Solutions Architect

Position Overview

The Solution Architect plays a critical role in designing and delivering technology solutions that align with Cigna's enterprise architecture standards and strategic direction. This position bridges business needs and technical execution, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, and cost-effective. The role requires strong technical creativity, collaboration skills, and the ability to influence across multiple teams. The Solution Architect is responsible for designing and communicating a shared technical and architectural vision across multiple teams to ensure that solutions are fit for purpose, scalable, and aligned with enterprise strategy. This role bridges business objectives and technical execution, focusing on data-driven solutions and service integration.

Responsibilities

Architectural Leadership

• Define and communicate end-to-end solution designs for complex technology initiatives.
• Define and maintain solution architecture for data platforms and service ecosystems.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture principles and reuse of technology assets.
• Develop directional architecture diagrams (architecture runway), identify impacted technical assets, and assess trade-offs, and ensure
• alignment with enterprise architecture standards.

Technology Solutions

• Evaluate and recommend tools for data storage, processing, and analytics (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, AWS, Azure).
• Ensure solutions leverage cloud-native and distributed computing principles.
• Define non-functional requirements (NFRs) and review architecture for security compliance.
• Design systems for high availability, disaster recovery, and real-time analytics.
• Create scalable data pipelines and optimize ETL/ELT processes for structured and unstructured data.
• Monitor architecture performance and optimize for cost and efficiency.

Security and Compliance

• Implement zero-trust security frameworks and data governance policies.
• Ensure compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and other regulatory standards.

Collaboration

• Partner with application delivery teams, integration specialists, and business stakeholders.
• Facilitate architecture reviews and consensus-building across delivery teams.
• Work with business stakeholders, data engineers, and developers to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Lead architecture reviews and provide guidance on trade-offs and risk mitigation.

Risk Management

• Anticipate technical challenges and propose mitigation strategies.
• Make well-informed decisions on ambiguous architecture issues.

Thought Leadership

• Provide technical expertise across multiple domains with broad business impact.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and recommend adoption where appropriate.

Qualifications

Technical Expertise

• Strong knowledge of data modeling, warehousing, and lakehouse architectures.
• Proficiency in SQL, NoSQL, and big data technologies (Hadoop, Spark).
• Skills in Python, Java, and CI/CD pipeline implementation.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 12 + years of experience in IT architecture or solution design roles.
• Proven track record in designing and implementing enterprise-scale solutions.
• Expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), integration technologies, and event-driven architecture.
• Familiarity with frameworks such as SAFe® for Architects and TOGAF.

Preferred Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with healthcare domain and compliance frameworks (HIPAA, GDPR).
• Certifications: AWS Solution Architect, Azure Solution Architect Expert, TOGA