Role Purpose

• The Digital Solutions Architect is a pivotal technical role responsible for designing and delivering innovative, scalable digital solutions that align with the enterprise architecture framework and support the transformation goals of all subsidiaries across Kenya and East Africa. This position drives the architectural design of digital platforms, applications, and integrations that enhance customer experience and operational efficiency for Life, Pensions, Medical Insurance, and Asset Management businesses. The role encompasses solution design, technology implementation, collaboration with digital teams, and corporate governance, while fostering a culture of technical excellence, adaptability, and innovation.

Main Responsibilities

Digital Solutions Architecture Design

• Strategic Design Leadership: Architect digital solutions (e.g., mobile apps, web portals, APIs) that align with Jubilee’s "Disrupt East Africa 2030" vision, supporting a 20% increase in digital engagement by 2027.
• Solution Blueprint Development: Create detailed architectural blueprints for digital platforms, ensuring scalability, security, and integration with enterprise systems across subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi.
• Technology Environment Analysis: Provide an analysis to determine the best path for solving business problems/opportunities that may include process improvement via information technology systems enhancement.
• Integration Design: Design seamless integrations between digital solutions and core systems (e.g., ERP, CRM), enabling real-time data flow and a unified "One Jubilee" ecosystem.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work with the Head of Enterprise Architecture, Digital Factory, and business units to translate requirements into architectural designs, delivering solutions that meet 95% of specified needs.
• : Oversee the technical implementation of digital architectures, ensuring 100% adherence to design specifications.
• Performance Optimization: Architect solutions with 99.9% uptime and sub-second response times, supporting critical processes like policy issuance and claims processing.
• Prototyping and Testing: Develop prototypes and conduct architectural reviews, achieving a 20% reduction in defects during development phases.
• Vendor Coordination: Collaborate with technology vendors to ensure third-party solutions align with architectural standards.
• Documentation: Maintain comprehensive architectural documentation, ensuring 100% traceability and knowledge transfer within 6 months of project completion.

Digital Innovation and Scalability

• Innovation Leadership: Incorporate emerging technologies (e.g., AI, blockchain) into digital architectures, delivering at least 2 innovative solutions annually.
• Cloud Enablement: Design cloud-native architectures (e.g., AWS, Azure), migrating 70% of digital solutions to the cloud by 2026 for enhanced scalability and cost efficiency.
• Microservices Adoption: Architect microservices-based solutions, reducing system complexity and enabling a 25% faster deployment cycle within 2 years.
• Scalability Planning: Ensure digital architectures are highly scalable to handle changing usage patterns and sufficiently cater for future traffic growth of 5 million digital interactions by 2027.
• Futureproofing: Anticipate technological trends, designing flexible architectures that reduce technical debt by 15% annually.

Corporate Governance:

• Governance Alignment: Ensure digital architectures adhere to Jubilee’s enterprise architecture governance framework, aligning with values of integrity and transparency.
• Compliance-Enabling Architecture: Develop solution architectures that provide the necessary technical foundations and controls to support compliance with regional regulations (e.g., Kenya’s Data Protection Act, IFRS 17), contributing to a goal of 100% compliance in audits across East Africa.
• Security Architecture: Embed robust security features (e.g., encryption, multi-factor authentication), reducing cybersecurity risks by 30% annually in collaboration with IT security teams.
• Risk Mitigation: Identify and address architectural risks (e.g., single points of failure, data breaches), contributing to a Digital Risk Task Force to maintain system integrity.
• Audit Support: Provide detailed architectural documentation and support for audits, ensuring zero material weaknesses in digital solution controls.
• Ethical Standards: Uphold ethical design practices, ensuring transparency and accountability in all architectural decisions per Jubilee’s corporate governance principles.

Collaboration and Team Support

• Technical Guidance: Provide hands-on support to development teams, ensuring 95% adherence to architectural standards during implementation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Digital Factory, Data Engineering, and business teams to align digital solutions with organizational priorities, fostering a 15% increase in project success rates.
• Mentorship: Mentor junior architects and developers, helping them to learn best solutions design practices and grow their careers.
• Performance Metrics: Track and report solution performance (e.g., uptime, latency), delivering quarterly updates to the Head of Enterprise Architecture with optimization insights.

Continuous Improvement and Standards Enforcement

• Architecture Reviews: Conduct regular reviews of digital architectures, achieving a 10% annual improvement in solution efficiency and reliability.
• Standards Enforcement: Enforce architectural standards (e.g., API specifications, coding guidelines), ensuring 100% compliance across digital projects.
• Feedback Integration: Incorporate business and user feedback into architectural designs, boosting solution satisfaction scores by 15% annually.
• Tool Utilization: Leverage architecture tools (e.g., Enterprise Architect, ArchiMate) to streamline design processes, reducing design time by 20% within 18 months.
• Agile Support: Align architectural practices with Agile methodologies, supporting a 25% faster iteration cycle for digital solution delivery.
• Key Deliverables
• Detailed Technical Design: Produce and document detailed technical designs for the solutions in adherence with the defined technology standards.
• Technical Guidance and Architecture Governance: Providing ongoing support and direction to the development teams, ensuring adherence to the architectural design and standards throughout the project lifecycle.
• Efficiency Gains: Reduce implementation costs by 15% and deployment times by 25% within 2 years.
• Innovation: Participate in innovation to improve delivered products and services and to explore new technologies and their applications to the enterprise space.
• Integration Design: Defining how different systems and applications will seamlessly work together, ensuring data flows correctly and processes are integrated effectively.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related field from a recognized institution.
• Master’s degree (e.g., MSc in IT, MBA with a technology focus) or equivalent advanced qualification is an advantage.
• Professional certifications such as TOGAF, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, or Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect are strongly preferred.
• Relevant Experience
• Professional Experience: 5+ years in solution architecture or software engineering, with at least 3 years focused on digital solutions.
• Industry Exposure: Proven track record in insurance, financial services, or digital transformation sectors.
• Architecture Delivery: Experience designing solutions for organizations with 1M+ users or $10M+ in revenue impact.
• Technology Implementation: History of delivering cloud-based or microservices architecture successfully.
• Regulatory Awareness: Familiarity with ensuring compliance in a regulated, multi-country environment.