The Role

The Segment Architect is accountable for the architecture of T&S Functions such as Finance, Tax, Contracts Management, Risk & Trading Compliance, supporting the Lead Segment Architect in this area.
The Functions segment in Trading & Supply supports the horizontal layer and cross-commodity functions. It provides critical services through interconnected Business-critical interfaces and systems. The Functions segment is an integral part of dynamic Shell Trading business. T&S is one of the largest energy trading operations in the world.

The Segment Architect will work within an extended natural team to ensure that IT solutions for this segment have a high-quality architectural design with full consideration around ease of integration, risk exposure, compliance, ability to operate, scalability and cost effectiveness. The resulting roadmaps and high-level designs will have a measurable impact on the effectiveness and profitability for Shell.

The Segment Architect is a leading member of the Business IT and the Shell Architecture IT teams, helping to shape the future of the company.

Your day to day role includes the following activities:

• Driving the architecture and supporting the natural teams within the business
• Driving Solution or product selections against capabilities required within the business, including vendor selection and management.
• Responsibility for the architectural standards and governance of projects within the segment to ensure the security, safety and cost effectiveness of all solutions deployed for the business.

To do this the successful candidate should have a good understanding of the domain both inside Shell and in the external market. You will keep abreast of trends and developments in IT generally in the sectors mentioned above, both internally and externally. You will have a good awareness of regulatory environment as applies to the sector and security threats and risks. You will also be familiar with Shell's Target Operating environment and reference architectures; and will be in a position to influence the direction that these take in the future.

You will be responsible for assuring the quality of architecture deliverables from the natural teams, and should be familiar with the process and tools that drive these artefacts (TOGAF, BizzDesign)

You will guide and support project teams (including Solution architects) to ensure compliance of developments with the solution architecture.

You will provide technical support and expertise to the natural team to drive the segment roadmap and project support; from both your own knowledge and from other technical roles in Shell.

Other accountabilities include:

• Work with the Lead Segment Architect to maintain the segment architectures, application portfolio inventory, landscape diagrams and lifecycle maps for the applications within the portfolio.
• Identify and propose potential portfolio changes and improvements, including decommissioning. Develop and maintain application roadmaps for the portfolio.
• Work with the Business Interface IT Managers, IT Engineering, IT Operation, Business Process Owner and Business Architects to provide consultancy on architecture and portfolio matters. This includes, but is not limited to benchmarking of the portfolio against external practice; externalisation efforts to keep a highly visible external perspective; advise on any project issues; advise touch points with other Lines of Business and opportunities to leverage applications, processes etc.
• Develop and maintain segment architecture including target selections.
• Ensure architecture artifact quality and retention in appropriate tools, for example, BizzDesign.
• Facilitate Architecture Risk Assessments on projects, and conduct Assurance Reviews and Stage Gate signoff for medium and low risk projects, involving data, technical and integration architects as needed

Requirements:

Good understanding of Finance Operations and Trading Risk Management.

7-10 years’ experience in digital and IT with 5+ years of business-focused digital and some IT leadership experience. You have a proven track record of digital and IT architecture impact and success.

Stakeholder engagement is key to this role, in the broadest sense. Being sensitive to stakeholders, talking the right ‘language’ to specific target groups, and leading by example are crucial to the role. Being extremely curious about your own space, but also to the adjacent and outside world, and being able to translate that into actionable outcomes is another skill that need to be strongly present.

You will actively influence the definition of the strategy and the planning of investments.

Crucially you will:
• Know the TOGAF standards and understand the Shell Architecture Framework and be able to explain the role of architecture in IT processes/organisation
• Understand segment architecture and the link to portfolio management and platforms
• Understand the fundamentals of relevant architectures (process, data, application, integration) and be able to apply it effectively in support of the segment
• Know the Target Operating Environment (TOE)
• Know relevant IRM standards for Architecture and understand how to use the standards
• Be curious of developments in IT solutions that will support and be relevant to the segment and be able to apply these in support of the business development agenda