Johannesburg: Applications Architect

Qualifications and Experience Required: Matric plus NQF Level 7 Qualification in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field TOGAF Certification 68 years of experience, this individual has worked on designing, integrating, and optimising applications across diverse industries. The Application Architect is responsible for defining and maintaining the blueprint for enterprise applications, ensuring they align with business goals and IT strategies. Proven expertise in application portfolio management, identifying redundancies, gaps, and opportunities for modernisation. Designing interfaces, APIs, microservices, and integration patterns to support interoperability and scalability. Strong knowledge of SOA, cloud-native applications, and middleware platforms, ensuring solutions are both flexible and sustainable. Collaborate extensively with Business, Data, and Technology Architects to maintain cross-domain consistency and governance compliance. Skilled in application modelling, process alignment, and system rationalisation, ensuring solutions remain adaptable to change. Supporting Agile delivery teams, providing architectural guidance during development and deployment. Translate business requirements into technical application designs that deliver measurable business outcomes. Proven track record of enabling organisations to achieve agility, innovation, and efficiency through well-structured application architectures Key Responsibilities: Architecture Blueprint & Alignment Develop and maintain an application architecture blueprint covering 100% of core business systems, updated annually. Ensure at least 90% alignment of application designs with enterprise strategies, data requirements, and technology standards Integration & Interoperability Define and govern application and system interfaces, APIs, and integration patterns, targeting 95% reuse of approved integration patterns. Ensure all new applications support scalability and interoperability benchmarks (e.g., Application Portfolio Management Conduct biannual portfolio assessments to identify redundancies, cost inefficiencies, and modernisation opportunities. Reduce application redundancies by 10% year-on-year and increase cloud-ready / modernised applications by 15% annually. Collaboration Across Domains Partner with Business, Data, and Technology Architects to deliver quarterly architecture review boards, ensuring 100% compliance with governance standards. Document and track cross-domain decisions with a measurable closure rate of 95% on architectural actions within agreed timelines. Governance & Standards Compliance Achieve 100% compliance of applications with security, data, and technology governance standards through design reviews. Lead architectural assurance reviews for all major projects, targeting zero critical non-compliances at go-live. Business Value & Innovation Enablement Define measurable KPIs for applications (uptime, cost per transaction, user adoption). Demonstrate annual improvements of 510% in system availability, cost efficiency, or user satisfaction through architectural changes. Support at least two innovation or proof-of-concept initiatives per year, aligning with business agility and digital transformation goals. Role Description: Application Architecture Design Define and maintain the enterprise application blueprint, ensuring alignment with business needs and IT strategy. Application Portfolio Management: Rationalise the application landscape by identifying redundancies, gaps, and modernisation opportunities.