Software Solutions Architect - Automation Center of Excellence

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Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) offers countless ways to change lives. Our diverse community of more than 20,000 Breakthrough Makers will inspire you to pursue passions, develop expertise, and drive innovation.

At CHOP, your experience is valued; your voice is heard; and your contributions make a difference for patients and families. Join us as we build on our promise to advance pediatric care-and your career.

CHOP's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

CHOP is committed to building an inclusive culture where employees feel a sense of belonging, connection, and community within their workplace. We are a team dedicated to fostering an environment that allows for all to be their authentic selves. We are focused on attracting, cultivating, and retaining diverse talent who can help us deliver on our mission to be a world leader in the advancement of healthcare for children.

We strongly encourage all candidates of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.


A Brief Overview
The Software Solutions Architect develops scalable solution design framework in conjunction with Enterprise Architecture and Information Security. They combine knowledge of both business and engineering systems architecture to produce requirements reflecting user needs that can be used by both engineers (to develop detailed system design requirements) and by business and operational people to comprehend the proposed solution in layperson's terms. This individual will lead the design, development and documentation of software solutions that will meet defined requirements and adhere to CHOP DTS and industry standards, maximize patient safety, minimize risk, create value and ensure customer adoption.

The software solutions architect will also lead the design, development, and documentation of application integration solutions and oversees integration projects with high levels of complexity. They review system designs of other solutions consultants and technologists demonstrating the ability to perform complex, conceptual and logical data modeling and life-cycle design, analyzing enterprise specifics and design solutions in accordance with enterprise approval. They will evaluate new technologies, services, and solutions for architectural inclusion in projects, and participates in the technology selection.

• Design end-to-end technical solutions for complex automation initiatives, selecting appropriate technologies (RPA, AI, APIs, Native Platform etc.).
• Collaborate with business analysts, process owners, and development teams to translate requirements into effective architectural designs.
• Evaluate business processes for automation feasibility, identifying technical challenges and integration points.
• Define and promote architectural standards, reusable components, and best practices for automation within the CoE.
• Ensure solutions adhere to security, scalability, maintainability, and governance guidelines established by the CoE.
• Provide technical guidance and oversight throughout the automation development lifecycle.
• Stay current of emerging automation technologies and assess their potential application within the organization.

The department works 80% remotely, 20% on site in our Philadelphia offices on an as-needed basis.

What you will do

• 1. Analysis
• Engage with stakeholders to understand requirements and the environment in which the development will occur or where the system currently resides. Perform needs and risk assessments. Help the business understand what the technical staff needs to interpret requirements properly, and identify high-value technologies to meet a broad range of business needs
• Analysis skills, but not limited to
• Analyze technology environment
• Analyze enterprise specifics
• Review RFP responses from 3rd party vendors
• Deliverables, where applicable:
• Definition of business problems/objectives/opportunities
• Current state and future state mappings
• Risk assessments
• Written project scope and high-level business requirements
• Use cases/User stories
• Cost/benefit analysis, including Cloud based run time costs analysis
• Build or buy recommendation
• Business case
• RFI/RFP
• 2. Design
• Guide creation of high-level design or evaluate current state design based on CHOP standards and industry best practices. Gather the abstract elements of the problem space and communicate them so the development team can draft schematics of the system to be developed or remediated. Lead the careful mapping of requirements to select technologies to provide features in the resulting solution. During detailed design, vet the elements of particular modules against the imperatives of the system as a whole. Get the team to anticipate the implications of design decisions on the finished system. Communicate design to technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Deliverables, where applicable:
• Business/functional requirements
• Solution architectural technical requirements and architectural diagrams (both logical and physical)
• Proof of concept and prototypes
• Business cases
• Assist with development of RFPs, vendor/product evaluations and selections
• Risk analysis of the designed solution
• Setting the collaboration framework
• 3. Implementation
• Communicate specifications, requirements and expected outcomes in a clear and understandable form (oral and written) to stakeholders, developers, analysts and implementation partners. Monitor implementation to ensure it is well-integrated with the enterprise systems architecture. Assess technical change requests and determine how the architecture can best be adapted to accommodate such requests. Monitor developers' progress and track the status of integration points between modules in the system. Assist project manager in assessing risks associated with changes and emerging issues. Act as liaison between developers and project manager.
• Deliverables, where applicable:
• Creating a solution prototype
• Participating in technology selection
• Controlling solution development
• Solution architectural diagrams
• Proof of concept and prototypes
• 4. Testing
• Assist in creating systems-integration, load/performance and user-acceptance testing. Develop failure modes analysis. Translate the results of test review into action plans.
• Deliverables, where applicable:
• Failure modes analysis document
• Acceptance test requirements
• 5. Champion Standards and Align Infrastructure
• Lead discussions about SLDC and product development standards. Define standard solution design patterns. The Solutions Architect must understand the enterprise architecture completely, must quickly learn the architecture of a variety of applications, must understand and communicate integration points, opportunities, and risks effectively through application models, use cases and other industry methods (oral and written).

Education Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in computer science, software engineering or related field Required
• Master's Degree Preferred

Experience Qualifications

• At least eight (8) years of professional experience in software development, system integration, and/or system design with a progression toward leadership Required and
• At least eight (8) years of professional experience in researching, initiating and incorporating multiple complex, enterprise-level projects in the business environment Required and
• At least five (5) years of professional experience in cross-functional initiatives Required and
• At least three (3) years IT (cloud, infrastructure implementation, application development, information security, etc.) project management experience Required and
• At least five (5) years professional experience in healthcare information technology, healthcare-related environment, or designing software for healthcare providers. Preferred
• Experience with UI Path and MS Power Automate. Preferred.

Skills and Abilities

• Working knowledge of multiple healthcare business processes, and/or demonstrated business knowledge in one or more departmental operation in CHOP. (Required proficiency)
• Ability to collaborate in teams and interact with all levels of management. (Required proficiency)
• Strong experience in working with multiple hardware and software applications and vendors. (Required proficiency)
• Knowledge of a variety of operating systems, programming languages, embedded systems, database management systems, application development tools, Internet protocols and software, middleware systems, client platforms, cloud (Required proficiency)
• Knowledge of integration concepts, practices and procedures, such as SOA, application integration and Web services (Required proficiency)
• Knowledge of a variety of information architecture and data architecture concepts, practices, procedures and tools. (Required proficiency)
• Demonstrated ability to perform complex, conceptual and logical data modeling and life-cycle design. (Required proficiency)
• Knowledge of software development concepts, practices and procedures, including Systems Development Life Cycle, testing and quality assurance, change management, and applications and performance monitoring. (Required proficiency)
• Excellent analytical, consultative, documentation, oral and written communication, facilitation and presentation skills. (Required proficiency)
• Proficiency with tools for collecting, transforming, managing and presenting user requirements and architectural models (e.g., Visio, UML) (Required proficiency)
• High level of initiative, motivation, flexibility and accountability. (Required proficiency)
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and organize multiple projects simultaneously; excellent time management skills. (Required proficiency)
• Ability to efficiently assess technical possibilities and chart a course for development that addresses various interests and limitations without losing the essential value of the projects. (Required proficiency)
• Demonstrated ability to appreciate abstract concepts and to communicate them in concrete terms. (Required proficiency)
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical solutions into non-technical requirements documents. (Required proficiency)
• An "engineering mindset": strong technical problem-solving skills, but able to grasp the bigger picture of how the people involved interact with technology. (Required proficiency)
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment. (Required proficiency)

To carry out its mission, CHOP is committed to supporting the health of our patients, families, workforce, and global community. As a condition of employment, CHOP employees who work in patient care buildings or who have patient facing responsibilities must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive an annual influenza vaccine. Learn more.

Employees may request exemptions for valid religious and medical reasons. Start dates may be delayed until candidates are immunized or exemption requests are reviewed.

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