🌟 General Role Information
Overview
Serve as the technical authority responsible for designing, governing, and modernizing the core architecture of customer loyalty and personalization platforms, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and business outcomes. This role requires a blend of hands-on technical expertise and strategic influence.
Work Location - This position is Hybrid, 3 Days/Wk onsite in either MISSISSAUGA, CALGARY or NEW GLASGOW
NOTE - If you meet the below must have qualifications and experience, please feel free to forward your up-to-date CV directly to ANDY.WETTLAUFER@RANDSTADDIGITAL.COM - Due to volumes, only those with the below experience, outlined on the CV with concrete examples will be contacted for next steps.
🔑 Key Responsibilities
Architecture: Design & Implementation
- Maintain and evolve solution architecture for loyalty and personalization platforms, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards.
- Translate business requirements into scalable, secure, and cloud-native technical designs using Azure services , event-driven patterns , and API-first principles .
- Define and document integration patterns, system interactions, and data flow diagrams .
- Ensure code quality through design reviews, reusable patterns, and performance optimization.
- Assess architectural trade-offs considering scalability, performance, cost, and maintainability.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence
- Collaborate extensively with Product Owners, Delivery Leads, Developers, DevOps, Data, and Security teams to ensure a shared architectural vision.
- Act as the technical authority in stakeholder discussions, translating business needs into definitive solution architectures.
- Advise on process improvements and support change management efforts.
- Coach and mentor technical leads and developers on architectural principles and best practices.
Innovation & Strategic Modernization
- Evaluate vendor platforms and define transition strategies toward in-house, cloud-native capabilities.
- Lead or participate in vendor evaluations and Proof-of-Concepts (POCs) for modernization opportunities.
- Research and assess emerging technologies (AI, personalization engines, headless loyalty solutions) to support future platform evolution.
Governance & Standards
- Drive governance around reusability, scalability, observability, and technical debt management.
- Define and enforce standards for API design, data contracts, security, identity, and deployment .
- Ensure non-functional requirements (NFRs) such as high availability, performance, and compliance are incorporated into all designs.
🛠️ Your Technical Toolkit (Must-Have Qualifications)
We're looking for a highly seasoned architect with 8-10 years of total experience in IT , encompassing deep technical roles and introductory Solution Architecture experience.
- Total IT Experience: 8-10 years of total experience in IT, including strong roles in Systems Analysis, Senior Development, and Design on similar applications/platforms, alongside beginner Solution Architect experience.
- Azure Mastery: 5+ years hands-on experience with core Microsoft Azure services (e.g., Cosmos DB , Service Bus , Event Grid , Application Gateway, App Services, Azure Functions, API Management).
- Modern Architecture & Development:
- 5+ years experience designing and implementing microservices , REST APIs , and event-driven architecture .
- 8+ years of experience in backend application development ( Node.js, JavaScript ) and systems integration.
- Data & Containerization:
- 3+ years designing and optimizing non-relational databases (preferably Cosmos DB).
- Experience with Docker , containerization, and Kubernetes .
- Frontend Literacy (4+ years): Practical experience with frontend development ( Next.js, JavaScript ) to ensure seamless end-to-end design.
- Architectural Excellence: Proven ability to architect for scalability, resilience, and security in complex environments.
- Strong knowledge of security best practices in cloud and application design.
✨ Bonus Points (Nice-to-Have Qualifications)
- Domain Knowledge: Familiarity with loyalty platforms and personalized offer systems is a strong plus.
- Team Influence: Experience influencing multiple delivery teams without direct authority.
- Process Acumen: Experience working in Agile/Scrum and SAFe environments.
- DevOps & Automation: Exposure to CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code (Bicep, ARM, Terraform), and container orchestration (Kubernetes, ARO).
- Communication: Ability to simplify complex technical concepts and balance short-term needs with long-term scalability.
🎓 Other General Information
- Certification: Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (Strongly Preferred).
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- Enterprise Design: TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture certification.