Solutions and Business Architecture Area Chapter Lead

Safaricom PLC is a leading telecommunications company in Kenya, established in 1997. It provides a wide range of communication services and digital solutions.

Reporting to the Head of Data, AI Systems & Architecture, the Solution & Business Architecture Area Chapter Lead is tasked with providing strategic leadership and comprehensive governance for both Solution Architecture and Business Analysis functions throughout Safaricom. This position is critical for advancing the organization's architecture and business analysis capabilities, establishing unified standards, methodologies, and best practices. The incumbent will ensure that all business and solution designs are consistently delivered to a high standard, aligning with Enterprise Architecture principles, the overarching business strategy, and defined technology roadmaps. The role also involves leading Engineering Managers who oversee Consumer Business, Enterprise & Public Sector, Financial Services, Technology, and Business Analysis. This leadership ensures uniform architecture practices across all business units while simultaneously fostering capability maturity, driving innovation, developing talent, managing architecture governance, and promoting continuous improvement. As the custodian of Safaricom's Business Architecture, System and Application roadmaps, and the organization’s solution architecture and business analysis practices, the Area Chapter Lead empowers delivery teams to build scalable, secure, reusable, and business-aligned digital capabilities.

1. Define and own the strategy, operating model, and capability roadmap for Solution Architecture and Business Analysis.
2. Establish a unified Architecture and Business Analysis practice across the organization.
3. Drive continuous improvement and maturity in both architecture and business analysis disciplines.
4. Foster a culture of engineering excellence, innovation, collaboration, and customer-centric design.
5. Promote the reuse of architecture patterns, business capabilities, APIs, and design assets.
6. Lead and develop Engineering Managers responsible for various solution architecture and business analysis areas, including coaching, performance management, succession planning, capability development, workforce planning, recruitment of senior talent, career progression, and learning programs.
7. Own governance for all architecture and business analysis activities by establishing principles, standards, methodologies, review boards, and ensuring compliance with enterprise architecture, security, data, AI, integration, and cloud strategies.
8. Provide oversight of Business Unit technology evolution, ensuring current application roadmaps, maintained technology modernization roadmaps, existing legacy technology retirement plans, and alignment of capability roadmaps with enterprise strategy.
9. Develop and continuously improve architecture frameworks, business capability models, reference architectures, solution patterns, business analysis templates, design standards, reusable architecture assets, and AI-assisted practices, driving adoption across delivery teams.
10. Provide quality oversight for business requirements, solution design documents, integration designs, non-functional requirements, architecture decision records, solution reviews, and architecture compliance assessments.
11. Partner closely with various internal teams (Enterprise Architecture, Product Management, Digital Engineering, Data & AI Engineering, Cyber Security, Infrastructure, Operations, Delivery Management) and vendor partners to ensure end-to-end solution alignment.
12. Champion innovation and continuous improvement in areas like AI-assisted architecture and requirements engineering, architecture automation, repositories, digital twins, knowledge management, reusable solution accelerators, and cloud/API/AI-first design principles.
13. Adhere to company code of conduct, policies, and procedures, ensuring integrity and accountability.
14. Adhere to safety, health, and wellbeing policies, guidelines, and procedures.

1. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business Information Systems, or a related discipline.
2. Master’s degree in Technology, Business Administration (MBA), Enterprise Architecture, or a related field is highly desirable.
3. 8+ years of experience in Solution Architecture, Business Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, or Business Analysis.
4. 5+ years of experience leading architecture or business analysis practices, chapters, or centers of excellence.
5. Proven experience leading senior technical leaders and multidisciplinary architecture teams.
6. Demonstrated success in delivering enterprise-wide digital transformation programs.
7. Strong experience in Enterprise Architecture governance, application portfolio management, business capability modeling, cloud-native architectures, API-led integration, and technology modernization.
8. Experience establishing architecture and business analysis standards, governance frameworks, and capability development programs within large, complex enterprise environments.
9. TOGAF® Certified.
10. TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA) certification.
11. Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) or equivalent.
12. Cloud certifications (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud).
13. SAFe Agilist, Scrum, or other Agile certification.
14. ITIL Foundation or equivalent.
15. Strong strategic leadership, practice leadership, people development, coaching & mentoring, stakeholder management, organizational design, and change leadership skills.
16. Proficiency in Business Architecture, Business Capability Modelling, Business Process Modelling, Customer Journey Mapping, Product Operating Model, Digital Transformation, and Portfolio Management.
17. Expertise in Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, Application Architecture, Integration Architecture, Cloud Architecture, Security Architecture, Data Architecture, AI Architecture, API Architecture, Event-Driven Architecture, Microservices, and Domain-Driven Design.
18. Technical skills in Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), Kubernetes, API Management, DevSecOps, CI/CD, Architecture Modelling (ArchiMate, UML, BPMN, C4), Integration Platforms, AI Engineering, Data Platforms, and Enterprise Integration Patterns.
19. Knowledge of governance frameworks like TOGAF, TM Forum ODA, Architecture Review Boards, Technology Standards, Design Governance, Business Analysis Frameworks, and Risk Management.
20. Ability to be a trusted thought leader and change agent, influencing business and IT leaders.
21. Organizational savvy, understanding enterprise political climate and navigating obstacles.
22. Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
23. Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
24. Excellent analytical, technical, and problem-solving skills with creativity and a practical, principle-driven approach.
25. Ability to balance long-term and short-term implications of decisions, driving actions consistent with long-term goals.
26. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to distill complex technical concepts and persuade to gain support for principles, standards, and change.
27. Excellent relationship building, teamwork, and collaboration skills.
28. Ability to design for scalability and reuse, anticipate future data needs, and align architecture with organizational goals.
29. Vendor and technology neutral, driven by long-term business outcomes.
30. Proactive in suggesting improvements, piloting emerging tools, and evaluating their fit.