Solution Business Architect

Location : VIrtual 

Summary:

The Business Solution Architect is responsible for defining and communicating a shared business process and technical vision for the Solution Train, in partnership with the technical Solution Architect, to ensure the solution development meets the end to end business purpose. You support and act on behalf of the Solution Manager by breaking down the vision and high-level ideas/epics into capabilities and understanding the business process or operational impacts across multiple Agile Release Trains  You work closely daily with the IT Solution Architect,  System Architect within ARTS and Shared Service, business owners, product managers and operational / solution readiness leads to elaborate the solution, validate the assumptions, evaluate implementation alternatives and align the delivery across the ARTs to the overall Solution.

In partnership with Solution Management, you identify and response to business opportunities, define solution capabilities, define compliance requirements, NFRs and other acceptance criteria.  You collaborate with the ARTS and Shared Service suppliers on the solution design to ensure it meets the overall solution objectives.  The Business Solution Architect is an active participant in system and solution demos to ensure the capabilities achieve their purpose. 

The Business Solution Architect is a strategic thinker with business and operational knowledge and the ability to interpret this knowledge into solutions and capabilities. Through consultative interactions, you understand the Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) that the business is trying to accomplish and ensure the solutions and capabilities will achieve those targeted results. Leveraging relationship management and facilitation skills, you bring the right partners to the table from technology, product, business, operations, and other areas, and ensure the timelines for gathering and delivery of the details are met.  The Business Solution Architect gains a deep understanding of the end-to-end solution and the horizontal implications across the full experience. You proactively identify and address risks, being empowered to drive the right conversations and the right work.

A Business Solution Architect is:

• Customer-focused, looking across the solution with a strategic mindset to help create a holistic solution
• An excellent communicator both verbally and in writing
• Detail oriented, gathering the appropriate level of capability definition, solution design and acceptance criteria
• Supporting the Solution Managers and IT Solution Architects, as they build out a healthy backlog  
• Challenging the status quo – leading to a better experience of tomorrow. Able to build strong working relationships across business and technology to enhance collaboration.

A Business Solution Architect’s focus on value is evident when we see them… 

• Constantly reinforcing the customer experience and business value over just “getting it out”
• Focus on the highest priority items first, including clear benefit hypothesis throughout

A Business Solution Architect ‘s fixation on clarity is evident when they:

• Focus on a consultative interaction around the problems being solved, the analysis and cause of issues, and providing options to the business
• Refine features and ensure that teams accurately understand the work 
• Ensure proper operational readiness, including any detailed user guides, prior to feature release
• Regularly update the solution architecture vision and strategy
• Evaluate new opportunities in the pipeline and work with Solution Management to align them to the Solution roadmap
• Works with the IT Solution Architects, System Architects and Shared Service suppliers to transform the high level business architecture to reaslitics, actionable steps in the Solution Train PI Plan

A Business Solution Architect ‘s champions Lean and reduces waste when they:

• Advocate for the business, reducing the amount of time required from the business SMEs
• Champion to create simple and efficient operational processes through technology or process improvements
• Raise risks and dependencies that may create impediments down the line, solutioning next steps to overcome
• Foster built-in quality and the continuous delivery pripeline by partnering with technology and business operational partners on solution readiness

Key Responsibilities:

The Work:

1. Gather and document the details of presented ideas/epics, distilling them down into meaningful and useful solutions and capabilities 
2. Facilitate the business solution design to ensure it meets the overall solution objectives
3. Provide feedback during ad hoc and formal reviews and demos to ensure the end solution will align with intended customer experience
4. Liaise with the Solution Train, ARTS and Shared Services, acting as the business advocate with technology partners
5. Ensure proper documentation is gathered and provided to partner teams in preparation for commercial and operational readiness
6. Provide details around business rules that need to be in place when developing and delivering capabilities including acceptance criteria
7. Participate in release governance to determine the business / operational impact of the specific releases

The Interactions:

1. Assist and support the Solution Manager on the definition and refinement details of solutions and capabilities
2. Partner with Solution Manager, Product Managers and appropriate subject matter experts to ensure solutions align with the customer and market needs
3. Partner with Product Managers to provide clarity and details as the ARTS are defining features.
4. Manage expectations with partners, and ensure timely delivery of all artifacts required

Reports to: VP, Product Manager, Disability & Sense Solution 

Business Category: US Business 

 Number of Openings: 1 

Recruiter: Bernadette Jones bernadette.jones@metlife.com

Grade-13M 

At MetLife, we’re leading the global transformation of an industry we’ve long defined. United in purpose, diverse in perspective, we’re dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our customers.

MetLife:

MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

We are one of the largest institutional investors in the U.S. with $642.4 billion of total assets under management as of March 31, 2021. We are ranked #46 on the Fortune 500 list for 2021. In 2020, we were named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the fifth year in a row. DJSI is a global index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies. We are proud to have been named to Fortune magazine’s 2021 list of the “World’s Most Admired Companies.”      

MetLife is committed to building a purpose-driven and inclusive culture that energizes our people. Our employees work every day to help build a more confident future for people around the world.

The wage range for applicants for this position is 105K-140K. This role is also eligible for annual short-term incentive compensation. MetLife offers a comprehensive benefits program, including healthcare benefits, life insurance, retirement benefits, parental leave, legal plan services and paid time off. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms.

We want to make it simple for all interested and qualified candidates to apply for employment opportunities with MetLife.  For further information about how to request a reasonable accommodation, please click on the Disability Accommodations link below.

MetLife is a proud Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer dedicated to attracting, retaining, and developing a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment at MetLife without regards to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status, uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

MetLife maintains a drug-free workplace.