Senior Solutions Architect

• Full-time fixed term role for 15 months as a Senior Solution Architect within Student Solutions directorate
• Starting Salary $153,933 plus generous superannuation and leave loading
• Kensington, Sydney location, 2-3 days in the office, Hybrid working

About UNSW:

UNSW isn’t like other places you’ve worked. Yes, we’re a large organisation with a diverse and talented community; a community doing extraordinary things. Together, we are driven to be thoughtful, practical, and purposeful in all we do. Taking this combined approach is what makes our work matter. It’s the reason we’re one of the top 20 universities in the world (QS top 20) and a member of Australia’s prestigious Group of Eight. If you want a career where you can thrive, be challenged and do meaningful work, you’re in the right place.

The Senior Solution Architect is required to design, develop and deliver high quality, cost effective and sustainable Integrated solutions that meet the needs of the business. The role will also provide high level, strategic advice and recommendations to the business in shaping solutions, based on their specialist expertise and experience. The role will develop policies, standards, frameworks and architectural roadmaps to guide the planning, selection, design and implementation of solutions and to support IT governance. This role will build collaborative relationships with IT stakeholders, suppliers and teams in the divisions and faculties, to understand and effectively translate diverse business needs into sustainable IT solutions. This role reports to the Lead Solution Architect and has no direct reports.

Specific accountabilities for this role include:

• Work with Lead Solution Architect and Enterprise Architects to ensure the solution architecture developed is aligned with the approved reference architecture and technology standards.
• Provide specialist input, advice and suggestions to assist in the development of RFx and evaluation criteria.
• Proactively partner with our Business Analysts to understand customer requirements and lead their articulation as functional and logical designs.
• Contribute to the development of architectural methods, processes, standards that align with overall business, technology and cyber security strategies.
• Design, architect and guide the implementation of cyber security protocols for strategic technology & business projects and BAU change for Group or Division.
• Work with the Lead Solution Architect and Enterprise Architecture competency centre to establish and apply standard methods, tools, templates, processes and practices.
• Develop systems architectures in specific business or functional areas, using appropriate tools and frameworks, including logical models of components and interfaces. .
• Produce detailed component specifications and translate these into detailed designs for implementation using selected products.
• Provide specialist advice on technical aspects of system development and integration (including requests for changes, deviations from specifications, etc.) and ensure that relevant technical strategies, policies, standards and practices (including security) are applied correctly.
• Collaborate and work closely with technical teams to ensure optimal solutions that meet business requirements.
• Play a lead role in contributing to policy development and creation for selection of architecture components.
• Continuously evaluate and undertake impact analysis on major design options and assess and proactively manage associated risks.
• Ensure that the system design balances functional, service quality and systems management requirements.
• Align with and actively demonstrate the UNSW Values in Action: Our Behaviours and the UNSW Code of Conduct.
• Cooperate with all health and safety policies and procedures of the university and take all reasonable care to ensure that your actions or omissions do not impact on the health and safety of yourself or others.

Who you are:

• Relevant tertiary qualification as well as a minimum of 6 years’ professional experience in IT including at least three years’ in a Solution Architecture role.
• Demonstrated and effective solution architecture and system design skills
• Experience developing security, Integration patterns, designs and requirements in a hybrid and cloud-centric environment (e.g. AWS & Azure).
• An understanding of Cloud, Managed Service and on-site deployment and integration architectures.
• An understanding of Industry recognised architectural frameworks – TOGAF.
• Demonstrated understanding of procurement practices.
• Integration architecture experience including iPaaS, API Gateways, ETL, ESB and related technologies (e.g. REST, JSON, etc).
• An understanding of various delivery lifecycles and where and why they should be used.
• A well-developed appreciation of the relationship between Solution Architecture and Enterprise Architecture.
• Strong knowledge of Cyber security industry standards, regulations, and compliance requirements relevant to Education institutions.
• Sound interpersonal and presentation skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to structure and articulate messages to different audiences at all levels.
• Comprehensive analytical and problem-solving skills, ensuring that the underlying problem is understood and a robust approach / solution is developed.
• Strong time management skills, with a demonstrated ability to respond to changing priorities, manage multiple tasks and meet competing deadlines by using judgement and initiative.

Desirable Skills and Experience (Advantageous but not Essential):

• Experience with high‑performance compute (HPC) or GPU‑accelerated platforms.
• Familiarity with identity platforms (Entra ID, federation, workload identity).
• Knowledge in modern DevOps practices and infrastructure‑as‑code.
• Exposure to datacentre modernisation or hybrid cloud uplift programs.
• Understanding of AI/ML workload patterns, data movement, or research computing environments.
• Experience contributing to reference architectures, reusable patterns, or platform standards.

 Benefits and Culture

• Flexible Working Options (work from home, flexible hours etc) 
• Career development opportunities
• 17% Superannuation contributions and additional leave loading payments 
• Additional 3 days of leave over Christmas period
• Discounts and entitlements (retail, education, fitness)

For further details on the benefits, please visit https://www.jobs.unsw.edu.au/lifestyle-benefits

How to Apply: please apply through the portal, we would like you to submit a full application including resume and addressing the who you are section.

Applications close:  Sunday 16th of August at 11.30pm

Pre-Employment Checks
Aligned with UNSW’s focus on cultivating a workplace defined by safety, ethical conduct, and strong integrity preferred candidates will be required to participate in a combination of pre-employment checks relevant to the role they have applied for.

These pre-employment checks may include a combination of some of the following checks:- 

• National and International Criminal history checks
• Entitlement to work and ID checks
• Working With Children Checks
• Completion of a Gender-Based Violence Prevention Declaration
• Verification of relevant qualifications
• Verification of relevant professional membership
• Employment history and reference checks
• Financial responsibility assessments/checks.
• Medical Checks and Assessments

Compliance with the necessary combination of these checks is a condition of employment at UNSW.

Get in Touch:

Jen MacLachlan

************@unsw.edu.au

Talent Acquisition Partner – UNSW IT

Please apply through the application portal and not via the contact above.

UNSW is committed to equity diversity and inclusion. Applications from women, people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those living with disabilities, members of the LGBTIQ+ community; and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, are encouraged. UNSW provides workplace adjustments for people with disability, and access to flexible work options for eligible staff. The University reserves the right not to proceed with any appointment.