Solution Architect, APAC - Toa Payoh
Group Overview
The TP ICAP Group is a world leading provider of market infrastructure.
Our purpose is to provide clients with access to global financial and commodities markets, improving price discovery, liquidity, and distribution of data, through responsible and innovative solutions.
Through our people and technology, we connect clients to superior liquidity and data solutions.
The Group is home to a stable of premium brands. Collectively, TP ICAP is the largest interdealer broker in the world by revenue, the number one Energy & Commodities broker in the world, the world’s leading provider of OTC data, and an award winning all-to-all trading platform.
Founded in London in 1866, the Group operates from more than 60 offices in 27 countries. We are 5,200 people strong. We work as one to achieve our vision of being the world’s most trusted, innovative, liquidity and data solutions specialist.
Role Overview
The Solution Architect is responsible for proactively and holistically leading or supporting the design, implementation and governance of a portfolio in accordance with enterprise standards to drive targeted business outcomes. Solutions include systems (including applications, technologies, processes and information), shared infrastructure services and shared application services.
The Solution Architect will provide the necessary leadership, analysis and design tasks related to the development of the enterprise's solutions architecture ensuring alignment to a defined set of processes and is implemented in reference to the target IT architectural standards.
This individual is responsible for the creation of deliverables and directing the evolution of the organization's portfolio of solutions, to match targeted business outcomes.
Solution Architects guide application design and define application architecture paradigms, such as service-oriented architecture (SOA), principles that influence design decisions and patterns that provide proven design solutions.
This roles reports into the Global Architecture function.
Role Responsibilities- Understand business drivers and business capabilities (future and current state), and determine corresponding enterprise system designs and change requirements to drive the organization's targeted business outcomes
- Provide technical leadership across departments; influence technical direction across the organisation ensuring all technological decisions satisfy both commercial and technical requirements.
- Manage and develop the architecture for a broad scope of projects, working closely with delivery teams that manage and design architecture for a single project or initiative.
- Provide management and system solutions to large, strategic, complex system development projects involving multiple platforms, distributed processing, multi-tier client server and web-based applications ensuring alignment with the overall enterprise.
- Monitor the current-state solution portfolio to identify deficiencies through aging of the technologies used by the application, or misalignment with business requirements.
- Understand technology trends and recommend technology innovations which anticipate the future direction of the business, its drivers and technology strategy.
- Develop a roadmap for the evolution of enterprise assets within the remit of your specified portfolio from current to future state.
- Review and ensure major architectural designs are consistent, maintainable, flexible, and in line with the strategic direction of the business.
- Influence the adoption and use of new techniques and technical practices and advocates continuous improvement.
- Support, communicate and align technical skill development within the organisation.
- Identify the organizational impact (for example, on skills, processes, structures or culture) and financial impact of the solutions architecture.
- Document all solution architecture design and analysis work.
- Work closely with the program management office (PMO) or project management office to ensure the execution of plans corresponds with what is being promised.
Experience / Competences
Experience- Bachelor's degree in computer science, system analysis or a related study, or equivalent experience
- Minimum of five years of experience in at least two IT solution development disciplines, including technical architecture, network management, application development, middleware, database management or operations
- Good understanding of strategic and new and emerging technology trends, and the practical application of existing, new and emerging technologies to new and evolving business and operating models
- Understanding of agile methods and processes, and capability of supporting agile project teams by providing advice and guidance on opportunities, impact and risks, taking account of technical and architectural debt
- Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies and processing environments
- Experience of designing and delivering service-based architecture and display a sound understanding of architectural and design principles
- Background of working in a financial or trading organisation.
- Experience of Inter-Dealer Broking (Optional)
- Exceptional interpersonal skills, including teamwork, facilitation and negotiation
- Strong leadership skills
- Excellent analytical and technical skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent planning and organizational skills
- Knowledge of key components of an enterprise technical architecture
- Knowledge of financial models and budgeting
- Excellent understanding of application development methodologies and infrastructure and network architecture
- Ability to work with developers in an inhouse and outsourced environment
- Significant enterprise systems development hands-on experience (C++, Java, C# or similar OO stack)
- Organizationally savvy, with a good understanding of the enterprise's political climate and how to navigate, influence key stakeholders.
- Ability to communicate, influence and persuade peers
- Ability to understand the long-term ("big picture") and short-term perspectives of situations
- Ability to translate future-state business capabilities and requirements into solution architecture requirements
- Ability to propose and estimate the financial impact of solution architecture alternatives
- Ability to apply multiple technical solutions to business problems
- Ability to quickly comprehend the functions and capabilities of new technologies
- Proven ability to work well with others
- Works well under pressure, operating autonomously or as part of a team
- Strong analytical and problem solving skills, use of initiative and strong organisational skills.
- Self-Starting
- Personable and engaging
- Communicates effectively and efficiently to internal and external stakeholders
- Build relationships and networks with both internally and externally wherever possible
- Demonstrates strong customer focus
- Demonstrates ability to work effectively with others
- Constructively handles disagreements to reach a resolution
- Ability to work with diverse groups/ personalities
- Open to innovative ideas/ experiences and ability to create new ideas, approaches or insights
- Seeks opportunities for improvements
- Handles situations and problems with innovation and creativity
- Demonstrates high levels of energy in seeking out and achieving new goals
- Goes that “extra mile”
- Is a self-starter
- Shows evidence of being comfortable working in fast paced or pressured environments
- Enjoys a challenge and is able to escalate
- Does not give up easily
- Adapts communication style to suit audience
- Projects personal credibility
- Interacts confidently without being overbearing
- Ability to work effectively in a high pressure environment
- Keeps emotions under control in difficult situations
- Handles criticism constructively
- Able to demonstrate honesty, integrity and professionalism
- Promotes loyalty to TP ICAP and its principles
- Works ethically and shows respect for both professional and company values
- Excellent attention to detail, highly organised with a proactive approach
- Strong analytical ability and problem solving skills