Job Specification
Position Title:
I&IT Senior Solutions Designer
Job Code:
7A003 - InformationTechnology07
Purpose :
- To plan, manage and consult on the design of both short- and long-term I&IT business solution frameworks and infrastructure that deliver business value, including application integration of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and custom-developed applications; addressing technical complexities, multiplicity of integration layers, and alignment to service specifications, standards policies and best practices.
- To lead the development and implementation of associated standards to support solutions and their implementation and maintenance.
Key Responsibilities :
Business and Infrastructure Solutions Design and Development:
- Sets technical direction and plans for integrated end-to-end solution and/or infrastructure design, including providing input to/influencing target architectures, to ensure solutions meet identified current and future needs of the business and the OPS.
- Determines priorities and linkages to ensure a stable, reliable, responsive and available IT environment to meet business objectives, and to manage and resolve complex system problems and critical incidents.
- Collaborates and participates as a team member with business and IT stakeholders in all business improvement initiatives; identifies and investigates I&IT solution and infrastructure opportunities; develops solution and infrastructure strategies and design plans; develops project scope and other relevant documents (e.g. logical and physical architecture designs, sequence diagrams).
- Analyzes, investigates, designs, develops and/or coordinates/ leads the design of specific business and/or infrastructure solutions, including identifying reuse opportunities from across the OPS.
- Oversees and participates in the completion of conceptual, logical and physical design to create the end-to-end solution design, and oversees the technology integration of business solutions (including COTS and custom-developed applications).
- Aligns solutions with corporate architecture directions, infrastructure initiatives, organizational mandates, service design principles, Corporate Security guidelines, and solutions technological road map; verifies that all solutions and systems proposals maintain strategic integrity, are integrated and meet all requirements of the clients'/clusters'/enterprise computing architecture; and develops and maintains technical standards for specific solutions/infrastructure.
- Facilitates solution acceptance, assesses changes and change management processes; assures systems integrity, performance and adherence to service specifications, standards, policies and best practices.
- Identifies and assesses issues and impacts of specific new solutions/infrastructure or enhancements on existing services and infrastructure.
- Works with the business and outside agencies to consult on/contribute to policies and procedures to facilitate and streamline system integration and to ensure adherence to established strategic directions.
- Leads and delivers Logical and Physical design collateral, including project planning, execution and close-out; oversees the work of a team of designers, solution and technology subject matter experts to provide operational delivery and project support to IT projects, including: identification of requirements, solution options analysis, design and re-engineering; technical and end-to-end testing, and implementation.
- Supports the establishment of a standard development toolkit, practices and methodology.
- Leads the assessment and evaluation of Open Source Software products, integration with solutions and develop materials to obtain approvals; and performs other technical duties (e.g. producing software code, developing proof of concept (POC) solutions).
Project Delivery:
- Leads the development of strategic and operational frameworks including acquisition of tools comprising the solution for the continuous improvement and optimization of business practices and services; and the identification of alternative delivery mechanisms and costing of services/supplies.
- Leads process re-engineering initiatives/projects and environmental scans to support long term business strategies and to plan for the innovative delivery of products and services.
- Manages the proof-of-concept trials and oversight of testing of all technical aspects of the development, implementation and maintenance of integrated solutions, in order to increase acceptance, accessibility, security, usability, stabilization and sustainability, and to meet the business needs.
- Participates in the procurement process of the solution/infrastructure; and identifies resources required to implement and support the
solution/infrastructure.
- Identifies the training required to upgrade skills on an ongoing basis aligned with specific technology and platforms.
Consultation, Advice and Support:
- Contributes to the preparation of business cases, initiating and recommending next generation solutions, based on technology, service gap analyses, risk, and business value to Cluster(s) and customer base.
- Identifies, consults with and advises end users on solution technologies to facilitate business practices and promote the cost-effective application of solutions that satisfy client requirements.
- Evaluates and recommends technology and best practice guidelines for all infrastructure solutions.
- Creates and promotes a productive and collaborative team work environment and customer service culture to foster the long term learning and development of others through coaching, training or other experiences.
- Participates on intra- and inter-ministry committees and projects to represent the organisation, provide technical advice and recommendations, and manage business relationships.
- Provides technical mentorship to other staff and input to performance of resources.
- Provides leadership and participates in creating artifacts for various gating methodology.
- Provides advice to senior management and I&IT architects to ensure that architectures and solution design approaches are supportable by the solutions branch and I&IT organization.
- Provides advice and guidance to senior and intermediate developers/designers to establish a development culture that ensures security/privacy concerns/requirements are observed/met.
Knowledge / Skill :
Knowledge of and skills in:
- Developmental practices and project methodologies to oversee the design, development and maintenance of custom developed applications, tools, COTS systems and infrastructure.
- Current and emerging technologies in the fields of Business Intelligence, business analytics and data science such as Cognos and SAS.
Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)) including business and system analysis, design, development, testing and implementation methods to assess their applicability to meet clients'/clusters' business objectives/needs and ensure alignment with ministries'/clusters' information technology plans (e.g. Unified Modelling Languages, programming languages, and service-oriented architecture), in order to set up integrated development environments and design solutions that meet both client and OPS requirements.
- Architectural domains, infrastructure technologies and OPS development standards in order to review, provide advice, lead and coordinate technology solutions, and contribute to the development of business plans and IT business cases; including ability to interpret business requirements and identify project costing estimates; and to consult on and contribute to enterprise-wide standards and processes.
- Project management methodology, analytical tools and processes, to oversee projects and solutions.
- Risk assessment to evaluate options, select and support best solutions.
- Knowledge of OPS procurement and tendering policies and processes, to participate in acquiring, negotiating goods and services, and/or to administer contractual agreements. Understanding of and skills in data design and management, database development (e.g. SQL), data warehousing (e.g. ETL, Oracle) design/development and related technologies.
- Business analysis to apply consistent methodologies to identify/confirm requirements, and develop documentation and solutions which address clients' business requirements.
- Writing and editing skills to prepare business cases, technical documentation, reports, recommendations and presentations related to technology development strategies and plans.
- Job has mandatory requirements in areas such as: in-depth knowledge of the information technologies, applications, specific infrastructure
technologies (such as DevOps, Cloud, etc), industry and computer languages specific to the program system(s) currently in use. These mandatory requirements will be specified in the job ad during the recruitment process.
Interpersonal / Influencing Skill :
- Persuasiveness, consulting and advisory skills, to provide advice and obtain support for solutions recommendations and business cases, and to liaise with vendors to map functional requirements for product and services solutions.
- Communication, consultation and mediation skills, to provide leadership and achieve mutual consensus on issues that are multifaceted and have broad ministry and stakeholder impact.
- Relationship building skills to develop and maintain relationships with clients, project teams, and staff to resolve issues and create a productive work environment.
- Presentation skills, to convey technical information, convincing explanations, options and recommendations for diverse internal and external, technical and non-technical audiences; discuss and develop support for recommendations on business and/or infrastructure solutions.
- Team leadership/mentorship to lead and support staff and colleagues.
Analyzing / Problem Solving Skill :
Analyzing and problem solving skills to:
- Develop and prepare technical specifications and documentation for installation, testing and performance; assess condition, technical performance and capacity of existing system to meet needs of clients cost/beneficially; advise on and make recommendations for improving performance through new technology, expansion, renovation or replacement.
- Conceive, research, assess and evaluate needs of clients; identify possible methodologies and technologies for user application and/or infrastructure; evaluate next generation solutions based on technology, risk and business value, and make recommendations regarding the potential application of new technologies, trends, methodologies and concepts to satisfy Cluster and customers? short and long term technology requirements, specifically identifying and assessing issues and impacts of new solutions or enhancements on existing services and infrastructure.
- Resolve competing priorities and conflicting deadlines; identifies, assess and escalate issues and designs business and/or infrastructure solutions to meet specific client needs.
- Apply accepted best practices, technology, methodology and design methods to business and/or infrastructure solutions and ensure integrity of solution.
- Investigate, analyze, design, develop and oversee implementation of specific business and/or infrastructure solutions which drive services, projects and activities and meet both day-to-day and strategic client and enterprise business requirements, and ensure solution's integrity and integration with existing technology.
- Identify and assess issues and design business and/or infrastructure solutions to meet specific needs; determine appropriate tools and methods for solution design; design and develop specific solutions; and verify that all solutions and systems proposals maintain the strategic integrity and meet business requirements.
Decision Making / Responsibility :
Responsible for:
- Providing business and/or infrastructure solutions within organisational mandates, and recommending technology strategies to meet customer business deliverables.
- Contributing to the section/Branch mandate, business directions and priorities, by effectively analyzing issues; designing, developing, assessing and recommending comprehensive solutions; and planning and implementing projects.
- Supporting project leadership and management of project staff (internal or external).
- Leading the identification of emerging technology trends and issues and providing strategic advice with viable options and implementation plans to senior management.
Has latitude in the process, tools and methodology to gather requirements, assess options and issues, and create and implement solutions to meet business requirements; to determine appropriate tools and methods for solution design.
Work is performed within the broad mandate, policies and guidelines of corporate and Ministry I&IT programs. Decision-making is guided by corporate and I & IT strategies and policies and work-related OPS administrative policies and procedures.
Contacts / Stakeholder :
- Branch and client ministry management, to present and discuss issues and solutions, provide consultative advice and recommendations, and foster business relationships.
- Section and Branch peers, architects, planners and managers in the Cluster and client ministries, to share information, provide support and guidance on business and/or infrastructure solutions and related requirements, identify concerns and resolve problems.
- Vendors, to assess requirements and potential solutions; review detailed technical specifications and pricing information; and learn applicability of new technology to business problems.
- I & IT industry to stay current with developments and trends, identify best practices, and obtain specific information pertinent to current activities and projects.
- Peers in other jurisdictions, to share information, identify needs, and learn from experiences, identify best practices, coordinate joint projects, and resolve problems.
Guidance / Supervision :
- Provides project leadership and management to project staff on business development and management.
- Provides project leadership and management to project staff on application/solution development (e.g. coding) and/or Infrastructure
- Translates conceptual requirements to detailed, specific solution steps for other teams.
- Recommends specific usage of new projects, solutions and technologies, and provides guidance to operational staff on use of new solutions and technologies.
- Steers and guides customers towards operationally and cost-effective solutions for business requirements, and assists them in achieving efficient utilization of resources and budget.
- Demonstrates cost-benefits of different technology options and provides advice to support senior management decision making.
- Provides expertise and advice to senior management on technology trends and make recommendations.
Demands / Pressures :
Work Demands :
- Frequent demands from changing priorities; unexpected work demands on short notice; tight time frames; conflicting work demands; limited control over pace; working beyond normal hours; disruption to personal life; numerous unscheduled meetings.
Mental / Sensory :
- Frequent requirement to read and absorb technical documentation.
- Frequent requirement to concentrate intently on design solutions.
- Occasional requirement to observe testing.
- Occasional requirement to instruct other teams and technical staff on design details and testing.
Conditions / Environment :
- Work is performed in a typical office environment.