learn on your own at your own time don't waste companies time)
Attend meeting when a delegation (technical) arives in your company.
Create some technical presentations some times. Create questions or answers for your manager or sales team on technical issues, chalenges.
Technical Architect - Skills and responsibilities as in job postings:
Title: Technical Architect - Java, J2EE, OO, MySQL, Hibernate
Skills:
Java, J2EE, OO, MySQL and Hibernate
Specifications and design
Video coding and encoding tools
Responsibilities:
As a Technical Architect, you will be responsible for designing, specifying and overseeing the implementation of solutions for clients using our client's media asset management and distribution platform.
Designing elegant, efficient and robust solutions, you will liaise with clients and their stakeholders, gather requirements and explain these to both clients and internal teams.
Joining the Professional Services Team, you will convert client requirements into technical solutions and take into account the technical, business and financial benefits of the design approaches you choose to take.
Your other duties will include:
Presenting solutions to clients and undertake wider client consulting
Specifying infrastructural designs including networking, storage and encoding systems
Specifying and communicating requirements to the Onshore and Offshore Teams
Delivering an integrated approach across projects
Title: Senior Technical Architect
Skills:
Excellent communication, organization, and project management skills.
Extensive proven experience in specifying, developing and deploying architectures and infrastructure for software applications in a new media multi-tiered application environment
Experience in defining and developing high-volume, horizontally scalable architectures.
Experience in defining, developing, or integrating search systems, leveraging very large data sets, and a thorough understanding of search technologies
Experience in working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams with a focus on delivery.
Broad knowledge of existing and emerging technologies and their potential to enhance the performance and robustness of a technical architecture.
Ability to think strategically and evaluate options in the short, medium and long term.
Translate business and feature requirements into technical specifications
Experience in communicating complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
Experience evaluating new technologies for their appropriateness to proposed solutions, including assessing their strategic and/or tactical benefit to the product or wider department
A background in software engineering, database design, or software design and architecture.
Demonstrable experience developing software in a SOA paradigm
In-depth knowledge of large scale database design and optimization
A solid understanding of how to work with different text encodings
Experience working with structured data formats (e.g. RDF, ATOM, XML)
Experience leading a technical or multi-disciplinary team
A knowledge of company products, output, or infrastructure would be an advantage
Responsibilities:
The technical architect must ensure that the product and relevant technology enablers meet both functional and non-functional requirements, and ensure that a product is of a high quality from a technology point of view.
Define the technical strategy for a product area, and to ensure that this fits with the wider company strategies.
Provide architectural and big picture oversight for development of new or enhanced products. Work with various product developers, product managers, and customer application experts to create software products containing required features and modifications.
Provide technical advice to other departments within the organization, and may be responsible for integrating components built by product developers.
Title: Senior Technical Architect- Java, Struts, Hibernate, Linux
Experience: 3+ years in the same/similar role
Skills:
Advanced level Java, Struts, Hibernate
Advanced level Linux
Strong database skills
Very good understanding of design patterns
Backend Experience required
PostgreSQL and JASPER a bonus
Responsibilities
As a Senior Technical Architect you will be responsible for defining and implementing the detailed technical design of our core product.
You will conceive and execute the technical design of the core product. It is expected that you will "own" a portion of the core product of the company on a day to day basis.
Technical Design: develop from requirements in a form consumable by third party developers
Plan Development: formulate development plans with a mix of offshore and onshore resources
Product Development: oversee and participate in development of the product, leading the effort on a day to day basis
Title: Technical Architect
Desired skills:
8+ years experience in developing technology solutions
5+ years experience in managing external client projects in positions of increasing responsibility in the delivery of business consulting, systems development, and systems.
Proven ability to design and optimize business processes and to integrate business processes across disparate systems
Experience with Enterprise Integration tools.
Extensive experience with Extract, transformation and load tools
Demonstrated deployments of enterprise software systems using industry standard environments including XML, Java, C++, and/or .Net
Experience developing custom end user systems
Experience overseeing team members
A thorough understanding of XML, SQL, and enterprise application integration
Excellent analysis skills and the ability to develop processes and methodologies
Detail-oriented individual with the ability to rapidly learn and take advantage of new concepts, business models, and technologies
Preferred Skills:
Experience with a professional consulting organization (e.g., Big 5 consulting)
Extraordinary client facing skills with the ability to solve the clients’ needs and manage scope in a positive way.
Ability to organize and lead client sessions that involve non-technical resources that result in clear requirements and technical design.
Ability to generate client signoff and commitment to these designs and the solution
Responsibilities:
The role will be responsible for integrations, extensions, features and designing solutions using the various technologies that Model Metrics leverages. Today these technologies include salesforce.com, force.com (API, APEX & Visual Force), Adobe Flex, AWS, Google and ETL technologies.
It also requires that the technical architect maintain a high degree of understanding of the various components of the cloud-computing ecosystem.
This role will work closely with Project Managers, Senior Business Analysts and directly with clients to architect technology solutions needed to drive alignment of client needs. The
Technical Architect will have ownership of the solution from end to end, and will be responsible for translating functional requirements into a technical solution.
The Technical Architect would also be responsible for overseeing the development team on the project and confirming that the solution meets the specifications and standards defined.
The Technical Architect will work to become the trusted advisor to the client at all levels.
Title: Sr. .NET Technical Lead/Architect
Skills:
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience; Bachelor's degree in business, software engineering, computer sciences or related field preferred
Twelve or more years of application architecture and/or product development experience
Experience working with software systems, applications and network markets
Experience working with technical products, vendors, and families of technologies and company hardware and software products
Experience working with broad business area and knowledge of competitor products and services
Experience working with application design principles and product configurations
Experience working with appropriate programming languages, operating systems, hardware and software to understand product line software and hardware
Experience working with software development life cycle and client requirements
Other Qualifications
Microsoft Software Architect certification or equivalent
Experienced with the Microsoft technology suite, including: Visual Studio 2008/2010; Team Foundation Server; .NET 3.5/4.0; ASP.NET; Windows Communication Foundation; Windows Workflow Foundation; Microsoft Office SharePoint Server; WPF/Silverlight/AJAX; SQL Server 2005/2008; Entity Framework Model
Experience in the use of Design Patterns - MVC, MVVM
Experienced with: Factory patterns; COTS integration; SOA development and deployment; Enterprise architecture; Defining Architectural concepts using UML standards; Architecture tools like System Architect or Enterprise Architect
Familiarity with Service Component Architecture and Service Data Objects would be a plus, particularly with respect to deployment of web services developed under the .NET framework.
Familiarity with the Software AG SOA infrastructure like webMethods.
Self starter demonstrating ability to maintain currency with new technology.
Strong analytical and creative problem solving skills to resolve highly complex software design issues and create new software for multiple products
Strong leadership skills to guide and mentor the work of less experienced personnel
Strong interpersonal skills to interact with senior customers, management and team members
Strong communication skills to interact with team members and senior support personnel
Ability to synthesize broad and narrow concepts of high complexity and use them to meet company objectives
Demonstrates soft skills and readiness to use consensus building in decision-making
Responsibility:
Drives technical design and implementation.
Proactively raises issues if specification will lead to quality, system performance, or architectural issues in product.
Participates in technical design reviews, functional specification reviews, and contribute to development project estimates, scheduling, test plans, and code reviews.
Proactively identifies and resolves potential problems/issues including authoring of technical specifications.
Recommends action plan and communicate issues to management and business analysts.
Regularly informs manager on progress of project, identifying risks early in the process.
Collaborates with Business Analysts and Designers to ensure understanding of business requirements.
Demonstrates self-directed and proactive approach to tackling problems and leveraging resources.
Proactively mentors fellow developers/architects in areas of expertise.
Ensure non-functional requirements for the projects are proactively identified analyzed, designed and built into the components being delivered.
Review the Unit test case and the testing approach used by the team.
Work with the Architects community and understand overall direction for the organization. Convey this to the team in a meaningful, implementable way.
Random code sampling and reviews to ensure best practices are followed.
Provides leadership and work guidance to less experienced personnel.
Provides complex technical consultation to other organizations; interacts with senior customer personnel and internal senior management.
Title: PHP Technical Architect
Skills:
University degree educated in the field of Computer Science/Engineering/Information Systems.
Minimum of 2 years of engineering at a Senior level and 5 years engineering overall
With significant exposure to strategic application architecture
Must have led a technical team(s) Not necessarily line management but you must have led a technical team.
Experienced in agile development
Comfortable with systems integration architectural patterns
Big picture thinker coupled with the ability t0 understand and work at a low level of detail
A very strong background in common web programming technologies, especially PHP and associated frameworks
Comfortable in a Linux/Unix (but not exclusively so) environment
A thorough understanding of Web, Application and Database server technologies
Responsibilities:
Provide technical and architectural leadership and assistance t their agile operational team
Defining scape, feasibility and effort
Technical requirements (functional and non-functional)
Engage with the business owners regarding the suitability and sustainability f solutions as well as translating technical language
Guidance and support to team members
Ensure solutions are coherent with the company strategy, evident through communicable technical documentation
Whilst compromise is accepted, the end goal should always be the ideal gal, with a well defined road-map of delivery along it which may include tactical solutions when the value is deemed worth it
This also includes existing systems including optimizations and improvements to them
Input int capacity planning fr those solutions
Ensure agreed upon standards of quality are met
Integration and chesin of solutions into the wider ecosystem
Adherence to patterns
Title: Technical Architect - Network Infrastructure
Skills:
10+ years’ experience in a Network Engineering and Architect role in global mid-large sized corporations with geographically dispersed population.
Experience successfully implementing strategic solution architecture.
Experience leading geographically distributed and culturally diverse work-groups
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Strong organization and planning skills
Strong interpersonal / relationship management skills
Demonstrated financial management skills
Specific experience with Cisco IOS, CatOS and NexOS, RSA SecureID systems and Riverbed Steelhead devices.
Expert understanding of EIGRP, BGP, OSPF, MPLS, ATM, VPN, Ethernet, DSL, GetVPN, QoS, COS, SNMP, VoIP, VLANS, Subnetting, Supernetting, Trunking, Virtual Networking, Unified Communications.
Experience with designing and implementing networks to support multi-site, high-availability, load-balanced infrastructure solutions (active/active).
Responsibilities:
Establishes vision, strategy, and roadmaps that align with business priorities for companies global network infrastructure.
Research new technology advancements and conduct evaluations focused on optimizing and improving network configuration, performance, capacity, availability, and operational reliability.
Defines and maintains technology standards.
Partners with Infrastructure Service owners to establish and evolve Service and Technology Roadmaps
Partners with key vendors to influence future product requirements and enhancements to address business needs.
Works closely with other infrastructure groups (Global Operations, Information Security, Infrastructure Engineering, Field Service & Support) in the execution of technology proof of concepts, pilots, and technology adoption.
Partners with architect peers on both infrastructure and application solutions.
Performs ROI and other cost-benefit analysis of new strategies and technologies.
Leads transformational infrastructure project implementations driving service transition from architecture into operational delivery.
Title: Senior Technical or Solutions Architect
Skills:
Extensive enterprise consulting experience, including implementation experience with one or more common enterprise software solutions (e.g. CRM, ERP), filling positions of increasing responsibility and management of more junior technical resources; experience with Waterfall and/or Agile implementation methodologies.
Proven ability to analyze, design, and optimize business processes via technology and integration, including leadership in guiding customers and colleagues in rationalizing and deploying emerging technology for business use cases.
Thorough understanding of Web Services, data modeling, and enterprise application integration concepts, including experience with Enterprise Integration tools such as ESBs and/or ETL tools, and common design patterns with specific boundary systems (e.g. CMS, ERP, HRIS, DWH/DM)
Demonstrably excellent, context-specific communication and presentation skills across a variety of audiences and situations; established habit of proactivity and ability to self-start/learn/manage.
Pre-sales participation in support of strategic sales cycles from a technical perspective, including interacting with enterprise architects and understanding common lexicon, methodologies, etc.
Team player with strong listening and interpersonal skills; strong desire to take on constructive feedback/coaching and make definitive changes; self-awareness and the ability to adapt communication and interaction styles to best suit an audience, situation, or desired outcome.
Detail and quality oriented individual with the ability to rapidly learn and take advantage of new concepts, business models, and technologies.
Demonstrated desire and action in learning new technologies and staying current on existing ones, pursuing experience and certifications in leading edge or primary technology areas.
Responsibilities:
Travel regularly (average of 50%), but may be higher or lower based on the client engagement.
Leading the evaluation of business and technical requirements; reviewing and correcting project direction, approach and key artifacts; directing early solution consideration around gaps/risks, including the effective engagement of executives, Sales, Engineering, and Product Management; evaluation of options and subsequent presentation and education of the customer/partner; significant involvement and guidance in abetting making the right choice; identification and pro-active management of risk areas; commitment to seeing an issue through to complete resolution.
Directing and mentoring diverse teams of resources in technical delivery aspects, especially in scenarios where the STSA does not have direct authority over all resources and must carefully consider communication strategies, executive influence, differing or conflicting goals, and other similar non-technical challenges.
Leading and mentoring the project manager and Technical Solution Architect (TSA) in managing technical scope and client expectations, leveraging relationships with external resources and appropriately engaging them when needed.
Identifying and leading internal strategic initiatives to grow the consulting practice and teammates; serving as an active contributor to the practice knowledge and resource base; mentor, educate, and enrich technical and non-technical salesforce.com and partner colleagues.
Building relationships with business partners, internal and external, and contributing to broader goals and growth beyond the scope of a single or your current project.