Solution Architect - Talent Technology Engineering

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You are responsible for the North Star architecture of extend 3rd party systems across multiple HR domains and vendors. This role is a horizontal architect position for HR Technology. The architect is accountable for designing and governing the foundational HR systems and integrations that HR, Talent teams rely on, across both third‑party (3P) platforms and first‑party (1P) services.

• Define and maintain the target architecture for HR technology across domains

• Develop a multi‑year (≈2+ years) architecture roadmap describing how HR systems, integrations, and data models evolve to support business strategy (e.g., growth, new markets, workforce models).

• Determine what capabilities sit in 3P platforms versus 1P services.

• Decide when to leverage vendor capabilities versus building differentiated 1P experiences.

• Assess when to consolidate, sunset, or introduce vendors.

• Establish guardrails for configuration vs customization vs 1P extensions within HR platforms.

• Establish and own standard patterns for:

  • HR data models (e.g. positions, organizations, compensation, locations).

  • Integrations (APIs, events, batch, and file-based, where necessary).

  • Identity, entitlements, and access control across HR systems.

• Deliver "out‑of‑the‑box" solutions and reusable templates to minimize one‑off integrations and fragile implementations.

• Lead the architecture of foundational HR systems and services that serve as horizontal sources of truth (e.g., worker master, job catalog, HR events).

• Ensure these systems meet requirements for completeness, correctness, timeliness, and auditability to support HR and downstream Finance/Compliance needs.

• Define golden sources for HR entities and how data flows into analytics, Finance, Security, and other consumers.

• Ensure HR data is traceable, auditable, and explainable from original source to reporting and downstream usage.

• Embed security, privacy, and regulatory requirements directly into the architecture, including:

  • Regional data residency and cross‑border data transfer considerations.

  • Role‑based access controls and least‑privilege principles.

  • Employee privacy expectations and internal policies.

• Partner with Security, Privacy, and Legal to convert these requirements into repeatable technical patterns rather than ad‑hoc process overlays.

• Engage with Talent and cross functional partners to understand processes, pain points, and risk areas

• Translate business outcomes into solution architectures that are sustainable, maintainable, and aligned with long‑term strategy, not just limited by immediate tool configuration options.

• Provide architectural direction to engineering teams building 1P services and integrations.

• Review solution designs and identify approaches that conflict with the target architecture.

• Enable vertical/domain teams to focus on business needs by ensuring the horizontal foundations are robust and well‑defined.

• Represent the HR architecture to 3P vendors and partners.

• Evaluate and, where necessary, challenge vendor proposals that increase complexity, create lock‑in, or duplicate existing 1P capabilities without clear benefit.

• Make explicit, documented decisions on:

  • Short‑term HR needs versus long‑term ecosystem health and simplification.

  • Level of customization versus maintainability, scalability, and upgradeability.

• Document decisions and rationale and be prepared to revisit them when new evidence emerges.

• Identify opportunities to rationalize redundant tools, platforms, and…