Senior Solution Architect – Hybrid Cloud

JOB PURPOSE:

Now is the right moment to join EGA! Be part of our bold ambition to become a digital lighthouse for the region and our industry worldwide.

As our Solution Architect – Hybrid Cloud, you will be responsible for designing and overseeing sophisticated digital infrastructure solutions both in the cloud and on-premises. Key topics will be to stay on top of the fast-evolving technology landscape and ensure new solutions are implemented in a robust, scalable, and secure manner across compute, storage, and network infrastructure in both corporate and manufacturing environments.

To achieve this, you will work in cross-functional teams, including product owners, technical experts, security, and business stakeholders, to align infrastructure solutions with organizational goals and regulatory requirements.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. Develop and maintain comprehensive IT infrastructure architecture for both cloud and on-premises environments.
2. Create detailed architectural blueprints and roadmaps for infrastructure solutions, ensuring alignment with business requirements and technology standards.
3. Lead the design and implementation of scalable, resilient, and secure compute, storage, and network solutions.
4. Design and implement hybrid cloud solutions, integrating on-premises and cloud resources seamlessly.
5. Evaluate and select appropriate cloud services and technologies to enhance infrastructure capabilities.
6. Ensure efficient and secure data migration between on-premises and cloud environments.
7. Architect and optimize corporate and manufacturing network infrastructure, including LAN, WAN, VPN, and SD-WAN.
8. Design and implement scalable and secure compute and storage solutions, including servers, virtualization, and SAN/NAS systems.
9. Ensure efficient resource utilization and capacity planning.
10. Oversee the deployment and management of infrastructure-as-code and automation tools.
11. Ensure that all infrastructure solutions comply with industry standards, regulatory requirements, and company policies.
12. Implement robust security measures to protect data and infrastructure assets.
13. Provide technical leadership and mentorship to infrastructure teams.
14. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive infrastructure initiatives and innovation.
15. Manage relationships with vendors and service providers to ensure the delivery of high-quality infrastructure solutions and services.
16. Stay abreast of the latest industry trends, technologies, and best practices in IT infrastructure.
17. Continuously evaluate and improve existing infrastructure solutions to enhance performance, security, and efficiency.
18. Drive innovation and adoption of new technologies to support organizational growth and agility.

Authority/ Decision making:

1. Key decisions having significant impact on the department are referred to the reporting manager for approval before implementation.
2. Serve as the primary technical authority for IT infrastructure solutions, making key decisions on architecture, design, and implementation.
3. Approve and validate architectural blueprints and infrastructure designs.
4. Make decisions regarding the selection and integration of cloud and on-premises technologies.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS:

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field from a university accredited by UAE authorities.
2. Relevant certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, CCNP/CCIE) are highly desirable.

Minimum Experience:

1. 10+ years of experience in IT infrastructure architecture, design, and implementation.
2. Formal project management qualification such as PMP, PRINCE2, Agile Project Management or equivalent.
3. Proven understanding of project management techniques in an agile environment.
4. Excellent project coordinator that can plan 2-3 steps ahead of the team and surface hidden risks 2-3 levels deep within the team.
5. Excellent knowledge on tracking and analytics setup.
6. Proficient with drawing storyboards, creating wireframes, creating / ‘grooming’ product backlogs, writing user stories and developing acceptance criteria.
7. Relentless prioritization and alignment with business and IT stakeholders to ensure highest value capture.
8. Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence senior client business and IT executives on transforming towards agile.
9. Ability to move between strategic discussions with senior business leaders to tackle on the ground agile coaching with teams.
10. Strong collaborator with cross-functional teams from tech, design, and business.
11. Demonstrable experience of managing a diverse change portfolio with concurrent initiatives underpinned by proven dexterity, creativity, and the efficient use of resources.
12. Solid experience of all stages of the project delivery.
13. Experience of engaging and managing third parties (vendors, consultants etc.).
14. Strong planning and control expertise.
15. Experience working with design team to deliver top user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).
16. Good to have experience delivering advance analytics, digital, automation and robotization project experience.
17. Good to have IT, automation & control system experience and training in similar fields.

Skills:

Technical:

1. Extensive experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and on-premises environments.
2. Proficiency in network architecture and design, including LAN/WAN, VPN, and SD-WAN.
3. Strong knowledge of compute and storage technologies, including virtualization (e.g., VMware, Hyper-V), SAN/NAS, and backup/recovery solutions.

Agile/Digital Experience:

1. Experienced in facilitating agile ceremonies, managing a backlog/release plan, tracking team level metrics, removing blockers (burndown chart, release burn up, etc.).
2. Deep experience leading with teams in an agile setting.
3. Strong people management skills.

Individual Skills:

1. Strong leader, collaborator, team player, and individual contributor.
2. Strong communication skills with comfort in speaking with business stakeholders.
3. Strong problem solver with ability to manage and lead the team to push the solution and progress.

Mindset / Behaviours:

1. Passion to challenge the status quo and find new solutions and drive out of the box ideas – loves and embraces change.
2. Believes in a non-hierarchical culture of collaboration, transparency, safety, and trust.
3. Not afraid to “roll up the sleeves” and seeks to go outside comfort zone to learn – pushes teams to do the same.
4. Empowers others to fail, learn, and grow.
5. Experimental mindset to drive innovation.