Job description 

Principal Architect

Qualification:

Science / Engineering graduate

Responsibility:

Innovation and Thought Leadership:

• Participate in external forums (seminars, paper presentation etc) to showcase Cognizant capabilities and insights.
• Interact and engage with customers/ partners around new innovative ideas, concepts, assets.
• as well as industry trends and implications.
• Participate in Beta testing of products / joint lab setup with customer to explore application of new technologies / products.
• Identify areas where components/accelerators or design patterns could be reused across different accounts.
• Create documents, reports, white papers (international/national) on the research findings.

Technology Consulting:

• Define Problem statement for the customer.
• Analyze application/ technology landscape, process, tools and arrive at the solution options best fit for the client.
• Analyze Cost Vs Benefits of solution options.
• Define the technology/ architecture roadmap for the client.
• Articulate the cost vs benefits of options to key stakeholders in customer.

Alliance Management:

• Identify alliance partners based on the understanding of service offerings and client requirements.
• Identify areas for joint GTM with the partner.
• Develop internal capabilities/complementary toolsets to support the GTM strategy.
• Maintain the relationship with partners.
• Act as the Cognizant technical POC for the specific technology/solution area.

Knowledge Management & Capability Development:

• Provide inputs to teams for training etc.
• Identify the training needs and conduct internal sessions to meet the same.
• Partner with Cognizant academy to Create curriculum, assessments, training programs, courseware based on new service offerings / solutions etc.
• Update collateral on to the knowledge management repository.
• Gain and cultivate domain expertise to provide best and optimized solution to customer.

Project Control and Review:

• Perform architecture design review.
• Identify opportunities for optimization of cost / time / asset utilization in complex projects and advise relevant teams accordingly where possible.
• Provide advice to teams facing complex technical issues in the course of project delivery.
• Conduct planned and unplanned technical audits for complex projects as applicable.
• 'Define and measure project /program specific architectural and technology quality metrics.
• Review outputs to ensure NFRs are met.

People Management:

• Provide support to various project managers in identification of training needs of their subordinates.
• Conduct training / certifications with the help of academy and mentoring with respect to technical skills on projects.
• Support technical evaluation of external and internal candidates to meet project requirements.
• Perform career guidance and performance management for team members.

Asset Development and Governance:

• Provide thought leadership in conceptualizing the need and design of assets.
• Track implementation of assets.
• Improve asset effectiveness.
• Improve deployment effectiveness.

Sales Support and Project Estimation:

• Develop collaterals for proposals.
• Conduct workshops at the client site to assist the sales team in sales support , if required.
• Compare various designs and propose appropriate technology solutions based on the understanding of the RFP and inputs from Architects.
• Calculate and present estimates based on high level designs to management for supporting in go/ nogo decisions.
• Review estimations and resource plan.
• Review risk and mitigation plan.
• Anchor proposal development with crosslinkages across multiple competency units & arrive at a coherent solution, unique value propositions and clear differentiators.
• Participate in client presentation and client visits.

New Service Design:

• Identify potential opportunities for new service offerings based on customer voice/ partner inputs / industry connects and trends.
• Support the development of business case for investments for approval from senior management.
• Work with partners to codevelop a joint GTM (as applicable).
• Develop IP/tools and framework to address the opportunity technically.
• Conduct beta testing / POC as applicable.
• Develop collaterals, guides for GTM.

Requirement gathering and Analysis:

• Understand the requirements from a larger system / transformation program context.
• Validate the cross application / cross technology requirements to ensure integrate ability and reconciliation of conflicting requirements, by working with customers and other stakeholders.

Solution Definition & Design:

• Ensure alignment of the highlevel architecture with the existing client need and business logic / review design prepared by architects.
• Ensure the involvement of right teams in solution design.
• Ensure tec hnical integrate ability, requirements compliance of the solution, especially in case of a multi group / multi vendor program.
• Involve external partners / horizontals as appropriate.
• Provide guidance to solution architect around usage of patterns/anti patterns in the solution.
• Ensure CTS architecture principles and QOA(Quality of Architecture) are maintained.
• Analyze tradeoffs and provide recommendations, if any, on the solution architecture.
• Identify opportunities for efficiency improvements (eg, automation), risk reduction in the transformation process.
• Understand the various work streams and the technologies necessary to deliver on large programs.
• Resolve any issues based on industry expertise / partners leverage.
• Provide best in class technology and solution options to customers with detailed examples and case studies.
• Guide customer on process and technology improvements to achieve agility and quick results.

Stakeholder Management:

• Build credibility with the client as a technical goto person.
• Work to expand professional network in the client organization.

Project Management Support:

• Proactive identification & management of technical risks.

Must Have Skills

• Angular
• ARIS Business Use Cases
• Portfolio & Project mgmt (PPM)
• Web Services
• MS SQL Server