Lead Technical Architect

Be a Subject Matter Expert in designing complex system interactions utilizing IBM's WebSphere products and other strategic offerings – WBI Message Broker (WBIMB), WMQ/MQSeries, DataPower (Web Services).

Provide strong architecture leadership, analysis and design considerations related to researching and piloting emerging technologies with a strong focus on middleware strategies.

Provide thought leadership to develop application frameworks for AXP identified patterns and provide governance as per standards by providing perspectives on component design & development.

Negotiate and deal with ambiguity in resolving conflicts between standards and exceptions.

Provide direction and pace of portfolio technology development, making trade-offs in integrating, consolidating and eliminating technologies.

Leads decision-making processes for determining, developing and owning the portfolio architectures with Business facing Integrators & Enterprise Architects to analyze technology needs and present solutions that are consistent with long-range strategic plans and technical standards.

Provide focus for various IT strategy and Enterprise Architect standards while collaborating with technology partners and strategic vendors at all senior levels.

Provide timely market research and analysis of technology products, and influence AXP strategic directions aligned to business needs.

Provide expert assistance in determining root cause for production problems and in restoring middleware service

Provide consulting expertise to the assigned application portfolios, leveraging business and technical knowledge to support business strategies and deliver business value.

****Position location is only open to either of the following cities: Ft. Lauderdale, FL (preferred) or Phoenix, Arizona. *****Job Requirements
Candidate should possess a minimum of 3-5 years of experience in Business Integration and/or Enterprise Application Integration with the ability to quickly comprehend complex inter-system dependencies spanning heterogeneous platforms, networks, databases, and development environments to architect the quickest, most cost effective, least intrusive, optimal solution while staying within the Standard Operating Environment (SOE) and adhering to the standard life cycle methodology.

Have proven experience in major system integration projects using messaging middleware and integration technologies. Minimum three (3) years hands on experience with Data Modeling, Java, JMS, Web Services (Soap, XML schemas/DTD).

A strong understanding of EAI & SOA principles. Expert-level knowledge of WebSphere Message Broker and WebSphere MQ Technology certifications, preferably with WBIMB, WebSphere MQ and/or Message Broker, Datapower, and Design Patterns.

Hands-on experience with WebSphere MQ (both client and server implementations) including installing, configuring, developing applications, usage of the API, queues, channels, etc.

Proven experience designing, developing, and implementing web service solutions, particularly web services used to link applications from multiple vendors or third party.

Strong communications skills, both written and verbal, will be essential to allow the candidate to interact with numerous groups, both internal and external, to comprehend what type of integration solution is needed and communicate that effectively to all parties involved.

Strong analytical, problem solving, communications, and consensus building skills required.

Possess an industry wide knowledge and demonstrable expertise and knowledge in integration solutions and strategies with focus on Middleware.

Must have strong judgment and organizational skills, and the ability to work effectively with Business and Technologies Leaders and staff at all levels.

Strong business acumen and the ability to identify key issues and their impact in a broad business context.

Strong presentations/verbal communications skills and the ability to train and mentor other technologists.

Proven application of consultative skills and proven ability to drive results for large-scale integration utilizing state of the art middleware solution sets.

Excellent interpersonal skills, including strong decision-making and negotiation skills.

Ability to juggle and prioritize multiple activities, workloads, and objectives.

Demonstrated ability to lead team efforts, including delegation of and follow-up on tasks delegated in a geographically dispersed, multi-functional environment.

Strong leadership, decision-making skills, and ability to assume significant leadership responsibility without direct authority.Masters or Bachelor degree in Computer Science or a related discipline preferred (or equivalent combination of education and work experience) and at least three (3), typically five (5) years of solid, diverse work experience supporting distributed applications residing on multiple environments.
QUALIFIED CANDIDATES SHOULD APPLY ONLINE GO TO: americanexpress.com. Scroll to bottom of page and select the link Jobs@American Express. Click search jobs (Req #: 74682BR) and follow the on-line prompts. Only those candidates who PROVIDE SALARY REQUIREMENTS and meet minimum qualifications will be contacted. No paper resumes will be accepted. EOE