Network Collaboration Architect – ( 2111473 )
Description
We are the world’s learning company with more than 24,000 employees operating in 70 countries. We combine world-class educational content and assessment,powered by services and technology, to enable more effective teaching and personalized learning at scale. We believe that wherever learning flourishes so do people.
About Pearson:
Pearson is a global education company that helps people around the world to make progress in their lives through learning. With a rich heritage that combines 150 years of experience in publishing with the latest learning technology and digital services, we help people to learn whatever, wherever and however they choose. We are now transforming Pearson to accelerate our activity in digital learning, education services and emerging markets. This will enable us to make a lasting impact in helping to solve some of the most important challenges in global education.
We believe education is a vital force that can empower people, help them to reach their potential and contribute to more connected communities, all around the world. Our strength comes from our outstanding people; our strong relationships in the education world; our expertise in using technology to help people learn; our global footprint and local reach; and our position as a profitable, global company with a unifying sense of purpose.
We’re investing in our technology and infrastructure. By working at Pearson, you have a unique chance to make a real difference to the lives of people all over the world.
About DWS:
The Pearson Digital Workplace Services [DWS] team is simplifying how Pearson employees work, engage and collaborate using a broad range of technology, initiatives and transformation activities introducing new, globally consistent platforms and services primarily based on Microsoft products.
Pearson DWS is helping to unite employees around the world, enabling us to operate as a truly global organisation, and ensure that Pearson is fit for the future.
About you:
We are searching for passionate delivery focused solution architects that can understand, articulate and drive value from our technology. You are already a seasoned veteran leading the Workplace Services ecosystem across different sized enterprises and sectors, a subject matter expert with a broad lens on Workplace technology: a true ‘T’ shaped individual … are you ready to be a catalyst for change and innovate with Pearson?
You will use your proven track record of cultivating professional relationships across key stakeholders and be working tirelessly with our global business units, technology, engineering and security teams to distill and deliver Pearson’s requirements and be responsible for strategies leading Pearson to adapt to changing and emerging technologies for and impacting our platforms.
You will lead the service design and are critical to the service transition into our operations. You have a creative approach to devising new solutions and enhancements, are the key to managing the technical roadmap, driving technology adoption, meeting business and security demands.
As a key member of our team, you bring your proven history of managing strong relationships with suppliers like Logitech, Microsoft, CDW, etc. and have insight to future changes, roadmaps and direction, and will be Pearson’s advocate influencing our Workplace and other peers and partners towards our business requirements.
The role is responsible for the strategic architecture and design of all in scope Workplace service technologies. Additional responsibilities include driving Workplace Experience vision, usability and interfaces across the DWS technology portfolio: how we use our tools, how we interact and collaborate with colleagues and customers and bringing to life the vision of our ecosystem.
To realize these goals and objectives the position must balance core technology skills and product vision with a delivery focused pragmatism. The role also encompasses wider awareness of the Workplace Services tools and platforms working as cross region in a strong multi-disciplined architecture group embracing agile ways of working.
Key responsibilities
As a direct report to the Director of DWS Workplace Services within the Digital Workplace Services group, the candidate will be responsible for:
- Developing short and long-term strategic technology roadmaps, backed by pragmatic designs that support our enterprise technology roadmaps and key business objectives
- Participate and contribute to the running of a cross region Architecture function that will drive and govern the Digital Workplace Services and provide deep technology leadership and vision
- Creating designs and standards for all groups within the workplace engineering organization.
- Work with our colleagues to design and build workplace services solutions leveraging Microsoft products
- Establishing a consistent and progressive strategy and architecture for the workplace experience exploiting new market opportunities as appropriate.
- Strategically plan, develop and drive implementation of new initiatives to enhance the global business. This includes projects related to investments and improvements
- Embrace, sponsor and coach agile ways of working with a view to fully automating the configuration and management of our workplace services
- Ensuring that required metrics are understood and available. These metrics make certain the platform remains operational, optimized and available to business end users
- Ensuring that key platform product life cycles are understood, tracked, and communicated with appropriate remediation when required
- Coordinating design team support for future M&A activities. This support includes initial impact assessments, planning through to design, and implementation of the technical integration aspects of the merger as they relate to workplace platforms and services
- Governance: You can understand technical governance and participate in or deliver the assurance of a service. (This skill becomes increasingly critical at senior role levels.)
- Making and guiding decisions: You can make and guide effective decisions, explaining clearly how the decision has been reached. You must have the ability to understand and resolve technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk.
- Strategy: You can produce a strategy for technology that meets business needs. You can create, refine and challenge patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. For this skill, senior roles tend to be more proactive as they set the strategy, whereas junior roles tend to be more reactive, responding to the strategy.
- Turning business problems into technical design: You can work with business and technology stakeholders to translate business problems into technical designs. You can create an optimal design through an iterative process, aligning the user need with the system requirements and organizational objectives.
- Understanding the whole context: You can look beyond the immediate technical problem and identify the wider implications. You can ‘zoom out’ in 3 dimensions: knowing relevant historical context and future impact; understanding how current work fits in broader contexts and strategies; and looking for deeper underlying problems and opportunities.
Deliverables and outcomes (Within 12 months)
- Support the delivery of the Future Workplace Programme and ensure timely transition of project-to-service and partner with the programme to achieve strategic objectives.
- Deliver DWS Workplace Services strategic blueprint, working with the Director of DWS Workplace Services.
- Deliver the vision for a Zero Trust Network campus architecture with a technology blueprint and associated solution design
- Deliver subsequent product High Level Designs and governance processes to support the blueprint ready for engineering delivery
- Accountability for the usage patterns and technology solutions aligned to the strategic objectives identified
- Support the emerging engineering and operations functions for Workplace Services for voice, collaboration technology and network
- Workplace experience will be a priority with constant focus and awareness of user experience and requirements.
- Continual service improvement to minimize the number of self-imposed outages – drive high quality change and release management through automation practices
Pearson is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer and a member of E-Verify. All qualified applicants, including minorities, women, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Qualifications
Preferred Experience and culture:
- Architect ‘SME’ level experience in Networking and Collaboration technologies (i.e. SurfaceHubs, audio/visual, content sharing, etc.)
- Experience designing networks within a complex enterprise environment
- Enterprise global estates of 15,000 seats and above
- Ability to develop structured standards, processes, and procedures for the underlying workplace technology infrastructure
- Practical understanding of the drivers for success in a globally distributed team and a strong understanding of operations imperatives and underpinning activities
- Experience developing business orientated self-service deployment and management solutions
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Being a key sponsor for technology development, management and governance
- Leads by example and encourages the team to maintain excellent visibility of industry wide trends and emerging technologies/vendors and ensures that the team understands and utilize developments to the benefit of Pearson
- An open collaborator that shares and coaches their colleagues and works proactively inside their immediate and peer teams
- Strong communication and influencing skills.
Preferred Skills and qualifications:
- ITIL operational awareness and understanding
- Cisco certifications required
- Cisco design certifications preferred
- Relevant Microsoft skills and certification: Microsoft Teams Voice & Video, SurfaceHubs, Exchange Online, Microsoft Booking
- Vendor skills such as Meraki, Logitech, Samsung
- Agile methodology: Scrum, SaFE or equivalent
Key Pearson Attributes
- Always Learning
- Customer Focused
- Strategic and Visionary
- Makes it Happen
- Transformational
- Relationship Builder
The anticipated starting salary range for Colorado-based individuals expressing interest in this position is $130-160K. This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program.
Benefits available to eligible employees can be seen at: https://pearsonbenefitsus.com/
#LI-POST
Primary Location : US-RE-Remote
Work Locations :
US-Remote
Remote
Job : Technology
Organization : Technology & Operations
Employee Status : Regular Employee
Job Type : Standard
Job Level : Individual Contributor
Shift : Day Job
Travel : Yes, 25 % of the Time
Job Posting : Aug 24, 2021
Job Unposting : Ongoing
Schedule: : Full-time Regular
Req ID:Â 2111473
