Director, Solution Architecture at Manulife Insurance Malaysia

Director, Solution Architecture

The Opportunity

Office location: Boston - USA

Work arrangement: Hybrid (3 days in office, 2 days from home); Remote work arrangement is not available

Responsibilities:

• Lead a team of solution architects aligned to various delivery streams to drive solution architecture for various high-profile initiatives.
• Responsible for managing and driving the overall performance of the team.
• Partner with business and IT leaders to understand, prioritize and align solution design roadmap and related deliverables.
• Ensure the team is actively engaged in all aspects of project life cycle, entrenched in scrum teams and committed to business success.
• Own and drive the target state architecture maturity, via solution architecture progress, and business & technical platform alignment.
• Demonstrated ability to guide the team for architectural vision and software quality.
• Collaborate and incorporate feedback from various stakeholders to drive design decisions and practice maturity.
• Own and drive the solution architecture program for the segment including backlog prioritization, delivery, managing velocity, realignment, stakeholder communication, etc.
• Champion solution architecture reviews and process maturity to showcase alignment and adoption of enterprise standards, reduction of technical debt, improved experience, etc.
• Communicate architecture value in terms of alignment to both functional and non-functional requirements to design & deliver solutions in an easier, better, faster manner.
• Facilitate and contribute to design reviews and provide appropriate feedback.
• Ensure designs are produced to satisfy conceptual, logical and physical views, and aligns to both segment and global solution architecture assurance standards.
• Ensure initiatives are driven through various architecture forums and quality gates.
• Identify complex issues in a timely manner and provide mitigation recommendations to the relevant delivery and business partner leads.
• Demonstrated leadership abilities in a complex environment in driving operational excellence and best practices.
• Own and drive articulation of solution architecture metrics, scorecards, dashboards, etc., to demonstrate both alignment and progress of solution architecture practice maturity.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field, or equivalent combination of education and recent, relevant work experience.
• Overall information technology experience - 10+ years
• Systems or application development experience - 10+ years
• Required hands-on experience in any or all including in both backend and front-end - Java, .Net, Web, Mobile, Platform, React, Angular, Azure (preferred) or AWS, AI
• Financial services industry experience, especially insurance domain is preferred.
• Exposure to new technologies, language frameworks, and design patterns.
• Experience leading a team of technical members including software engineers, architects.
• Prior experience leading a solution architecture office or program with successful track record is strongly preferred.
• Prior exposure in lean/agile architecture principles, design authority, etc.
• Proven storytelling ability to architecture concepts and value to diverse audience, ranging from developers to executive leadership.
• Proven experience driving and delivering digital efforts with a focus on customer experience, agility, reliability, and quality.
• Exposure to architecting solutions for cloud - Azure preferred.
• Exposure to well-architected framework concepts in solution design.
• Exposure to automation frameworks and their relevance to business agility.
• Excellent interpersonal skills in areas such as teamwork, facilitation, and negotiation.
• Excellent team building and relationship building skills.
• Excellent time management skills, including multi-tasking and prioritization.
• Strong written, verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Experience articulating the financial and business impact of various solution architecture alternatives, including cost-benefit analysis, TCO, etc.
• Experience working in an open, highly collaborative team environment.
• Experience with software development life cycles and technical design principles. (e.g., Agile, Scrum, Disciplined Agile, TOGAF, etc.), certification is a plus.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines with attention to detail.
• Experience with application rationalization and modernization initiatives.
• Exposure to financial services industry, specifically life insurance is a plus.
• Understanding and exposure to security and compliance standards and best practices.

When you join our team:

• We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.
• We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.
• As part of our global team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit https://www.manulife.com/en/about/our-story.html.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife/John Hancock, we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals.

Company: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)