Our client is looking for a Senior Chief Enterprise Architect
Request Description
Context
Our client in the public water sector has a strong ambition to manage the technological complexity of its information system and align its digital investments with its public-service missions.
This ambition is part of a sector-wide approach that brings together public water operators—wastewater treatment organisations, public authorities and distributors—around the efficient, equitable and mutualised management of their resources and information systems whenever useful.
This request originates from the business side, which is responsible for its management.
The mission will be delivered “as a Service” through our client’s preferred digital transformation partner for the Walloon water sector.
The sector’s digital strategy is coordinated and shared within the Digital platform, which regularly brings operators together to coordinate common transformation initiatives, including:
- Supporting the establishment of information-system mappings for the different operators
- Developing a coherent information system at sector level
- Harmonising application solutions and ensuring their interoperability between operators in support of business activities
- Sharing best practices and architecture repositories between organisations
- Aligning digital investments to achieve sector objectives
A sector-wide Architecture Committee has been established to ensure consistency across the sector.
In this context, our client wishes to benefit from the services of an experienced Enterprise Architect to define and deploy the Enterprise Architecture repository and the information-system urbanisation roadmap—including business, application, data and technical architectures—for operators in the water sector, covering wastewater treatment and drinking water, with a view to ensuring cross-functional consistency and managing technological complexity.
The selected profile will ensure that all deliverables are consistent with the standards and guidelines collectively defined within the Digital platform.
The consultant will collaborate with the sector’s architecture team, Process Managers, business representatives, data representatives and the different teams of the organisations concerned. Business involvement is essential: business representatives act as local relays for the transformation, while data representatives guarantee the consistency and quality of the data within their domain.
Mission
The Chief Enterprise Architect will be responsible for the complete management of the definition and implementation of the Enterprise Architecture repository, according to the phasing and planning agreed by the sector.
The Chief Enterprise Architect will be responsible for developing—in very close interaction with the different sector stakeholders—and presenting the following deliverables:
- Enterprise Architecture repository
- Information-system mapping
- Architecture models covering business, functional, organisational, application, data and technical architecture using ArchiMate
- Information model developed in collaboration with the Information Manager, and infrastructure model developed with the architecture team
- Architecture principles, standards and patterns
- Architecture governance framework: roles, policies and standards
- Compliance with regulatory standards—NIS2, GDPR, etc.
- Information-system roadmap and transformation trajectories
- Presentation materials for management
The Chief Enterprise Architect is accountable for all project deliverables and for their compliance with quality, planning and governance requirements.
To achieve this, the Chief Enterprise Architect will rely on internal teams, including Process Managers, business representatives and data representatives, as well as relevant business stakeholders from the organisations concerned, who will contribute to the production of these deliverables.
However, the Chief Enterprise Architect remains responsible for the overall consistency, quality and validation of the deliverables produced, as well as for their presentation to the project’s governance bodies, including the sector-wide Architecture Committee and the sector-wide Digital platform.
Skills
Required General Experience
- Minimum 10 years of experience in Enterprise Architecture, information-system urbanisation or information-system architecture
- Proven experience defining and deploying Enterprise Architecture repositories and transformation trajectories
- Experience in strategic consulting assignments for executive management teams or management committees
- Experience in multi-business or multi-entity organisations, including public-sector organisations, semi-public organisations and utilities
Relevant Sector Experience Desired
Experience in:
- Public services, intermunicipal organisations or local authorities
- Utilities, including water and energy
- Technical organisations operating industrial and geospatial information systems
Knowledge of the following would be appreciated:
- Water business systems and associated applications
- GIS and geomatics, including distribution areas and networks
- ERP/SAP and application integration
- SCADA systems, sensors and IoT
- Asset management
Enterprise Architecture Skills
The profile must connect strategic vision, technical expertise and cross-functional governance to urbanise the information system and secure the foundations of the transformation.
Expected skills:
Align Strategy and Business
- Translate strategy and public-service missions into a target information system
- Engage with management and Process Managers
- Arbitrate and prioritise digital investments
- Provide a strategic vision linking the information system to public-service missions
Architecture Expertise
- Enterprise Architecture framework using TOGAF
- Architecture modelling using ArchiMate
- Business, application, data and technical architectures
- Shared architecture repository and information-system urbanisation
- Management of technological complexity and technical debt
Governance and Continuity
- Architecture governance: principles, standards and patterns
- Cross-functional consistency throughout processes and the asset lifecycle
- Integrated compliance and security—NIS2 and GDPR
- Roadmap and transformation trajectories
- Operational continuity and information-system resilience
Appreciated Frameworks and Standards
- TOGAF
- ArchiMate
- Information-system interoperability and urbanisation standards
Facilitation and Change-Management Capabilities
Appreciated skills:
- Influential leadership and inter-organisational facilitation
- Change management and architecture awareness
- Ability to explain architecture and information-system urbanisation challenges in an accessible manner
- Stakeholder management
- Presentation to the Governance Committee
Understanding of Public-Sector Challenges
Knowledge of the following would be appreciated:
- Intermunicipal mutualisation and solution sharing between operators
- Service continuity and information-system resilience
- Digital transformation of public services
- Public-sector budgetary constraints
Mission Conditions
Duration: Mission lasting from six months to one year, extendable depending on the needs of the mission.
Start date: As soon as possible.
End of the mission: The first expected deliverables must be provided within six months following the start of the mission.
Workload: 120 days.
Main workplace: Loyers, Namur. Travel will be required to the offices of the different sector operators.
Work organisation: In-person discussions and meetings should be prioritised. Consolidation work and report preparation may be carried out remotely.
Work model: Hybrid
Languages:
- French: Native or bilingual proficiency
- English: Nice to have