Retail Solution Architect at Shoprite Group of Companies

Purpose of the Job    

• As a recognized authority in retail solutions, Retail ERP, and or FMCG, the retail solution architect strategically advises and shapes requirements for non-supermarket 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 including Retail, FMCG, pharmaceutical, furniture and finance architectures as applicable to the Retail business domain is essential.

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

• Develop and maintain an understanding of the business strategy and changes to business priorities.
• Define a structured architecture approach and methodology for capturing the key views of the enterprise.
• Architect the next-generation 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.

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

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

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

• Be clearly identified as the retail technical lead for non-supermarkets 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 retail architecture landscape in partnership with the Domain Architect, Data Analytics team, and other Solution Architects.

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 retail or FMCG with at least 5 project lifecycles
• 5 years Retail industry experience with an understanding of retail business processes.
• 5 + years Worked on projects across multiple applications, SAP and non-SAP
• 5 + years Experience with all aspects of IT projects from business analysis, architectures, system analysis, and design through development, testing, implementation, and production support (SDLC)
• 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.)
• 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, interpersonal skills
• Develop of proposals and excellent written communication & presentation skills
• Excellent organisation and facilitation skills
• Strong conflict management skills
• Commercial & business understanding of retail industry
• Experience with Retail applications: SAP Retail, JDA, JDEdwards,Baan, MS Navision or similar
• Experience with Inventory Optimization
• Experience with eCommerce and digital transformation architectures