Applications Architect

SUMMARY:
Our client based in Isando is looking for a Application Architect with at least 6+ years of experience in the field, coupled with NQF Level 7 qualification in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field and must be TOGAF Certification.

Purpose of the Role:
The Application Architect is responsible for designing, maintaining, and continually improving the application architecture blueprint, which defines how systems interact to support business processes and deliver measurable business outcomes.

POSITION INFO:
Qualifications and Experience Required:

• Matric plus NQF Level 7 Qualification in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• TOGAF Certification
• 6–8 years of experience, this individual has worked on designing, integrating, and optimising applications across diverse industries.
• The Application Architect is responsible for defining and maintaining the blueprint for enterprise applications, ensuring they align with business goals and IT strategies.
• Proven expertise in application portfolio management, identifying redundancies, gaps, and opportunities for modernisation.
• Designing interfaces, APIs, microservices, and integration patterns to support interoperability and scalability.
• Strong knowledge of SOA, cloud-native applications, and middleware platforms, ensuring solutions are both flexible and sustainable.
• Collaborate extensively with Business, Data, and Technology Architects to maintain cross-domain consistency and governance compliance.
• Skilled in application modelling, process alignment, and system rationalisation, ensuring solutions remain adaptable to change.
• Supporting Agile delivery teams, providing architectural guidance during development and deployment.
• Translate business requirements into technical application designs that deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Proven track record of enabling organisations to achieve agility, innovation, and efficiency through well-structured application architectures

• Develop and maintain an application architecture blueprint covering 100% of core business systems, updated annually.
• Ensure at least 90% alignment of application designs with enterprise strategies, data requirements, and technology standards

• Define and govern application and system interfaces, APIs, and integration patterns, targeting 95% reuse of approved integration patterns.
• Ensure all new applications support scalability and interoperability benchmarks (e.g., <200ms average response time for API calls under load testing).

• Conduct biannual portfolio assessments to identify redundancies, cost inefficiencies, and modernisation opportunities.
• Reduce application redundancies by 10% year-on-year and increase cloud-ready / modernised applications by 15% annually.

• Partner with Business, Data, and Technology Architects to deliver quarterly architecture review boards, ensuring 100% compliance with governance standards.
• Document and track cross-domain decisions with a measurable closure rate of 95% on architectural actions within agreed timelines.

• Achieve 100% compliance of applications with security, data, and technology governance standards through design reviews.
• Lead architectural assurance reviews for all major projects, targeting zero critical non-compliances at go-live.

• Define measurable KPIs for applications (uptime, cost per transaction, user adoption).
• Demonstrate annual improvements of 5–10% in system availability, cost efficiency, or user satisfaction through architectural changes.
• Support at least two innovation or proof-of-concept initiatives per year, aligning with business agility and digital transformation goals.

• Define and maintain the enterprise application blueprint, ensuring alignment with business needs and IT strategy.
  

• Rationalise the application landscape by identifying redundancies, gaps, and modernisation opportunities.