Lead Solution Architect - Airports

Job description

Job Description: Solution Design & Architecture • 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. Integration & Operational Resilience • 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). Engagement & Delivery Leadership • Act as the senior technical authority across the engagement lifecycle — bid/pursuit, mobilisation, 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. Stakeholder & Advisory • 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.

Requirements

• Essential
• 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.
• Recognised 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.
• Key Competencies
• 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.
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Skills