IBA - Application Architect

Introduction
As an IBM Application Architect you directly help clients transform their business  and solve complex problems. You will define the scope and vision for projects that deliver customized solutions using your knowledge of IBM platforms.  You are a technical leader serving as a liaison among business partners technical resources and project stakeholders.

Your Role and Responsibilities
We are seeking a highly skilled Application Architect to lead the design development and evolution of software applications within our organization. As an Application Architect you will be responsible for defining the overall application architecture ensuring it aligns with business goals and overseeing its implementation across various teams. You will work closely with stakeholders including business analysts developers and operations teams to translate business requirements into scalable secure and reliable technical solutions. Your role involves making key design decisions selecting appropriate technology stacks and ensuring best practices are followed throughout the application development lifecycle.

Responsibilities:
– Design and implement the overall architecture for software applications ensuring alignment with business objectives and technology strategies.
– Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and provide technical direction throughout the development process.
– Define and enforce architectural standards design patterns and best practices to ensure consistency maintainability and scalability.
– Select and guide the adoption of appropriate technology stacks frameworks and tools for application development.
– Ensure that applications are designed with security performance and scalability in mind.
– Lead the design and development of APIs and integration points to enable seamless interaction between different systems.
– Provide technical leadership and mentorship to developers and technical teams.
– Conduct code and design reviews to ensure the quality and integrity of the application architecture.
– Collaborate with DevOps teams to ensure smooth deployment monitoring and support of applications in production environments.
– Evaluate and integrate third-party solutions or services where appropriate to enhance application functionality.
– Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies tools and trends in software architecture and application development.
– Document architectural decisions system designs and technical specifications for future reference.

Tasks:
– Design and implement application architecture for web mobile and desktop platforms.
– Ensure adherence to architectural standards and design principles such as microservices event-driven architecture or SOA.
– Guide teams in implementing modern software design patterns including MVC CQRS and Domain-Driven Design (DDD).
– Oversee API design ensuring proper documentation security and versioning practices are followed.
– Develop a roadmap for evolving the application architecture in line with business needs and technological advancements.
– Perform technology evaluations and proof-of-concepts (POCs) to assess potential solutions.
– Collaborate with DevOps teams to implement CI/CD pipelines infrastructure as code and automated deployment strategies.
– Drive the adoption of cloud-native architectures and platforms (e.g. AWS Azure Google Cloud).
– Implement security best practices such as identity management encryption and threat modeling across the application stack.
– Monitor and address technical debt ensuring the long-term maintainability of the applications.
– Provide technical guidance and support to development teams throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

Required Technical and Professional Expertise
‘- Strong proficiency in designing and implementing scalable application architectures for web mobile or desktop platforms
– Experience with modern architectural patterns such as microservices service-oriented architecture (SOA) and event-driven architecture
– Proficient in various programming languages such as Java Python JavaScript or C#
– Expertise in API design including RESTful services versioning and security best practices
– Experience with cloud platforms (e.g. AWS Azure Google Cloud) and cloud-native architectures
– Strong knowledge of DevOps practices and tools including CI/CD pipelines and automated deployments
– Familiarity with containerization technologies like Docker and orchestration tools such as Kubernetes
– Understanding of database design both relational (e.g. SQL) and NoSQL systems
– Knowledge of security best practices including authentication authorization encryption and threat modeling
– Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to make critical architectural decisions
– Strong leadership and mentoring abilities guiding development teams through technical challenges
– Experience with software development best practices including code reviews version control and technical documentation
– Strong communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders
– Ability to stay up-to-date with emerging trends and technologies in software architecture and development

Preferred Technical and Professional Expertise
‘- Experience with modern frontend frameworks like React Angular or Vue.js
– Familiarity with microservices-based architecture and event-driven systems
– Knowledge of message brokers and event streaming platforms such as Apache Kafka RabbitMQ or AWS SNS/SQS
– Experience with container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes and service mesh technologies (e.g. Istio)
– Familiarity with API gateway tools (e.g. Kong Apigee) and API management strategies
– Understanding of serverless architecture and functions-as-a-service (FaaS) on cloud platforms
– Proficiency in Domain-Driven Design (DDD) and Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS) patterns
– Experience with automated testing frameworks and test-driven development (TDD) practices
– Exposure to Agile development methodologies and continuous improvement processes
– Familiarity with monitoring and logging tools like Prometheus Grafana ELK stack or Datadog
– Ability to conduct technical evaluations and proof-of-concept (POC) implementations for new technologies
– Understanding of legacy system modernization and strategies for migrating monolithic applications to modern architectures