Director, Technology Architecture

Description

Being part of Air Canada is to become part of an iconic Canadian symbol, recently ranked the best Airline in North America. Let your career take flight by joining our diverse and vibrant team at the leading edge of passenger aviation.

This is a strategic role responsible for setting and executing a vision and roadmap for the evolution and transformation of technology for IT, Data and Digital (IDD) to support Air Canada’s strategy. This vision encompasses technology governance, standardization, risk, security, and cost management for all architected solutions, with a strong focus on optimizing the utilization of systems and information as assets.

The role is also the primary point to understand and assess potentially disruptive and emerging innovations in technology to determine if Air Canada should take action. Examples include quantum computing, digital twins, intelligent surfaces, distributed agent processing, augmented reality and refinements in artificial intelligence, among others.

This role is also instrumental in driving improvements in cross-domain technology-related processes such as estimating project work, assessing technology risks, describing and managing complexity and assisting in planning and executing major technology changes. It involves assisting to oversee major technology aspects of programs and critical projects and providing input to portfolio planning and setting priorities.

Responsibilities:

• This role sets a clear information technology evolution path for all areas of Air Canada.  In a highly competitive industry, this requires considerable focus to contain cost growth, improve technology asset utilization, and satisfy the evolving needs of the digital and data teams in their satisfaction of business goals.  This is made more challenging with the growing cost of third-party products, the growing costs of managed services and contingent labour, and the complexity of the Air Canada business and technology environment.
• This role will provide senior expertise as needed to the problems of the day to get to good outcomes, but also to build credibility within IT, Data and Digital (IDD).
• Beyond setting a clear technology path, the role also works with other teams to bring alignment to the path, using governance and collaboration.  In an organizational structure of decentralized solution architecting and development, it is easy to drift from set technology paths and this role is accountable to ensure technology delivery remains aligned to the defined path and associated roadmaps. Air Canada is a large organization with architectural accountability that sits within digital teams, in security and within infrastructure.  This role must work closely with domain and solution architects to ensure the domains can remain agile and effective, while adhering to the broader needs of Air Canada on shared components and services which need to be standardized and governed.  Effectively this role must set a technology path for a diverse set of stakeholders with occasionally conflicting interests.
• Develop enterprise architecture strategies and the associated governance to meet business requirements in an effective and optimal manner. Lead the development of standards, policy, and selection and assessment criteria to ensure a balanced approach to adopting new technologies, managing risk and ensuring stability.
• Support the broader goals of IDD, including the transformation of how IDD functions, and also the transformation of how Air Canada functions using technology and data.  Be a catalyst for change.
• Build and manage a high-performance team, committed to and achieving objectives. Ensure the team fits into the culture of IDD and moves at the pace demanded of the strategic goals and objectives. Moreover, this role involves influencing others to participate in defining paths and committing to outcomes, stakeholders in and outside Air Canada.
• Even with great technology solutions, there is a need to ensure they are implemented and maintained with strong quality assurance.  This role is accountable to ensure quality is designed into the solutions of IDD, balancing cost with quality goals. The solutions must be great when needed, and good-enough when warranted by constraints.
• This role is critical to Air Canada. The technology choices and solutions support the safe and reliable operation of the airline and the achievement of commercial objectives.  Mistakes can lead to significant mid and long-term unexpected costs, instability leading to customer impacting incidents, and can make the organization uncompetitive through ineffective technology solutions. With the heavy dependence of the vast majority of Air Canada functions on technology, the need for exceptional capability in this role cannot be over-stated. 
   

Qualifications

• A relevant university degree/technical certifications (and/or relevant experience)
• MBA or Masters of Information Technology highly regarded
• Minimum of 10-20 years’ experience leading enterprise architecture or related teams/work
• Success in this role requires a leader to be technically adept and passionate, quick in learning new concepts and technologies, prolific and accomplished in written and verbal communication. This leader must be able to digest and simplify complexity, biased to action, decisive, convincing, and motivational.  
• Experience migrating and integrating complex technology systems – application, data, hardware and software
• Deep familiarity with major architectural paradigms (e.g. event driven architecture, agent-based systems, microservices architecture) and development methodologies (e.g. API driven development, test driven development, SAFE).
• Familiarity with the airline industry and technology
• Expertise in IT security - regulatory and compliance laws such as PCI, 52-109, etc.
• Demonstrated evidence of a systematic, disciplined and analytical approach to problem solving
• Strong leadership skills, embodies Air Canada’s philosophies, vision and values
• Excellent interpersonal skills and is able to lead through influence across functional and organizational lines
• Experience in managing high performance teams

Preferred Skills

• The successful applicant will demonstrate superior business insight and the use of data and information to drive business outcomes;
• Experience from within a multi layered complex services or corporate environment;
• Broad experience of integrating system and data strategies, people and business leadership capabilities, and the ability to negotiate and influence outcomes are necessary skills to be successful in this role; and
• Proven track record in building and maintaining collaborative professional relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders including executive management, employees and the broader business community.

Conditions of Employment:

• Candidates must be eligible to work in the country of interest, at the time any offer of employment is made and seeking any required work permits/visas or other authorizations which may be required is the sole responsibility of the candidates applying for this position.

Linguistic Requirements

Based on equal qualifications, preference will be given to bilingual candidates.

Diversity and Inclusion

Air Canada is strongly committed to Diversity and Inclusion and aims to create a healthy, accessible and rewarding work environment which highlights employees’ unique contributions to our company’s success.

As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome applications from all to help us build a diverse workforce which reflects the diversity of our customers, and communities, in which we live and serve.

Air Canada thanks all candidates for their interest; however only those selected to continue in the process will be contacted.