EECD Enterprise Architect

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) is undertaking an initiative to establish a formal Enterprise Architecture (EA) Framework to strengthen strategic alignment between business objectives and technology investments, improve architectural consistency, and support long-term modernization. To support this initiative, EECD is seeking an Enterprise Architect to lead the design, implementation, and ongoing evolution of EECDs enterprise architecture, in alignment with Government of New Brunswick (GNB) enterprise architecture standards and industry best practices. The Enterprise Architect will be embedded within the IT Strategy and Business Solutions Branch and will operate with a high degree of autonomy while fostering collaboration across business units, executive leadership, technical teams, and external partners. The role will provide architectural leadership across a broad range of initiatives, ensuring that technology decisions are informed, consistent, secure, and aligned with EECDs strategic priorities. Project Objectives The primary objectives of this project are to: Establish a coherent and sustainable Enterprise Architecture Framework for EECD. Provide a holistic, enterprise-wide view of EECDs business, data, application, and technology landscapes. Improve decision-making related to technology investments, modernization, and system integration. Reduce application redundancy, technical debt, and architectural risk. Enable business transformation, process improvement, and digital enablement through well-defined architectural standards and roadmaps. Scope of Work As part of this initiative, the Enterprise Architect will be responsible for leading or contributing to multiple strategic and operational initiatives, including but not limited to: Collaborating with senior leadership to align EECD IT strategies with departmental business goals and outcomes. Defining, documenting, and maintaining EECDs enterprise architecture, including business, data, application, and technology domains. Developing technology and architecture roadmaps that describe the planned evolution of EECD systems and capabilities. Establishing and enforcing architectural standards, principles, and best practices to ensure consistency, quality, and interoperability across projects. Ensuring effective integration and interoperability between EECD systems and platforms. Evaluating and rationalizing the application portfolio to reduce duplication, improve efficiency, and support modernization efforts. Identifying opportunities for business process optimization and automation enabled by technology. Assessing the impact of architectural changes and supporting change management and adoption. Producing and maintaining clear architecture artifacts, including diagrams, models, standards, and technical documentation. Collaborating closely with the GNB Enterprise Architecture Program to ensure alignment with provincial architecture direction and governance. Communicating architectural concepts, decisions, and trade-offs to executives, business stakeholders, and technical teams. Identifying, assessing, and mitigating architectural and technology risks. Supporting project delivery teams by providing architectural guidance and assurance. Continuously evaluating emerging technologies and assessing their relevance and impact on EECDs strategic direction. Embedding security, privacy, and compliance requirements into architectural designs and standards. Deliverables 1. Governance Framework Establish a clear governance structure defining roles, responsibilities, decision-making authority, approval and escalation processes. Implement mechanisms for monitoring compliance with architectural standards and business alignment, with regular reviews to support continuous improvement. 2. Architecture Documentation Repository Create a centralized, secure repository for all architecture artifacts, supported by documentation standards, version control, and role-based access to ensure consistency, traceability, and protection of sensitive information. 3. Architecture Standards and Best Practices In collaboration with the GNB Enterprise Architecture Program, document EECD architectural standards and best practices. Provide compliance tools such as checklists and templates, and support adoption through training and awareness activities. 4. Enterprise Architecture Blueprint Develop a comprehensive current-state assessment across business, data, application, and technology domains. Define a future-state architecture aligned with EECD strategic objectives, supported by a gap analysis and recommended transition actions. 5. Technology Roadmap Produce a short- and long-term roadmap outlining initiatives, milestones, dependencies, and sequencing required to achieve the target architecture. Include high-level resource, skill, budget considerations, and risk mitigation strategies. 6. Application Portfolio Assessment Maintain an inventory of EECD applications and assess redundancy, efficiency, and technical health. Provide rationalization recommendations and define lifecycle management guidelines for introducing, maintaining, and retiring applications. 7. Business Process Improvement Plan Map key business processes to identify inefficiencies and improvement opportunities. Recommend technology-enabled solutions and define a phased implementation roadmap, supported by a change management approach to ensure adoption. 8. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan Identify, analyze, and prioritize architectural risks related to technology, security, integration, and compliance. Define mitigation strategies and establish an ongoing monitoring and reporting process. 9. Stakeholder Communication Plan Define a structured approach for communicating architectural direction, decisions, and progress to executives, IT teams, and business stakeholders. Identify key messages, communication channels, and feedback mechanisms to ensure alignment and transparency.