Finance Solution Architect at Shoprite Group of Companies

Purpose of the Job    

• As a recognized authority in financial management and accounting solutions, covering financial planning and analysis, accounting and financial close, etc., the finance solution architect strategically advises and shapes requirements for financial solutions and creates high quality data, application and technology architectures in support of the business requirements and leads the realization of the design into the final solution implementation. Deep subject matter knowledge of general finance solutions including S/4 Hana and technical knowledge of SAP ERP architectures as applicable to the Retail business domain is essential.

Job Objectives    
1. Define and continuously improve the finance architecture framework and solution architecture modeling standards:

• Develop and maintain an understanding of the business strategy and changes to business priorities.
• Define a structured finance architecture approach and methodology for capturing the key views of the enterprise.
• Architect the next-generation finance framework developed on a group of core technologies.
• Align to the enterprise data reference architecture in support of the enterprise and regulatory
• information governance needs such as Information Security, Enterprise Information Management, POPI, PCI, etc.
• Identify, define and communicate standards, guidelines, formats, meta-models, policies, best practices, and governance practices for finance architectures and designs.
• Ensure that the finance architecture approach integrates into the methodologies and processes of the rest of the Enterprise Architecture team.
• Stay abreast of best practices and / or new developments in finance and related disciplines and drive adoption as deemed appropriate.

2. Define and create solution level finance architecture models that are aligned with business blueprints, non-functional requirements, delivery constraints, data, application and technology standards.

• Analyze business requirements and create related finance architectures and designs for the baseline (“as is”) and target (“to be”) solution architectures.
• Define finance architecture governance processes and quality compliance criteria.
• Perform quality assurance checks on finance architectures and designs and enforce quality compliance criteria to set policies and standards.
• Perform quality checks on existing finance architectures and designs to identify potential business risks areas and make re-engineering recommendations.
• Ensure finance security conforms to Information Security Governance policies and standards.

3. Provide expert finance guidance, ensure solution architectures and designs are in line with the finance technology standards and conduct architecture and design reviews as part of the Architecture Review Committee.

• Be clearly identified as the finance technical lead and provide technical guidance and leadership in proposals, RFIs, RFPs, and BI project teams.
• Provide architectural oversight and guidance to development teams to ensure high-quality technical solution designs during the detailed design, build, test and deploy phases that conforms to architecture principles and standards.
• Mentor senior developers/designers/business analysts to become Solution Architects.
• Define and develop the overall finance architecture landscape in partnership with the Domain Architect, Data Analytics team and other Solution Architects.
• Review proposed solution architectures ensuring alignment with architecture principles, the architecture framework, cloud reference architectures, set technology standards and identify critical gaps, and recommend improvements.
• Give guidance and advice to peers in respect to finance solution designs ensuring the designs conform to industry best practices and standards

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

• 7 -10 yrs Working experience within the IT industry
• 5 - 10 years Working experience in SAP with at least 5 project lifecycles
• 5+ yrs Experience with all aspects of IT projects from business analysis, architecture, system analysis and design through development, testing, implementation, and production support (SDLC)
• 5+ years Demonstrated expertise in a variety of application development methodologies and practices.
• 2 - 3 years 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 years Experience with current research and standards in Solution Architecture.

Knowledge and Skills    

• Architecture and solution design (UML, OO, SOA, etc.) desirable
• S/W frameworks and methodologies (Agile, TOGAF, etc.)
• Solid track record in successful delivery solution architecture
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and logical skills
• Excellent team-working, inter-personal skills
• Understanding of SAP Financial applications: SAP Finance,
• Controlling; S/4 HANA; SAP HANA; SAP BPC; GRC (Group Risk and Compliance)
• Understanding of financial solutions in a non-SAP environment