Senior Solution Architect, Student Ecosystem

Job Summary

The Senior Solution Architect, Student Ecosystem is a university wide role accountable for the end‑to‑end architecture of UBC’s Student Ecosystem across enterprise platforms, integrations, data domains, and external vendors.

This role leads the design of major student IT systems, translating architectural principles and standards into practical, scalable solution blueprints across administrative and academic systems, digital platforms, data, identity, and external services.

Working at an institutional level, the role has the authority to set architectural direction, define solution standards, and guide program and vendor design decisions that have long term operational, financial, compliance, and reputational impact on the University.

Organizational Status
The Senior Solution Architect reports, organizationally, to the Chief Enterprise Architect with a dotted line to the Director, Enterprise Digital Transformation & Automation. The Senior Solutions Architect will work closely with stakeholders and senior colleagues from the Faculties, Enrolment Services, and Administrative Units and other units within the University.

The role works closely with Enterprise, Data, Integration, Identity & Access Management (IAM), Privacy, Security, and Infrastructure Architects, as well as program leadership and senior business stakeholders.

Work Performed
Specific Duties:

Solution Architecture Leadership

• Manages the overall design and development of end-to‑end solution architectures for the Student Ecosystem, spanning multiple systems, platforms, and vendors.
• Defines target state and transition architectures aligned with UBC’s enterprise roadmaps and student experience strategy.
• Establishes and enforces solution level architecture standards, principles, and design patterns for student facing and student supporting systems.
  

Architecture Governance and Decision Authority

• Provides architectural review, endorsement, and direction for student related initiatives, including major programs and vendor solutions.
• Leads and participates in Architecture Review Board (ARB) and related governance forums.
• Resolves cross program and cross vendor architectural issues, tradeoffs, and risks.
  

Integration, Data, and Platform Coherence

• Ensures consistent integration patterns, data flows, and ‘system of record’ decisions across the student ecosystem.
• Works with Data and Integration Architecture teams to reduce data and system fragmentation, duplication, and technical debt.
• Ensures alignment with privacy, security, identity, and regulatory requirements.
  

Program and Vendor Architecture Oversight

• Acts as the architectural authority across multi-vendor student programs, reviewing solution designs, integration approaches, and roadmaps.
• Identifies architectural risks early and recommends mitigation strategies to delivery and executive leadership.
• Balances time to delivery with long term sustainability and enterprise value.
  

Advisory & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serves as a trusted architecture advisor to senior IT and business leaders on student systems strategy and investment decisions.
• Translates complex architectural concepts into clear guidance for executive, program, and delivery audiences.

Core Duties:

• Ensures all projects adhere to technology architecture and development standards and establishes compliance processes to review in-progress activity.
• Defines the solution architecture guiding principles and determines which integration capabilities are to be implemented.
• Provides technical leadership and expertise on architecture planning, processes and standards, system development methodologies, key business initiatives / issues, IT implications for systems or technologies and their impact on business solutions.
• Maps and analyzes the business process to the supporting applications and services to understand the impact of the requirements (functional and non-functional).
• Collaborates with senior professionals to develop a Requirements Traceability Matrix to ensure end-to-end traceability of the solution to the requirements and reuse existing technologies and/or solution patterns where appropriate.
• Researches, develops and documents advanced and specialized UBC applications, industry best practices, Higher Education standards, architecture, and technologies
• Maintains appropriate professional designations and up-to-date knowledge of current information technology techniques.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

Errors in architectural judgment or design may result in:

• Increased operational risk due to fragmented or incompatible student systems
• Financial risk through duplicated solutions, vendor lock‑in, or rework
• Regulatory, privacy, or security compliance issues
• Degraded student experience and institutional reputational impact

Work requires a high degree of judgment, accuracy, and adherence to formal governance processes.

Supervision Received
Reports to the Chief Enterprise Architect. Works under broad direction of Enterprise Architecture leadership. Performance is evaluated against architectural outcomes, risk reduction, and long-term sustainability of the student ecosystem.

Supervision Given
This role does not have formal people management responsibility.
Provides architectural direction and guidance to project teams, solution & technical architects, and vendors.

Minimum Qualifications
Post-graduate degree. Minimum of ten years of related experience including at least four years of managerial experience plus three years of specialized experience in the design and implementation of major computer systems, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive experience in enterprise and solution architecture roles within complex organizations.
• Demonstrated experience leading architecture across large, federated portfolios involving multiple platforms and vendors.
• Experience in public sector or higher education environments is preferred.
• Strong solution architecture capability across enterprise applications, integrations, data, identity, and digital platforms.
• Proven ability to make and defend architecture decisions with institutional level impact.
• Expertise in architecture governance, risk management, and stakeholder negotiation.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage executive, technical, and non‑technical audiences.