Technical Solution Architect Lead

INTRODUCTION

IMRF is seeking a Technical Solution Architect Lead who will be responsible for understanding the integration and data flow of all IMRF technology resources and external interfaces and services supporting IMRF pension administration solutions. This includes the pension line of business solution, telephony, video, and other technology. This role is responsible for providing proactive technical leadership to the I.S. teams and will be the main liaison between IMRF Information Services departments and Pension Administration vendor support team.

SUMMARY

Staff in this position need to have strong knowledge and understanding of the architecture and components of all IMRF technology-based solutions, integration with other internal tools and solutions, as well as external interfaces, and the business purpose of each of those components to be able to determine what may be the root cause of any problems based on business impact. In this role, it is critical to understand the customer service and business process impact based on what component or link between components is compromised. In addition to responsible for optimizing the use of current technology for customer service and operations, this role is responsible for proactively promoting, analyzing, evaluating, and providing leadership to business units and technology staff in planning for future enhancements.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for the escalation of Horizon solution issues to LifeWorks
• Manages the Horizon Solution integrated technical solution and data flow structure
• Manages overall ongoing organizational integrated technical support services by bridging all business and technology groups needs and facilitating cooperation across units
• Uses root cause analysis to develop processes or procedures to prevent these from happening again
• Promotes knowledge growth of new technology (such as Horizon Solution currently being developed) and all future technology among the IT teams
• Knowledgeable on solution infrastructure, and bridge between infrastructure and Enterprise Business Solution department 
• Works with the Business Solution Leads to optimize escalation and resolution process, and actions as applicable business concern and escalations raised
• Ensures communications concerning technical content to colleagues are clear and informative
• Actively participates in impact assessment of any technical or business issue that may be impacting customer service delivery
• Reviews and evaluates proposals for the implementation of new products or changes to IMRF infrastructure to perform impact analysis to Horizon pension line of business and all other solutions during initiation phase of such projects   
• Participates in the analysis of technical change requests for the Horizon Solution or internal process improvements, by reviewing any technical changes and assessing business impacts before confirming approval to proceed with changes
• Provides oversight and feedback from technical perspective on the implemented solutions to Business Process Owners, Technical Architects, Technical Integration Analysts, and the leadership team.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• This position does not have direct reports  
• Must be able to review the technical work and analysis of developers
• May have to lead a small (1-3 person) team for specific project assignment
• May have to assign and monitor specific
• tasks for a specific project assignment.

Skills and Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions:

• Technical leadership experience through IT Network support, programming experience, or other IT skilled positions.
• Overall general knowledge and exhaustive technical knowledge of the large integrated technology solutions that may include telephony, video, online chat, and external integrated services.
• Able to understand complex business needs and objectives.
• Highly organized logical and strategic thinking.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Focuses on value add and raises areas of improvement or risks early in the process.
• Great collaborator with all stakeholders.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• Ten years programming experience in 3 or more business applications and two years analysis and design experience in 3 or more business applications using a systems development life cycle methodology plus one of the following degrees:

1. B.S. Computer Science
2. Master's degree in Information Systems
3. B.S. /B.A. (non-technical major) plus 16 credit hours of computer science classes or a professional certificate from an accredited college or university

• Design, analysis and programming experience using SQL scripting. SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is a plus.

• Development experience that includes at least one of the following platforms and must be relevant to the position. In addition, basic working knowledge of at least one other platform is desirable:
  • .NET Programming (VB.NET)
  • Web (Java / Windows / SQL) including object-oriented design patterns and construction techniques and RDBMS concepts
  • PC / Windows including MS Office and VB

• Thorough understanding of Network infrastructure
• Experience with integrated technology solutions that support customer service operations with 175,000 or more incoming calls per year and 900,000 customer website logins per year.   

IMRF Benefits:

• Generous insurance benefits, including medical and dental
• 35-hour base work week, Monday - Friday
• Death, disability, and pension retirement benefits as a member of IMRF
• Paid vacation, 12 paid holidays and 2 personal days
• Business casual attire
• Award-winning organizational approach to performance excellence