IT Architecture Practice Lead

at  WestJet

WHY WESTJET:

Every WestJet journey has the potential to enrich lives; a career with us is no exception.
WestJet arrived on the Canadian airline scene in 1996 and changed the industry for the better. We made air travel more affordable for Canadians and now we’re going global.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or Information Security and 7+ years of experience preferred or an equivalent combination of training and experience
• Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) designation preferred
• Open Group Open Certified Architect (Open CA) certification preferred
• IT Architect with experience producing architectures
• Experience setting direction and leading in the introduction and use of techniques, methods, and tools to meet business requirements
• Demonstrated leadership skills, providing mentorship and technical guidance to other team members
• Experience in running centre of excellence style teams with the ability to set direction, influence and lead across teams without direct line reporting
• Strong ability to influence and drive decisions
• Expert problem-solving skills and advanced interpersonal and communication skills including influencing others
• In-depth knowledge of security and resilience considerations in software development
• Broad knowledge of all aspects of IT, including application development, network and system administration, quality assurance, digital channels and application and data management in both traditional and cloud delivery models
• Certification and expertise in formal methods to guide and drive the development of solutions, the management of their work, and the production of their deliverables
• Demonstrable experience of program, project, product, and agile delivery leading to successful technical transformation
• Experience playing a role in formal organizational processes such recruitment, reward, promotion, and disciplinary procedures

WestJet’s IT Architecture community of practice, a distributed group of domain and solution architects in a product-based organization, will be led by an IT Architecture Practice Lead. The role works through the community and with the Enterprise Architecture team to set strategies, policies, standards, and practices to ensure compliance between business strategies, technology strategies, and enterprise transformation activities.
Reporting to the Senior Manager, Enterprise Architecture, the Practice Lead is an IT Architect with extensive experience producing architectures and will use this expertise to mentor a skilled community of practitioners in a dotted-line relationship. This role will develop the performance of individuals and workgroups to meet agreed objectives with measurable results. They will enhance employee engagement and ways of working, empower employees, and support their health and wellbeing. The Practice Lead will facilitate the professional development of individuals in line with their career goals and organizational requirements. The scope of work will include recruitment, career progression, professional development planning, and certification.
The Practice Lead will be responsible for defining and operating a framework for making decisions and managing stakeholder relationships. Ensuring methods and tools are adopted and used effectively throughout the community will be an important aspect of the role. This role will provide leadership, advice, and implementation support to assess organizational capabilities and to identify, prioritize and implement improvements for solution design activities. Influencing stakeholder attitudes, decisions, and actions for mutual benefit will be key.
Assisting product and platforms teams with acquiring, deploying, and onboarding resources is a function of this role as we scale our capacity, often through our relationships with our partners.