Solution Architect

Overview

LSAC is a not-for profit organization whose mission is to advance law and justice by encouraging diverse, talented individuals to study law and by supporting their enrollment and learning journeys from prelaw through practice. LSAC provides products and services that support candidates and schools throughout the law school admission process, and innovative solutions to expand and diversify the range of prelaw students, enhance student outcomes in law school, and support legal professionals throughout their careers. 

Summary of Position:

The Solutions Architect – Cloud is a strategic designer and planner of solutions in LSAC’s technology environment.  The Solutions Architect – Cloud works with LSAC’s business and technology units to design enterprise solutions, applications and processes that solve business needs and integrate with other systems.  The duties of this position include gathering requirements, developing specifications, and determining project scope in order to deliver workflow and solution design to achieve defined benefits.  The architect will lead the initiative from ideation to completion—either through implementation or a business decision to forgo the design.  This includes assigning project managers, working with business units, engaging technical resources and managing vendors.  The Solutions Architect – Cloud provides appropriate escalation of issues, solution knowledge and engagement support. This includes resolving escalated problems and issues using solution knowledge and expertise, while resolving complex client concerns raised during installation, operation, maintenance or solution application.  Includes evaluating potential risks and defects, analyzing specifications and customization of the application while providing recommendations on disaster recovery, data integrity, security of the application, as well as evaluate alternatives.  Responsibilities will include creating technical documents relating to application architecture, design steps, integration processes and testing procedures to ensure a seamless integration of new and existing systems. 

The focus of this position is to enable a cloud-first mindset for future technology investments/designs. The architect will have to have subject matter expertise in cloud technologies and design.  As such, a heavy focus is required to build out, maintain and improve the framework of our Microsoft Azure footprint, including: cloud governance plan, standards (i.e. naming, specifications, etc.), network topology, storage solutions, and adoption of platform as a service.  The architect will work closely with the Infrastructure, Support and Software Development organizations to consult, design and implement solutions in support of Agile and Continuous Deployment processes.  An emphasis on automating workloads and reducing intervention is desired wherever appropriate.  Significant focus on Cloud Security applications and processes will be paramount.  Engineering work to implement and/or support solutions will be required.  Initiatives outside of cloud computing may be assigned by the Managing Solution Architect as necessary.  The architect will also mentor and train engineers on cloud computing technologies, processes and procedures.  Success in this role will require a blend of engineering, analytical, architectural, leadership, and soft skills.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions listed below.

• Leading cultural change for cloud adoption
• Developing and coordinating cloud architecture
• Developing a cloud strategy and coordinating the adaptation process
• Assessing applications, software and hardware and other environments for cloud readiness
• Establish best practices for cloud across the company
• Oversee cloud governance and mitigate risk
• Work closely with IT security to secure cloud environments
• Work w/ management to budget, estimate cost, and scale environment
• Design, configure, implement and document Virtualized, Cloud and On-premise infrastructure technologies
• Lead the documentation of systems and applications
• Develops system operations and administration procedures
• Proactively recommends and implements processes, products and procedures
• Provide support and maintenance of the network environment
• Provide support for Scrum or Agile development team initiatives
• Responsible for maintenance and support of virtual infrastructure components
• Provide off-hours support for the network/cloud environment, customers and employees when required
• Ability to troubleshoot and analyze problems and work in a collaborative team environment
• Be a subject matter expert (SME) and assist other architects and engineers as necessary, including training, mentoring, etc.

Qualifications

Competencies:

• Technical Literacy.
• Detail-oriented.
• Analytical Assessment.
• Excellent Oral and Written Communication Skills.
• Able to Work Both Independently and Collaboratively.
• Problem Solving/Analysis Skills.
• Risk management and identification.
• Ability to Exercise Excellent Judgment.
• Strong Time Management and Critical Thinking Skills.
• Possess a Positive Attitude and Demeanor.
• Be a Team Player and Flexible to Shift Priorities as Work Dictates.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining a high degree of attention to detail.
• Strong Resource and Project Management skills.
• Ability to lead multiple projects with various priorities.
• Attention to detail, good judgment, and the ability to work independently are required.

The Cloud Architect should also be capable of the following:

• Assessing company cloud computing needs and opportunities.
• Designing data network systems and applications.
• Applying troubleshooting skills to resolve network and application issues.
• Repairing and maintaining networks.
• Solid understanding of software development process and technical skills.
• Able to learn new applications, technologies and architectures quickly and effectively.
• Solid understanding of infrastructure components (Route/Switch, Security Devices, Load Balancers, Storage, etc.).
• Designing Cloud Connectivity options (VPN, Cloud Connect, Public Ingress, Network Security Groups, Network Virtual Appliances, etc.).
• Solid Understanding of databases, file replication/synchronization and Service/Business Continuity.
• Understanding of Application Development, including Web Services, Agile, Continuous Improvement/Continuous Deployment, etc.
• Solid understanding of and ability to implement cloud security best practices.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

This is a full-time position.  Standard workweeks are Monday through Friday.  Evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand.

Required Education and Experience:

• Associates Degree in Computer Science or similar technical degree with 5 years in related field.
• At least three years’ experience as a Cloud Engineer/Architect with a proven track record of cloud engagements and digital transformations.
• Proven experience in project management
• Extensive experience with Microsoft Azure.
• Experience building a cloud governance plan, setting best cloud practices and procedures.
• Extensive experience with digital transformations, fork-lifting resources from on-premise to cloud (IaaS), and designing Platform-as-a-Service solutions.
• At least 5 years of hands-on experience of network engineering, including experience with Internet & common-carrier networks with a focus on Microsoft Operating systems and products.

Preferred Education and Experience:

• A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or similar technical degree with
• 10 years of hands-on experience in network technology environments

Travel:

• Occasional travel is expected for this position. This position requires up to 5% travel.

LSAC actively seeks to foster greater levels of diversity in our workforce and in our pipeline of future leaders. We are committed to attract and retain candidates who have a passion for their work and encourage all qualified individuals, including minorities, women, LGBTQ, and individuals with a disability, to apply. LSAC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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