Head - Strategy, Architecture & Enterprise Solution Development at 9Mobile

Job Summary

• Directly responsible for translatingthe Corporate Strategy/Business Plan into an appropriate Information Technology(IT) strategy that defines how the IT organisation contributes to businesssuccess. 
• Develop, periodically refreshand govern the Enterprise IT Architecture and enforce compliance through theArchitecture Review Board (ARB), Service Review Board (SRB), Change ControlBoard (CCB) & other relevant governance bodies.
• Enable superior business performance bychampioning enterprise agility, innovation and on-time, value-based deliverythrough robust architecture principles & governance, excellent riskjudgement and a relentless drive for IT-enabled business processoptimization. 
• Communicate the value ofEA across the organization.  Drive forcontinuous alignment of IT actions/initiatives with business objectives andensure that IT strongly contributes to achieving enterprise goals.
  

Principal Functions
Strategic/Tactical:

• Lead thedevelopment and periodic update of the IT strategy to ensure that IT actionsare appropriately scoped to deliver business value.
• Define theblueprint that drives IT investment and continuously align IT actions withbusiness goals.
• Guidetechnology decisions, drive business cases/justification, ensuring alignmentwith business objectives and established architecture principles &standards;
• Oversee andengender the implementation of reusable architectural artifacts and solutioncomponents that facilitate faster time to market, quick time to value, improvedQoS/QoE, growth, profitability business agility, operational efficiency and ITcost efficiency/optimization.
• Capture,preserve and maintain complex knowledge of the business and supportingtechnology landscape and distil into usable format for everyday business andtechnology decision support;
• Establish andenforce architecture principles and standards through the platform of theArchitecture Review Board (ARB), Service Review Board (SRB) and otherarchitecture governance processes. Coordinate the activities of the ARB;
• Enableenterprise agility (i.e. facilitate quick response to market dynamics andadoption of new business models) by taking out complexity and potential changeinhibitors within the IT landscape.
• Develop andmaintain a roadmap of IT initiatives to deliver the target architecture for therealization of extant business vision and strategies.
• Drivetechnology innovation to create business value in terms of improved businessperformance and ROI.
• Develop andmanage a fit-for-purpose framework for continuous capacity planning &monitoring with a view to proactively meeting and anticipating business demandacross all IT systems.
• Collaboratewith other functional units to elicit input to the architecture development andgovernance process.

Operational:

• Create andcommunicate models/artifacts that describe the enterprise architecture andenable its evolution.  Ensure timely,accurate and up to date documentation of the IT landscape.
• Promote astrategy-led, integrative approach to solution design to business issues thattranscend functional boundaries.
• Work with theProgram & Portfolio Management team to structure the IT program portfolioin a manner that guarantees quick time to value of the associated businessbenefits with minimal risk.
• Act asstage-gate for approving all IT solution designs proposed as prerequisite forsolution build and implementation. Validate compliance to architecture principles at key developmentcheckpoints for solutions in development on the one hand and changes to thosein production on the other.
• Drivebusiness process optimization and integration, covering enterprise applicationintegration and enterprise data integration (EAI & EDI) within bothinternal and external contexts.
• Participatein CCB processes for governing operational changes to production andnon-production IT environments to ensure operational stability, good riskimpact assessment & mitigation and adherence to architecture standards andprinciple.
• Produceinfrastructure capacity plans to proactively meet the enterprise demand for ITservices.   Ensure alignment of capacityprojections with those of other demand management / planning functions acrossall technology functions within the organization.
• Providetechnical leadership for the implementation and integration of ITprograms.  Own the design offit-for-purpose solutions to business problems by facilitating design workshopswith key stakeholders with strong emphasis on business value, risk and on timeto value.
• Interfacewith 3rd parties, including vendors, OEMs, business partners and other externalparties for solution design, integration and connectivity as the case may be.
• Takeownership of technical project deliverables and ensure delivery to acceptablestandards.  Contribute to assessing businessvalue delivered on these projects.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Chief Product and InformationOfficer.

Educational Requirements

• First degree or equivalent in Engineering,Computer Science/IT, or a related/relevant discipline.
• Postgraduate and/or professional qualificationsin related fields and/or an MBA will be an added advantage;

Experience, Skills & Competencies:

• Nine (9) to twelve (12) years work experience ina Telecom/IT environment with at least 3-5 years in solution architecture atmanagerial level with extensive stakeholder management exposure;
• Prior, extensive hands-on solution architecture& development experience and knowledge of evolving trends in that domainare mandatory;
• Extensive working knowledge and experience of theHuawei Intelligent Network (IN) and related components OR similar is required;
• Sound knowledge of internal business processes,leading/emerging technologies, and developments within the mobiletelecommunications industry and related ecosystems;
• Experience in working through complex issues andproviding alternative solutions.  Adeptat communicating technical details to solution developers;
• Ability to lead, influence and gain theconfidence and respect of senior executives and functional leadership;
• Highly developed business communications skill(verbal and written), team player, change agent, strategic and creative,excellent solution architecting skills and the ability to drive consensus andcompliance from all areas within the company;
• Ability to cope and deliver at satisfactorilyhigh levels under intense pressure;
• Exceptionalanalytical, quick-learning and critical thinking skills.