Enterprise Solutions Architect; Airport

Responsibilities

• Lead the design of integrated airport technology solutions covering passenger processing (check-in, self-service kiosks, bag drop, boarding), baggage handling and reconciliation, common-use systems (CUPPS, CUSS, CUTE), and airport operational systems (AODB, RMS, FIDS, BHS interfaces).
• Define target architectures and roadmaps spanning applications, data, integration, infrastructure, cloud, networks and security, ensuring alignment to enterprise and industry reference models.
• Produce and own high-level and low-level design artefacts, solution blueprints, interface specifications and architecture decision records.
• Make and justify build‑vs‑buy and platform selection decisions, balancing operational resilience, cost, vendor landscape and long-term maintainability.

• Design integration architectures (APIs, ESB/iPaaS, messaging, event‑driven patterns) that connect airline, airport, ground‑handler, government and retail systems.
• Ensure solutions meet stringent availability, performance, failover and business‑continuity requirements appropriate to a 24/7 safety‑ and security‑critical operational environment.
• Embed cyber security, data protection and regulatory compliance into the design from the outset (security-by-design).

• Act as the senior technical authority across the engagement lifecycle — bid/pursuit, mobilization, design, build, test, transition and operations.
• Lead and mentor a team of solution and domain architects, setting design standards and assuring the quality of their work.
• Own technical risk identification, mitigation and escalation; chair design authority and architecture review boards.
• Provide effort, cost and resource estimates to support commercial proposals and project planning.

• Build trusted‑advisor relationships with airport executives, operational stakeholders, airlines, regulators and technology partners.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear business value and decision‑ready options for non‑technical audiences.
• Contribute to pre‑sales, proposals and innovation activities, shaping winning, deliverable solutions.

• Experience:
  
  Significant experience as a solution or enterprise architect on large, complex technology programmes, with demonstrable delivery in the aviation, airport or wider transport / critical‑infrastructure sector.
• Domain knowledge:
  Strong understanding of airport operational systems and the IT/OT landscape — e.g. AODB, RMS, FIDS, BHS, CUPPS/CUSS/CUTE, BRS, A‑CDM, and passenger flow / biometric processing.
• Architecture breadth:
  Proven, hands‑on architecture across applications, integration, data, cloud (Azure / AWS / GCP), infrastructure, networks and cyber security.
• Integration:
  Deep experience designing integration and interoperability between heterogeneous systems and multiple stakeholders, including industry standards such as IATA messaging and relevant ACI/IATA guidance.
• Resilience & security:
  Track record of designing for high availability, resilience and security in mission‑critical, 24/7 operational environments.
• Leadership:
  Ability to lead multi‑disciplinary architecture teams and govern design quality through architecture review and design authority forums.
• Communication:
  Excellent stakeholder management, facilitation and written/verbal communication skills, comfortable engaging at C‑level.
• Recognized architecture certification (e.g. TOGAF) and/or cloud architecture certifications.
• Familiarity with airport‑specific standards and frameworks (IATA, ACI, A‑CDM, NDC, biometric / Digital Travel Credential initiatives).
• Experience of large‑scale terminal opening, expansion or greenfield airport technology programmes.
• Exposure to managed‑services / systems‑integration (MSI) operating models and transition to operations.
• Knowledge of OT, SCADA, IoT and building‑management integration within an airport campus.

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems or a related discipline (or equivalent professional experience).
• Relevant architecture, cloud and/or security certifications are strongly preferred.

• Strategic and systems thinking
• Design leadership and technical rigour
• Stakeholder influence
• Commercial awareness
• Risk management
• Collaboration across multi‑vendor teams
• Resilience under operational pressure
• Customer focus