Senior Enterprise Architect

Summary

A senior enterprise architect supports lead architects in ensuring the strategy is developed, agreed and followed.

At this role level, you will:

  • network and communicate with stakeholders across domains or enterprises

  • identify opportunities for improvement

  • support a community or team

  • use best practice

  • use emerging technologies and approaches

  • play an active part in the team and understand how to deliver the team’s objectives to meet organisational goals

  • identify influences or risks

  • play a part in successful delivery of the long-term strategy

Background

Background Components

Description Background

Has excellent interpersonal skills and is fully experienced at stakeholder management. Possesses a broad understanding of business and business skills, and understands the significance of commercial constraints. Is able to recognise potential assignments outside own areas of specialisation and bring to bear appropriate expertise as necessary.

Prior Knowledge and Skills

Work Activity Components

Title Details

Assessment

Assesses and documents the impacts, threats and opportunities to the organisation of specific technologies, products, services, methods and techniques. Considers their applicability within business and IT strategy, and their potential to influence strategy.

Strategic position

Analyses the business goals and objectives to identify factors resulting from the employing organisation’s business environment and directions, that are likely to affect requirements for strategic information and communication systems.

Environmental scanning

Maintains an awareness of current and emerging digital information and communications technologies, processes and methods. Identifies and evaluates potential opportunities to establish relevance and feasibility for inclusion in strategy formulation.

Strategy/ plan evaluation

Contributes to post-implementation, and/or architecture compliance, reviews of information and communications technology applications and products introduced in pursuit of the strategy, to assess the effectiveness of planned versus actual business architectures.

Strategy formulation

Creates, manages and maintains a business operating model that includes information, organisational, process, performance, people skills, economic and systems architecture.

Knowledge/Skills

Knowledge/Skills Components

Title Depth Details Type

Analytical Thinking

Acquiring a proper understanding of a problem or situation by breaking it down systematically into its component parts and identifying the relationships between these parts. Selecting the appropriate method/tool to resolve the problem and reflecting critically on the result, so that what is learnt is identified and assimilated.

Behavioural Skills

Conceptual Thinking

Acquiring understanding and insights regarding the underlying issues in complex problems or situations through the development of abstract representations, the identification of patterns and the analysis of hypotheses.

Behavioural Skills

Interacting with People

Establishing relationships, contributing to an open culture and maintaining contacts with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Effective, approachable and sensitive communicator in different communities and cultures. Ability to adapt style and approach to meet the needs of different audiences.

Behavioural Skills

Business Analysis Techniques

Proficient in

Applying techniques that help investigating, analysing, modelling and recording a business area or system of interest.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

National/International Standards

Familiar with

Current and emerging standards associated with IT practice nationally and internationally, published by authorities such as IEEE, IEC, BSI, ISO.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Operational/Service Architecture

Aware of

Knowledge of the IT/IS infrastructure and the IT applications and service processes used within own organisation, including those associated with sustainability and efficiency.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Own Organisation’s IT Products and Services

Familiar with

The IT products and/or services supplied to internal and external customers by own organisation.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Research Field

Familiar with

Theory, current practice and latest developments in a field of computer science, telecommunications, software engineering, information systems or other cognate discipline.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Product Evaluation and Selection

Familiar with

The analytical comparison of IT products against specified criteria (including costs) to determine the solution that best meets the business need.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Big Data

Aware of

The discipline associated with data sets so large and/or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. The data files may include structured, unstructured and/or semi-structured data, such as unstructured text, audio, video, etc. Challenges include analysis, capture, curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, manipulation, analysis, visualization and information privacy.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Cloud/Virtualisation

Familiar with

The principles and application of cloud/ virtualisation (including ownership, responsibilities and security implications). Use of tools and systems to manage virtualised environments.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Proof of Concept and Prototyping

Proficient in

Performing a proof of concept or prototyping exercise to demonstrate or evaluate the feasibility and potential benefits of applying a particular technological business change in order to meet a business need.

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Process Improvement Techniques

Proficient in

Methods, tools and techniques to analyse and optimise processes in order to improve the quality of a product or service.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Business Characteristics

Proficient in

Organisational structures; their mission, objectives, strategies and tactics adopted by organisations; measures of performance such as critical success factors and key performance indicators; organisational cultures and cultural dimensions.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Presentation Techniques

Proficient in

Methods and techniques for delivering effective and accessible presentations, either face-to-face or online within various contexts and to a variety of audiences.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Budgets

Aware of

Principles, methods, techniques and tools for the preparation and monitoring of budgets to manage costs and ensure cost-effectiveness and value for money.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Business Proposals

Familiar with

Methods and techniques for preparing and presenting business cases, requests for proposal (RFP) invitations to tender (ITT) and statements of requirements/work both verbally and in writing.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Techniques for Effective Meetings

Familiar with

Methods and techniques for running effective meetings and for understanding and influencing the roles played by participants.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Coaching Techniques

Familiar with

Methods and techniques for coaching individuals or groups by a balanced combination of support and direction, including use of virtual learning environments plus add-ons to augment feedback specific to work items, workflow or career plans.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Service Delivery Economics

Familiar with

The economics of service delivery, such as the cost per service line in terms of hardware, software, and manpower used to deliver the service.

Other Knowledge and Skills

Training Activities

Training Components

Title Details

Service Delivery

The service delivery processes: the systems, products, services, hardware and software environment.

Strategic Planning for Information and Communications Systems

The process of defining the ICT strategic plan of an organisation in a methodical way based on business aims and objectives thereby enabling the specification of options and associated action plans for the use of IT-enabled business processes.

Coaching

Concepts, methods and techniques for providing coaching in subject specialisms to individuals or groups (e.g. GROW model).

Quality Management

Principles and practices of quality systems, models, manuals, procedures and plans. Quality assurance and audit. External quality standards such as TickITplus. Total Quality Management and European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model. Understanding of different definitions of quality in software engineering. Developing KPIs.

Advanced Techniques for Business Process Improvement

More complex tools and techniques associated with the analysis, modelling and streamlining of business processes.

Service Management

Principles, methods and techniques for managing IT services, including the preparation, understanding and use of Service Level Agreements, Operational Level Agreements and underpinning contracts.

Mentoring

Methods and techniques for providing mentoring support to less experienced individuals.

Security Awareness

Tools and techniques to help users and employees understand the role they play in helping to combat information security breaches and for IT and security professionals to prevent and mitigate risk.

PDAs

PDA Components

Title Details

Deputising

Standing in for supervisor or manager on a temporary basis during periods of absence.

Job Shadowing and Special Assignments

Undertaking temporary periods or secondments in other roles, inside or outside IT, particularly those that offer a new perspective on own function or exposure to other environments and cultures.

Project Assignments

Participating in a project team, working group or task force established to deliver a solution to a specific problem or issue – especially valuable if the group is inter-disciplinary.

Mentoring

Acting as a mentor, advising those for whom there is no direct responsibility, on matters to do with their job role, career and professional development.

Research Assignments

Exploring a topic which is not part of own normal responsibilities and presenting findings to colleagues and/or management

Gaining Knowledge of Broader IT Issues

Increasing and maintaining currency of knowledge of broader IT issues through reading, attending and participating in seminars or conferences, special studies, temporary assignments etc.

Gaining Strategic Knowledge of Employing Organisation

Developing a comprehensive understanding of the business environment in which the employing organisation operates and its position, policies and direction in relation to industry, country and global issues.

Participation in Professional Body Affairs

Taking an active part in professional body affairs at branch, specialist group, committee or board level.

Negotiating and Influencing

Undertaking learning and practice of negotiating with and influencing others.

Team Leadership

Undertaking learning and practice of the skills required to lead teams, including motivation, direction, coaching, delegation, appraisal, counselling and developing others.

Qualifications

Qualification Components

Title Awarding Body

TOGAF Certification Portfolio (4 certificates)

The Open Group

Chartered IT Professional (CITP)

BCS – The Chartered Institute for IT

FEDIP Senior Practitioner

FEDIP

Organisation Skills

Framework » Organisation
Category » Subcategory
Skill Name and Description Level

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -Commercial perspective

You can understand and contribute to commercial contracts, procurement, sourcing and exit strategies. You can contribute to supplier selection and evaluation processes. You can use government procurement processes and frameworks such as G-Cloud, the Digital Services Framework and the Digital Marketplace. You can implement effective sourcing strategies that meet organisational needs.

2 – Working

You can understand commercial processes and the appropriate internal contacts within a government department. You can understand different sourcing strategies and when to apply them.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -Communicating between the technical and non-technical

You can communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries, understanding the context. You can make complex and technical information and language simple and accessible for non- technical audiences. You can advocate on behalf of a team and communicate what it does, to create trust and authenticity. You can successfully respond to challenges.

2 – Working

You can communicate effectively with technical and non- technical stakeholders. You can support and host discussions within a multidisciplinary team, with potentially difficult dynamics. You can be an advocate for the team externally and can manage differing perspectives.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -Community collaboration

You can contribute to the work of the community, building successful teams through understanding team styles and influencing and motivating team members. You can give and receive constructive feedback, enabling the feedback loop. You can moderate conflict resolution within teams. You can ensure that the team is transparent and that the work is understood externally. You can help teams maintain a focus on delivery while being aware of the importance of professional development.

2 – Working

You can contribute to the work of others. You can motivate and empower teams. You can create the right environment for teams to work in, and can identify the best team makeup depending on the situation. You can recognise and deal with issues.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -DDaT perspective

You can demonstrate an understanding of user-centred design, technology and data perspectives. You can understand the range of available technology choices and can make informed decisions based on user need and value for money. You can understand the variety and complexities of digital and data contexts and can design services to meet them. You can demonstrate knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology.

2 – Working

You can demonstrate a working understanding of design, technology and data principles. You can understand the variety and complexity of users’ digital needs, and how the product will meet those needs. You can show an awareness of assisted digital support and can explain why it’s important. You can design services and make decisions to meet user needs.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -Enterprise and business architecture

You can demonstrate a strong understanding of enterprise architecture and its subdomains. You can understand the organisational landscape and strategy of an organisation and can support the creation of future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives. You can describe and influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state.

2 – Working

You can work with limited direction to translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can help to define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -Governance and assurance

You can understand technical governance. You can participate in or deliver the assurance of a service

2 – Working

You can understand how governance works and what governance is required. You can take responsibility for the assurance of a service and know what risks need to be managed. (

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -Making and guiding decision

You can make and guide effective decisions, explaining clearly how the decision has been reached. You can understand and resolve technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk.

2 – Working

You can make decisions characterised by managed levels of risk and complexity, and recommend decisions as risk and complexity increase. You can resolve technical disputes between wider peers and indirect stakeholders, considering all views and opinions.

DDaT » Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect -Problem definition and shaping

You can look beyond the immediate problem and identify the wider implications across the whole enterprise. You can understand relevant historical context and future impact, and how current work fits in broader contexts and strategies. You can identify underlying problems and opportunities, and carry out horizon scanning to identify future threats or opportunities.

2 – Working

You can work within a strategic context and communicate how activities meet strategic goals.

This job role profile was created in collaboration with BCS, using Role Model Plus. BCS is the professional body that has the responsibility of updating this job family.

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