Program Architect – ADMS

Job Title:
Program Architect – ADMS

Location:
Hybrid (Downtown Dallas – 3 days onsite per week)

Duration:
Ongoing

W2&C2C

Summary
The Program Architect – ADMS is responsible for providing architectural leadership and strategic decision-making for the
Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS)
implementation program. This role ensures the alignment of solution design, delivery, and governance across multiple workstreams, managing dependencies and escalating risks that may impact the overall transformation initiative. The position is part of the
Solution Architecture team
within the
Application Architecture and Reliability Tower
of the
Digital Grid Operation Organization
. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong communication, analytical, and leadership skills and collaborate effectively to develop strategies and processes that support evolving grid operations.

Key Roles & Responsibilities
Architectural Alignment and Governance

• Coordinate architecture activities across projects to maintain consistency and alignment with enterprise and domain standards.
• Translate enterprise and domain architectural guidance into actionable execution across workstreams.
• Ensure consistency between High-Level Design (HLD) and Low-Level Design (LLD), resolving cross-project design conflicts.
• Track and escalate technical risks and design debts impacting the broader transformation program.
• Lead program-wide architecture forums to reconcile design patterns, technology platforms, and architectural constraints.
• Maintain a Program Architecture Plan mapping solution blueprints to enterprise principles.
• Serve as the escalation point for Architecture Review Board (ARB) matters arising from multiple Solution Architects.
• Ensure the Architecture Repository reflects cumulative program learnings and updates.

Subject Matter Expertise

• Serve as an architectural, solution, and design expert for the entire ADMS program.
• Collaborate with Solution Architects, Technical Leads, and engineering teams to align system designs with Enterprise Architecture principles.
• Shape the solution architecture roadmap leveraging technology, domain, and organizational insights.
• Drive the implementation of large-scale enterprise programs, ensuring architectural consistency and business alignment.

Program Architect Responsibilities
Architecture Review Participation

• Actively participate in the Architecture Review Board (ARB) and Enterprise Solution Review Board discussions and approvals.
• Represent all program-related architectural solutions in the ARB.
• Ensure proposed solutions align with Enterprise Architecture strategies and design standards.
• Contribute to the collaborative design of enterprise-level solutions and document key design decisions.

Enterprise/Solution Architecture Development

• Develop and plan architecture strategies for:

• Application Development: Cloud-native and on-premises applications

• COTS Implementations: Upgrades and integrations
• Serverless & Microservices Architectures: Including SOA models
• Application Data Models: Review and validate design artifacts
• Cloud DevOps & Containerization Platforms: OpenShift on AWS, Azure, and IBM Cloud
• Cloud Infrastructure Components: Networking, security, and storage
• Cloud Security & IAM: Policy enforcement and identity federation

• Infrastructure Automation: Using CloudFormation, Terraform, etc.

• Validate cloud-based elements of designs and support architecture estimation.

• Participate in vendor/product selection and contribute to the Technology Strategy Team's Product Roadmap Initiative by recommending new products, decommissioning obsolete systems, and prioritizing implementations.

Program Integration

• Collaborate with technology project teams to:

• Produce architecture artifacts and design documentation

• Ensure adherence to architecture guidelines, industry best practices, and compliance requirements
• Validate that solutions meet all functional, non-functional, security, and performance criteria
• Conduct design reviews and validate as-built architectures
• Engage in IT Security forums, particularly around cloud security, to assess emerging threats and recommend mitigation strategies

Experience, Qualifications, And Skills

• 10+ years of experience in IT application development
• 7+ years of experience in solution and application architecture
• 3+ years as a Lead Architect on complex, large-scale projects
• 5+ years managing IT architecture teams
• 3+ years of experience architecting ADMS solutions (required)
• Strong knowledge of DevOps, source code management, and application development lifecycle
• Excellent communication, presentation, documentation, and mentoring skills
• Strong understanding of IT risks, cybersecurity, and enterprise infrastructure
• Experience in the electrical utility industry, distribution, or outage management systems is highly preferred