Senior Solution Architect

Reporting to a Director within the MES Solution Delivery team, operate as a member of the Centre of Excellence, supporting MES sales teams on later-stage opportunities and MES delivery teams in implementing MES according to best-practice modelling and solutions. Leverage experience and knowledge to support and mentor solution delivery team members through delivery challenges. Engage with Sales and Pre-Sales to create accurate cost estimates, including clear assumptions, caveats, and solution-related risks. Engage with the MES Product team to consult on product development needs and provide requirements arising from both pre-sales and delivery experience. A Typical Day in the Life Includes: Pre-Sales Engage as resource at the appropriate stage of an opportunity (on-site or remote) to be part of discovery / engage workshops & requirements studies Engage effectively during these activities to obtain sufficient knowledge and understanding of customer processes and requirements, to enable effective and accurate solution scoping and estimation Work with pre-sales teams to create and present Infor MES capability in the context of sales opportunities Consult with pre-sales teams during their activities related to the build-out of tailored software demonstrations Provide a point of contact for pre-sales teams completing RFPs to gain input, review etc. on responses Raise concerns internally regarding solution fit or areas of risk in a sales opportunity Attend customer meetings / calls with account manager and solution consultant Create budgetary estimates (ROMs) for sales opportunities with new customers Review of cost estimates with appropriate director, prior to raising with client partner Assist in the provision of a suitable estimated hardware specification required to support the solution, for Build, Test and Live environments, for a customer Author SWOs for sales opportunities with new customers Solution Delivery Review customer requirements collated from pre-sales activity Engage as solution architect at the start of a project, working alongside the project team lead to share solution architect responsibilities Meet as part of an internal kick-off for each project, in order to gain a shared understanding of the project scope, timeline, requirements, challenges etc. and provide input in relation to the solution delivery elements Engage during design phase of each project (for both new customers, following the prototype methodology, and package activities for existing customers) to define the appropriate design for the solution Work alongside the project team to design scalable, customer-focused solutions that align with client requirements and minimize delivery timelines Aim to reduce project costs and complexity by adhering to the Infor T2V strategy with minimal customizations, ensuring long-term maintainability Provide appropriate coaching, guidance and support for project teams to implement the appropriate solution for their customer Provide appropriate input for project teams to write test plans for the solution Review and sign-off prototype solutions prior to presenting to the customer during the project delivery Review and sign-off test execution results prior to handing over the final built solution to the customer Consult on change requests raised during projects - for suitability, practicality, estimated effort, estimated delivery time, risk in inclusion into scope etc. Engage where possible with escalations related to the solution (vs. the project delivery) - involve a director of solution delivery if needed Conduct effective Design Reviews for each active project the SA is operating within, document corrective actions to be taken, subsequent follow-up to ensure adherence to standards Support auditing of the test, release and deployment processes for a project/solution - provide sign-off ahead of deployment, ensure adherence to process Engage with support resources where required to provide explanation and assistance about project solutions Engage with support team to facilitate solution handover at project completion - enabling timely handover of the solution, freeing up project delivery team earlier from the overhead of support. Solution Delivery Processes & Tools Act as a member of the MES solution delivery centre of excellence, within the MES business unit Provide input into processes related to solution delivery, in discussion with the solution delivery director - e.g. design reviews, testing process, release & deployment process Guide adoption of new processes by project teams, through on-the-job direction and enablement Develop and maintain MES IPC content Engage in the PKS "Project Knowledge Share" process - supporting discussion on solving customer requirements Attend regular Solution Delivery CoE team meetings - raise issues, provide input during discussions Customers Build trust and foster long-term client partnerships by consistently delivering innovative designs that meet and even exceed expectations Engage in effective and honest discussion with customers regarding solution requirements that bring risk, need revision, are unachievable etc. Product Provide input for definition of new requirements in support of the OTB strategy, integration etc. - driven by in-field use cases and customer engagement Contribute to discussions about how the product works, was intended to work, should work in future Engage in regular review meetings with the heads of MES product and development, where a valid change request is identified and needs to be raised for discussion and sponsorship Assist with specification of product change requests Review and sign-off on product change request specifications Engage in the authoring and review of content for system documentation Internal Enablement Act as first level of support for services teams and solution consultants where solution-related questions arise Support the provision of guidance and enablement to partner solution architect resources, driving best-practice solution implementation during partner-led projects Gain awareness and understanding of all new features through release training and additional enablement where needed Build knowledge of manufacturing processes through engagement with customers and project delivery teams Work with the enablement team to identify new opportunities for enablement content and activities Work with wider Info teams (primarily ERP) to explain the requirements of MES, the expectations regarding integration, and the ability for MES to address hard-to-reach ERP requirements Personnel Development & Support Mentor Senior Consultants that may engage in some of the pre-sales or solution delivery activity to prepare them for engagements such as discovery workshops, design workshops, etc. - with a view to develop them into a member of the solution delivery CoE in future. Ad-hoc, on-the-job guidance and enablement for all members of project delivery teams, to develop their solution architect and delivery skills and aid future MES implementations. Basic Qualifications: Educated to degree level in computing, business information systems, manufacturing engineering, manufacturing technology or a related subject Ability to freely travel abroad Fluent in English Flexibility in working hours as needed Experience with the implementation of MES solutions Experience of working directly in manufacturing industries (preferably in operations, or IT) or indirectly (customers in manufacturing sector), demonstrating a level of manufacturing operations knowledge and key concepts Experience working within a software delivery or development team, with a focus on solution architecture Preferred Qualifications: Experience with ERP solutions or with other Level 3 solutions such as WMS, LIMS, CMMS etc. - either in their usage or delivery Additional spoken languages