Solutions Architect

Role Description: Project Solution Architect

Purpose

The Project Solution Architect role is responsible for leading and delivering the solution architecture and design for projects, ensuring alignment with Enterprise Architecture principles, technology standards, and architecture governance. This role provides technical leadership, facilitates design decisions, and ensures the solution meets both functional and non-functional requirements across the full lifecycle of a project.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the primary architectural authority for a project, representing architectural interests to
• internal and external stakeholders
• Facilitate collaboration between business, technical, and vendor teams to ensure requirements
• are captured and translated into solution designs
• Communicate architectural decisions, rationale, and impacts to project sponsors, business
• service owners, end users, and technical teams

Solution Architecture

• Lead the development of the Solution Architecture, including a System Overview, System
• Architecture (e.g., Business, Information, Application, Integration, Technology, Security),
• Architecture Decisions, and Technical (e.g., Non-Functional) Requirements Design
• Produce and maintain architecture deliverables including views (e.g., ArchiMate views of the
• Enterprise Model) and diagrams (e.g., conceptual, logical, physical, data flow), component models, interface specifications, and infrastructure layouts
• Ensure documentation is clear, complete, and supports traceability of decisions and requirements

Information, Application, and Infrastructure Architecture

• Develop and document the Information Architecture, including data flow diagrams, information classification, and data storage requirements
• Define the Application Architecture, specifying components, interfaces, responsibilities, and relationships
• Define the Infrastructure Architecture, detailing hardware, network, and hosting requirements, and ensuring alignment with enterprise standards

Architecture Decisions and Governance

• Facilitate and document key architectural decisions, including rationale, alternatives, implications, and compliance with standards
• Ensure all decisions are reviewed and approved according to AltaLink Architecture Review Board (ARB) governance processes
• Maintain alignment with enterprise architecture principles, technology standards, and regulatory requirements

Technical Requirements and Compliance

• Ensure the solution architecture and design addresses all relevant technical requirements,
• including performance, security, authentication, access controls, reliability, availability, and
• decommissioning
• Reference and comply with applicable security policies, standards (e.g., CIP, Cyber, ISMS), and
• information classification guidelines

Technology Selection and Integration

• Evaluate and select appropriate technologies, platforms, and tools, considering existing enterprise assets and new solutions as required
• Oversee integration of new and existing systems, ensuring interoperability, scalability, and maintainability
• Support vendor and third-party resource coordination as needed

Solution Implementation Support

• Provide architectural oversight during solution Build and Transition to OPS phases
• Ensure technical resources (internal, external, vendor) understand and adhere to the architecture solution design
• Support troubleshooting, risk mitigation, and change management throughout the project lifecycle

Documentation and Knowledge Transfer

• Maintain comprehensive documentation for all architectural deliverables
• Facilitate knowledge transfer to internal teams for ongoing support, maintenance, and future enhancements