Description:
ESB is a purpose led company striving to create a brighter future for the customers and communities we serve, leading the transition to reliable, affordable, low-carbon energy. Today, we operate one of the most progressive electricity systems in the world, with activities spanning electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and an international energy consulting business.
With almost 8,000 employees we invested €1bn in infrastructure last year, contributed over €2bn to the economies we operate in and distributed over €2m across a range of community initiatives. This requires us to bring the best of our capabilities together to deliver innovative and value-driven solutions that enable our customers to live low-carbon lives. ESB strives to foster an effective and inclusive culture where people engage, challenge and feel connected to our purpose, colleagues, customers and community.
We are looking for a Solution Architect to help transform ESB to a digital utility and deliver on our strategy of Net Zero 2040.
As part of the CIO organisation, our Solution Architects are primarily involved in the selection and implementation of Digital & IT solutions to meet business requirements both now and into the future. Solution Architects demonstrate a wide breadth of utility industry knowledge and IT architecture capability by understanding the impact of change on the full enterprise solution. They are responsible for ensuring the quality, integrity and supportability of all change, be that large projects, products or smaller changes.
Solution Architects work closely with the various ESB business areas from Retail to Networks, Digital Accelerator and Digital Factory and Project Delivery ensuring a consistent & best practice approach to architecture is applied across ESB and all its business units in order to enable ESB’s strategic ambition in a cost effective and responsive way.
The success candidate will report to one of Enterprise Architecture’s Solution Architect Managers.
- Input to, and review of, relevant business cases, high-level project designs and other submissions to ensure specific initiatives are aligned to and comply with overall ESB group requirements.
- Designing architecture for IT & OT networks, protocols, assets & devices.
- Ensuring key cyber security controls are implemented within IT & OT environments.
- Design of solutions to meet business and functional requirements in compliance with overall enterprise principles, policies and standards.
- Input & support cloud, infrastructure and security architects to design appropriate solutions to meet non-functional requirements in compliance with overall enterprise principles, policies and standards.
- Reconcile often conflicting value assumptions, demands and timescales to provide options that lead to selection of best-fit solution overall for ESB.
- Establish design principles and guidelines with support from IT partners.
- Provide oversight of design process and ensure overall integrity of the application through to delivery and operation.
- Develop Solution Architecture Design Documents, Decision Paper & Presentation to appropriate forums.
- SME Input for Functional & Technical Design Team.
- Review Designs from Functional Teams.
- Highlight Key Business, Timeline & Technical Risks to Programme Management.
- Ensure solutions provide interoperability with other internal and external interfaces and applications.
- Ensuring EA artifacts including application and technology portfolios are maintained and utilised by self and team.
- Input in RFTs and Technical evaluation process as appropriate.
- Contribute to Business, IT and Digital Strategies.
- Third level qualification in a IT, Computing, Computer Science discipline or equivalent work experience.
- Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to communicate effectively in challenging situations.
- Ability to manage and adapt to change.
- Excellent communications skills with proven ability to make communications happen.
- Knowledge of Utility Industry application landscape and the integration architecture between the various systems.
- Strong knowledge of application, integration, infrastructure, cloud and security architecture.
- The ability to follow architecture principles in designing solutions.
- A good understanding of Technology, Legal, Security, Regulatory & Data Protection principles.
- Knowledge of business continuity planning principles, information security and IT Security risk management.
- Demonstration of Continued Professional Development is essential.
- Above all, you must a self-starter, be innovative in your approach and be able to demonstrate your ability to actively contribute to a team that delivers results.
- IASA CITA-F qualification or similar.
- Knowledge, experience, or certification in TOGAF or similar Enterprise Architecture framework.