Job Information
AF Group Principal Architect in Lansing, Michigan
The Principal Architect serves the company as an advisor on best practices and is responsible for designing and effectively implementing strategies and solutions in alignment with IT strategy and guidelines. The Principal Architect develops actionable blueprints, principles, models, designs, standards, and guidelines for assigned projects/initiatives to ensure information technology architecture is consistent, usable, secure and adds value to the business. The position facilitates design and implementation of flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solutions and provides technical guidance to subordinate group. The position is assigned to projects/initiatives of large size, complexity and risk and is relied upon to consult, negotiate, and build consensus with external and internal partners. This role is critical in designing and implementing robust network solutions that align with IT strategy and ensure the protection of enterprise assets. * Accountable for adhering to corporate architecture standards, ensuring technology standards and best practices are maintained across the organization and contributing to corporate architecture strategy-setting. * Leads governance processes of new technologies and solutions to ensure consistent technology life cycle management. * Participates in formulating solution estimates and work planning including determining appropriate task sequencing and identification of technical skill sets required. * Builds consensus around principles of infrastructure architecture and interprets and clarifies these principles. * Serves as infrastructure design subject matter expert to business areas, project teams and vendors to apply and execute appropriate use of technology solutions and lead efforts to examine technology vision, opportunities, and challenges. * Participates in the evaluation, selection and implementation of technology solutions including providing detailed analysis of pros and cons and build vs buy options. * Maintains operational, architectural and design documentation including procedures, task lists, and blueprints. * Evaluates strengths and flaws in infrastructure design including performance, quality, availability, simplicity of design, security, and total cost of ownership. * Facilitates project handoffs including preparing documentation, educating, and supporting to ensure smooth transitions. * Establishes and maintains relationships with IT and business area partners and provides consultation to the business teams. * Troubleshoots, recommends, and executes action plans for issue resolution. * Selects and designs tools that allow reuse of design components and patterns between projects. * Continually works to enhance breadth and depth of knowledge and experience. Benchmarks technology strategies and architectures. Monitors and anticipates trends and investigates organizational objectives and needs. Prepares bench marking reports and presentations. * Promotes implementation of new technology, solutions, and methods to improve business processes, efficiency, effectiveness, and value delivered to customers. * Develops actual working solutions or prototypes based on their own designs and resolves any issues that arise. * Provides technical guidance to subordinate group. * Establishes and maintains vendor relationships to review and evaluate designs and controls and influence changes in future product releases. * Stays updated on current technology trends and industry best practices. * Provides technical leadership and works effectively with different teams including Product Managers, Project Managers, and Engineers. * Fosters a healthy, collaborative, and productive scrum team culture. * Works with other leads in a project setting to define and execute a software architecture that is sustainable, flexible, and scalable. * Leads key initiative design, highly capable to complete tasks both independently with minimal guidance and leading a team technically. * Exchanges information clearl