Senior Solutions Architect

Job DescriptionJob Description

Senior Solutions Architect

Work Location: Sioux Falls, SD . Other Major Operating Areas within Montana & South Dakota Service Territories will be considered

Pay range: $140,000 to $160,000 per year

Employment Status: Regular Full-time

External candidates apply at northwesternenergy.com

Internal candidates apply through iConnect.

About this position:

NorthWestern Energy is seeking a highly skilled and experienced IT Solutions Architect to design, implement, and manage innovative IT solutions that align with our business objectives. The ideal candidate will be responsible for assessing the current IT environment, recommending strategic improvements, and ensuring the seamless integration of new technologies. This role requires a deep understanding of IT infrastructure, software development, and enterprise architecture.

The Solution Architect understands the concepts of business goals, objectives and business outcomes, business capabilities, value-streams and business processes and their importance in solution architecture. The solutions architect provides the necessary leadership, analysis and design tasks related to support the development of technology solutions to ensure that solutions meet business needs and align with architectural governance and standards.

This role creates deliverables for managing the organization's portfolio of "to be" and "as is" solutions - including systems (applications, processes, information and technology), shared infrastructure services, and shared application services and components to enable and drive targeted business outcomes.

The solutions architect must demonstrate effective leadership, inspire trust, execute strategies, and foster a productive culture.

We offer great benefits:

NorthWestern Energy is a fully regulated electric and natural gas utility serving Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. We employ over 1,500 amazing people and serve 775,300 customers who are our neighbors in our communities. We are a top employer and offer competitive benefits, including:

• 401K with company match up to 4% and non-elective contribution up to 7%
• Healthcare and wellbeing programs, including dental and vision for you, your spouse and dependents, Health Savings Account (HSA), healthcare and dependent care flexible spending account (FSA)
• Employee Assistance Programs (Offering up to six free counseling sessions, per person, per issue, per year for employees, spouses and dependents to include financial heath)
• Life Insurance (Company pays basic employee policy; spouse, dependent insurance also available)
• Tuition reimbursement
• Competitive pay (Scheduled performance-based wage increases and annual incentive opportunities.)
• Paid company endorsed volunteer opportunities
• Paid parental leave
• Paid bereavement leave
• Paid training opportunities
• Paid time off starting on your first day, plus 11 paid holidays

Benefits may vary by position or as negotiated as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

About this job:

• Demonstrates leadership consistent with NorthWestern Energy's code, values, policies, processes, and controls
• Develop and design scalable, high-performance IT solutions that meet business requirements and integrate with existing systems
• Provides technical oversight for complex integrations and modernization initiatives
• Develops enterprise-wide architectural standards and governance frameworks. Creates and maintain detailed architecture documentation, including diagrams, specifications, and standards
• Work closely with Enterprise Architecture and other cross-functional teams and roles, including software developers, application and system administrators, business analysts, and project managers, to ensure cohesive and efficient IT solutions
• Stay up to date with emerging technologies, evaluate their potential impact, and recommend their adoption when beneficial
• Ensures technology roadmaps align with strategic business objectives and technology trends
• Ensures solutions adhere to security best practices and regulatory requirements
• Actively work to reduce technical debt, address technical challenges, troubleshoot issues, and optimize system performance
• Experience in IT cost management and technology rationalization
• Help design long term strategic goals for application and platform rationalization to standardize portfolio and ensure efficiency across company; ensures target platforms are updated and modernized
• Leads large-scale IT solution design and architecture projects as required utilizing effective change and project management techniques
• Experience leading hyperscaler and hybrid cloud transformation integrated with on-premises solutions a plus
• Create and maintain governance and standards for use across the enterprise focused on architecture documentation, patterns and procedures
• Experience designing and implementing in AI platforms and solutions is a plus
• Mentoring application administrators, software engineers and developers, and technology support personnel
• Drive digital transformation initiatives and champion change management strategies
• Build technical excellence within the organization through internal workshops, training, and mentorship programs
• Establish a role in developing and disseminating best practices, whitepapers, or internal frameworks
• Supervise junior architects and provide daily direction for projects and tasks as needed
• All NorthWestern Energy employees are required to adhere to company safety standards and the Code of Business Conduct & Ethics
• Ensure self and other's actions are consistent with NorthWestern Energy's values, mission, and strategic business objectives

Am I right for this job? Here's the success profile:

• Demonstrate and maintain a good safety record
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology or related field or equivalent experience
• 7-12 years in solution architecture, IT infrastructure, or software development
• Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies, platforms and processing environments. Strong grasp of enterprise architecture, microservices, and integration strategies
• Good understanding of strategic and emerging technology trends, and the practical application of existing and emerging technologies to new and evolving business and operating models
• Experience developing architecture blueprints, strategies and roadmaps
• Proficiency in a broad range of IT systems, including cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), enterprise applications, networking, databases, and security
• Relevant certifications such as TOGAF, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, or equivalent are a plus. Current Azure certifications or ability to obtain
• Experience designing, developing, integrating and implementing business solutions on the Microsoft Dynamics platform and related product suite a plus
• Strong leadership skills including interpersonal communication skills
• Strong computer skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and strong organizational skills
• Experience delivering presentations to senior-level executives and technical audiences a plus
• Implementation experience on complex, large scale distributed applications
• Ability to drive towards a common technical solution by bringing disparate technical viewpoints to the same plane
• Recent experience leading projects with modern architecture patterns

Requisition #4639

Posting Dates: March 12, 2025 through March 26, 2025

Department/Division: Business Technology

Employment Physical: Not Required

Drug Test: Required

Background Check: Required

Relocation Benefit: Negotiable

Telecommuting: Part-time Negotiable within NorthWestern Energy Service Territory

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to , , , , , , , veteran status, genetic information or any other protected class in accordance with applicable federal or state laws and statutes. In compliance with the ADA Amendments Act, should you have a that requires assistance and/or reasonable accommodation with the job application process, please contact the Human Resources department at 1-800-245-6977 or at job.inquiries@northwestern.com.

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