Purpose

The system architect in SAFe is responsible for defining and communicating the technical architecture, including non-functional requirements (NFRs), design decisions, and the overarching system structure. Their primary focus is ensuring that the architecture evolves to meet the technical and business needs of the solution.

To be discussed aligned with the "product architect concept" :While enterprise architects set the strategic direction and define the long-term technical vision at the portfolio level, system architects focus more on the solution and program level. They ensure that the design aligns with enterprise-wide standards and strategic goals set by enterprise architects.

Key accountabilities

• Collaborates with the Agile Teams, guiding technical design but also empower teams to make local design decisions within a defined architectural framework.

• Balancing Innovation and Stability, maintaining a balance between innovative, forward-looking architectural decisions and the stability required for incremental delivery in an agile environment.
• Participate in PI Planning: during in PI Planning by defining architectural runway and technical dependencies, providing input on technical risks, and ensuring that the teams have a clear understanding of the system constraints and architectural objectives. They help ensure that the teams' work is technically feasible and aligned with long-term goals.
• In backlog refinement sessions, system architects provide insights on the technical aspects of features, identify architectural enablers, and ensure that non-functional requirements are considered in the planning.
• They work closely with product managers to prioritize enablers and balance functional and technical priorities.
• Scrum of Scrums/ART Sync: System architects attend these ceremonies to stay aligned with the progress of different teams and identify any cross-team architectural issues or dependencies. They help resolve technical blockers and keep the architecture aligned across multiple teams.
• System Demos: In system demos, system architects provide technical feedback and validate that the delivered increments align with the architectural vision and meet NFRs. They also gather feedback to adjust the architectural approach if necessary.

Skills needed

• Systems Architecture: Capacity to specify, refine, update and make available a formal approach to implement any IT system, in line with business requirements. Identifies the components required, hardware, software and technology platforms that needs to be integrated to meet current and future business requirements. Ensures that all technical aspects take account of interoperability, scalability and usability

• Systems Design: Capacity to specify and design information systems and their components to meet defined business needs, retaining compatibility with enterprise and solution architectures

• Systems Integration: Capacity to install additional hardware, software or sub system components into an existing or proposed system. To comply with established processes and procedures, taking into account the specification, capacity and compatibility of existing and new modules to ensure integrity and interoperability. To verify system performance and ensures formal sign off and documentation of successful integration

• Decision Making: Assesses and analyses situations accurately, grasping complexities and identifying key issues. Applies sound judgment in a timely manner, recognizing the consequences of actions

• Initiative: Ability to take initiative in his domain of accountability ie. begin or to follow a plan or task, without prompting or direction from others

• Communication Advanced: Ability to communicate orally and in writing at an advanced level, manage meetings and workshops efficiently and deliver presentation

• Priority Setting: Ability to set the right priority to tasks, based on different criteria (Customer priority, Syensqo priority, feasibility, sizing & phasing)

• Conceptual Thinking: Ability to solve problem or think based on the cognitive process of conceptualization—is a process of independent analysis in the creative search for new ideas or solutions, which takes as its starting point that none of the accepted constraints of "today's reality" need necessarily to apply to or to shape the future

Typical profiles

Architect or Senior Architect