Infrastructure Solution Lead

JOB DESCRIPTION
SUMMARY:
Reporting to the Manager of Infrastructure Solutions, the purpose of this role is to be principally accountable for the successful design and implementation of infrastructure solutions for projects supporting our retail client's enterprise systems.
The successful candidate will be responsible for the translation of technical requirements into solutions that align to our customers architectural standards as well as our strategic business focus.
The position requires in-depth knowledge of Infrastructure Technologies as well as project management principles in order to effectively design and deploy stable, efficient solutions. Additionally, the role is responsible to provide high level solution assessments to support early business decisions.
The Infrastructure Solution Lead will be a key member of the Infrastructure Engineering team; responsible for providing development and integration of new and existing service offerings. This includes assisting and supporting Infrastructure Roadmaps and Technology Architecture for our Infrastructure Domains.
Overall the Infrastructure Solution Lead will partner with the Application Solution Architect to provide end-to-end technical oversight for IT project solutions.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Lead large scale Infrastructure projects related to the design, selection, acquisition, and implementation of infrastructure systems
- Develop infrastructure solutions and design such that they align to the current IT Standards
- The Infrastructure Solution Lead will develop a fluent understanding of the business systems associated with their assigned portfolio infrastructure landscape
- The role must provide a fully integrated Infrastructure Solution inclusive of; Platform Compute, Enterprise Storage, Network Technologies, Enterprise Monitoring, Messaging & Collaboration, Desktop & Remote Access, and Middleware & DB Technologies.
- Under the management of the Project Manager, perform the solution development process from concept stage through to delivery.

This includes:

- Requirements Analysis and Validation
- High Level Design & Technology Cost Model preparation
- Develop and support Proof of Concept & Pilot phases
- Detailed Design & Deployment Planning
- Lead the execution of the Deployment for Non-Production and Production environments
- Includes representing the implementation plans through change management
- Support Technology Team Build Documentation
- Consult on go-live efforts of non-production & production environments
- Carry out Project Post Implementation Reviews in order to provide continuous improvement
- Develop and execute implementation plans, risk matrixes, resource requirements, and budget estimates.
- Acts as the technical lead on complex solutions, conducts technical reviews, develops the integrated solution model
- Accountable for all infrastructure documentation and custodian of application documentation
- Identify the need for new processes & artifacts associated with the infrastructure solution development process. Focus on building process efficiencies into each stage of the design & delivery cycle
- Exploit existing technology standards where possible and identify the need for new ones where necessary
- This role will exercise governance over infrastructure based vendors to ensure that their solution or service aligns to our client's technology standards and expectations
- Maintain an up-to-date understanding of computer systems technology (in their specific LOB domain) and determine how advances in this technology can be utilized within Shoppers Drug Mart
- Develops and delivers presentations to all levels if the organization, including the IT executive level
- Along with other Infrastructure Solution Leads, contributes to the development and maintenance of the Infrastructure Assessment Model

SUPERVISION/LEADERSHIP: This position provides subject matter expertise to Architecture and Engineering on the standards and processes related to technology in our client's Infrastructure.
Additionally, the role requires this resource to direct others in a Matrix fashion in order to deliver the overall solution.

CONTACTS and PURPOSE:
Internal:

- IT Project Managers on a daily basis to discuss the progress of assigned project deliverables
- Senior Infrastructure Analysts on a daily basis to plan the use of appropriate technologies for the delivery of applications and to provide review of the proposed infrastructure design
- IT Architects on a daily basis in order to ensure alignment of the IT technologies that contribute to each specific solution
- VP's and Directors of business units to apprise them of progress on critical issues
- Other contact outside IT is not frequent and will be on the demand of IT Project Managers for specific technical perspective concerning application design or business process optimization.

External:

- Technology vendor sales and pre-sales support (daily to weekly) to keep current on the state of standard technologies and to plan the deployment of acquired technologies
- Technology vendor management staff (monthly) for the purposes of escalating technical and delivery issues beyond the scope handled by the immediate team
- Technology vendor education departments to co-ordinate internal training courses

EXPERIENCE/REQUIREMENTS:

- University Degree in Engineering or Computer Science or equivalent experience
- 8 + or more years experience with Platform, Storage, Monitoring, Network, Data Centre, & Desktop technologies
- 3 + years experience with retail infrastructure technologies & deployment architectures
- Experience with Middleware applications Servers as well as Enterprise Database technologies
- 6+ years of experience developing high level and detail design documentation specific to Infrastructure solutions
- 5+ years experience developing complex Infrastructure Bill of Materials/Cost models inclusive of hardware, software & labour
- Industry related experience in a IT consultant/technical lead role according to our towers (Pharmacy, Supply Chain, Corporate, Core Infrastructure, Store/Retail, BI DW & MDM) (adjust for each Tower Role)
- 3+ years exposure to organizations that have deployed solution development methodologies based upon Architectural Frameworks such as TOGAF, 3 + years experience collaborating with technology subject matter experts for creating complex solution designs
- Able to work with minimum supervision, taking ownership for the successful completion of work assignments
- Detail oriented
- Self motivated with a strong desire to improve personal skills and knowledge
- Strong verbal and written skills

This role is accountable for planning and scheduling the implementation of technology changes. This entails co-ordination with several groups internally, IT Architecture, Project Management, vendor/consulting resources and IT management. Critical in this process is developing a solution that minimises the negative impact to the business during infrastructure changes.

The daily process of prioritising conflicting requirements and expectations from the Project teams requires very good judgement & communication skills. This is crucial to maintaining a productive set of cross-functional relationships.

The most important decisions made by the Infrastructure Solution Lead are in balancing the architectural choices between short term and long term impact. Cost (dollars and resources), project schedules, business value and resource availability must all be considered.