Solution Architect (with Business Analysis Expertise)

About the role

Requirements

• Experience
• - 8+ years in enterprise IT, with at least 4 years as a Solution Architect, Technical Architect, or equivalent role.
• - Hands-on experience delivering API-led and system integration projects within enterprise or government environments.
• - Practical background in business analysis, including requirements engineering and stakeholder management.
• Technical Skills
• - API Design: REST, OpenAPI/Swagger, JSON/XML, webhooks, and event-driven patterns.
• - Integration & Security: Integration platforms, API gateways, and authentication/authorization protocols (OAuth2, SSO, UAE PASS, or similar).
• - Cloud & Infrastructure: Cloud/infrastructure fundamentals (networking, environments, high availability, DR, and security architecture).
• - Databases: Relational databases, SQL, and data mapping.
• - Modeling & Tools: UML, BPMN 2.0, and sequence diagrams using tools such as Visio, Lucidchart, or Enterprise Architect.
• - Methodologies: Agile delivery in Jira or Azure DevOps.
• Certifications
• - Mandatory: TOGAF Foundation
• - Mandatory (At least one): AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Associate or above) OR Azure AZ-305
• - Preferred: CBAP or PMI-PBA
• Languages
• - Arabic: Native or fluent (required for business and stakeholder communication).
• - English: Fluent (business and technical).
• Expected Behaviors & Mindset
• - Clear Communication: Ability to explain technical risks to executive leadership/directors and communicate business requirements to engineers in plain language.
• - Evidence-Based Pushback: Willingness to push back on weak designs using evidence and explicitly state assumptions as assumptions.
• - Scope Discipline: Clear understanding of the difference between what was requested, what was agreed upon, and what is strictly in scope.

Responsibilities

• Solution Architecture
• - End-to-End Ownership: Own the end-to-end solution design across application, data, integration, security, and infrastructure layers.
• - Documentation & Diagrams: Produce detailed architecture documents, data flow diagrams, sequence diagrams, as well as integration and API specifications.
• - Pattern Selection: Select appropriate architecture patterns and justify choices based on trade-offs, costs, and risks.
• Technical Challenge & Design Assurance
• - Design Reviews: Review designs submitted by developers, vendors, and infrastructure teams; challenge them on feasibility, scalability, performance, security, and supportability.
• - Integration Testing: Evaluate integration approaches (REST, event-driven, batch, file-based) against failure scenarios, transaction volumes, and system dependencies.
• - Assumptions Validation: Validate sizing, environment, and hosting assumptions (Dev/SIT/UAT/Production, cloud, and on-premises) alongside infrastructure teams.
• - Technical Debt & Bottlenecks: Identify technical debt, performance bottlenecks, and single points of failure in existing systems, proposing suitable remediation.
• - Quality & Compliance Checks: Ensure that delivered work aligns with approved designs and escalate any deviations early.
• Business Analysis
• - Requirements Engineering: Elicit and document business, functional, non-functional, and technical requirements (BRD, FRD, TRD, User Stories).
• - Traceability: Maintain full traceability linking every requirement to a specific design element and test case.
• - Workshops: Facilitate workshops with business owners to translate business needs into actionable technical deliverables.
• - Impact Assessment: Support impact assessments regarding scope, effort, and project timelines whenever requirements change.
• Stakeholder & Vendor Coordination
• - Single Technical Contact: Serve as the main technical point of contact between business owners, delivery teams, and third-party vendors.
• - Vendor Evaluations: Review vendor proposals and technical responses against agreed scope and contractual requirements.
• - Risk Guidance: Advise project and delivery managers on technical risks, dependencies, and decisions requiring escalation.

Skills

• REST
• OpenAPI/Swagger
• JSON/XML
• OAuth2
• SSO
• UAE PASS
• API gateways
• cloud infrastructure
• databases (SQL)
• data mapping
• UML
• BPMN 2.0
• Visio
• Lucidchart
• Enterprise Architect
• Jira
• Azure DevOps
• TOGAF Foundation
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect
• Azure AZ-305