Manulife's Investment Division is a leading global investment manager with offices in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and throughout Asia managing a broad range of investments including equities, government and corporate bonds, real estate, mortgages, oil and gas, timber, agriculture and structured products. The Investment Division is a significant market player with more than C$600 billion in assets under management. The Investment Division Information Systems (IDIS) department and various other parts of the enterprise provide technology development and support for the Investment Division.
IDIS is recruiting an experienced and highly motivated professional to join the Architecture team. This position requires an ability to drive, define and communicate a project’s Solution Architecture.
The Solutions Architect will enhance and accelerate projects while ensuring that the logical and physical architecture for a project aligns with the standards and reference architectures defined by the Technical Domain and Enterprise Architects. Solution Architects will also be asked to regularly evaluate business strategy and technical capabilities, while also defining a matching global framework that includes system reference architecture documents, strategic roadmaps, and the evaluation of current and future systems, operational models, as well as training programs and costs.
To be successful in the role, the candidate will possess not only deep expertise in their particular field, but also superior relationship management, coaching and mentoring skills.
Responsibilities
• Develop and foster relationships with the divisional and business unit subject matter experts
• Coach, mentor and support system development teams in implementing reference architectures and standards
• Communicate the Solution Architectures to senior management and development teams through deliverables, presentations, training and other appropriate means and forums
• Work with Technical Domain and Enterprise architects to develop comprehensive solution architecture
• Work with Solution Designers to incorporate product/platform architecture into solution maps
• Work closely with project teams to drive alignment with enterprise blueprints
• Ensure project compliance with the approved technology roadmap and associated blueprints, standards, and techniques
• Actively participate in appropriate Enterprise Architecture governance bodies
• Create systems architectures that implement business capabilities as defined in the Business Architecture
• Create phased implementation architectures that deliver on the future state according to business priorities
• Identify architectural issues and risks and, if necessary, escalate them in a timely manner
• Participate in the selection of vendor products and technologies
• Assist in the development of technical design and physical architectures, emphasizing reuse and integration opportunities
• Provide Level 3 support to project efforts and operational support
• Ensure that risks are appropriately identified, prioritized and mitigated to levels acceptable for management
• Collaborate effectively with distributed IS teams in Canada, US and Asia
• Foster development of business solutions and strategic business opportunities
Operational Deliverables
• Experience with BPM, .NET Development will be advantageous
General Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering or related field, or equivalent IT experience
• 5 years progressive experience in a large IT of a multinational organization; financial services or insurance industry experience preferred
• Experience in the design and development of enterprise wide systems
• Broad exposure to different technologies and software development methodologies
• Proven leadership skills in managing projects / working groups
• Ability to foster and build relationships, engage and influence others, work with diverse internal, global business units and global network providers/outsourcers
• Strong written, and oral communication skills, ability to present and explain technical information in a way that establishes rapport, persuades others and gains understanding at all levels
• Strong interpersonal skills in such areas as teamwork, facilitation and negotiation
• Ability to quickly comprehend new technologies and assess their potential impact and value for the organization
• Strong planning and organization skills
• Innovative problem solving skills with the ability to identify and resolve complex architectural issues and product selections
• Able to balance tactical needs with strategic objectives
• Flexible, adaptable and able to embrace change
• Flexibility to accommodate global project schedules, which may include off-hours conference calls and occasional travel
• Experience with one or more SDLC methodologies
Domain-Specific Requirements
• Experience in architecting solutions for Investments, Capital Markets, Asset Management or similar business lines would be beneficial, as well as knowledge of insurance industry, finance, compliance, risk and regulatory requirements
• In-depth understanding of strategic business objectives combined with broad industry knowledge of investment products, market practices and securities operations.
Preferred:
• Experience in working with geographically distributed and culturally diverse work-groups
• Experience with application of standard architecture methodologies
About Manulife
Manulife is a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Clients look to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We also provide asset management services to institutional customers. Funds under management by Manulife and its subsidiaries were approximately C$635 billion (US$574 billion) as at March 31, 2014. Our group of companies operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States.
Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife can be found on the Internet at manulife.com.
**Organization:** **Back Office & Support*
**Title:** *Investment Division - Solutions Architect*
**Location:** *MA-Boston*
**Requisition ID:** *1502120*