Southstar Technology Solutions – Applications Solution Architect, Senior
Purpose
This position provides technical and business leadership to Southstar Energy Technology Solutions (SSE Tech Solutions) within the SCS Technology Organization (TO). The role partners with Infrastructure Services, Database Services, Development Strategies and Standards, and other TO teams to deliver modern, secure, and scalable solutions. The Solutions Architect leads end-to-end solution delivery and architectural governance for large, complex initiatives—including consolidation, data migration, and integrations—while mentoring teams and resolving issues to ensure superior performance and reliability.
Job Responsibilities and Duties
- Lead the collaborative development of near- and long-term network, compute, application, and data architectures for SSE Tech Solutions.
- Engage continuously with Southstar Energy Services business leaders and technology/governance teams to translate business outcomes into technology capabilities.
- Provide early solution shaping during project initiation, contributing to proposals and business cases with clear architecture options, risks, and cost implications.
- Identify, evaluate, and communicate the strategic implications of emerging technologies (e.g., IoT, IT/OT convergence, digital labor, container platforms) and align adoption roadmaps with enterprise standards.
- Own architecture reviews across vendor platforms, custom solutions, integrations, and data exchanges through TVP and ARB processes; drive periodic optimization for performance, resilience, and data availability.
- Provide leadership and oversight for technology lifecycle management, standards, and enterprise strategies; coach teams and guide code review practices for internal and vendor-delivered solutions.
- Partner with Data & Analytics stakeholders to embed data acquisition, storage, sharing, governance, reporting, and analytics in new development and major upgrades.
- Design and govern data architectures that support both analytical (BI/AI/ML) and operational workloads, selecting appropriate patterns (data lakehouse, ODS, CDC/streaming, dimensional marts) based on business needs.
- Define reporting and analytics platform vision—evaluating ODS versus data lake/lakehouse implementations—considering performance, cost, and time-to-insight.
- Lead integration strategies across systems of record (e.g., Oracle CC&B/C2M) using secure APIs, messaging, ETL/ELT, and event-driven patterns.
- Architect for cost and performance at scale: right-size compute/storage, leverage serverless and container orchestration, and apply caching/partitioning to meet SLAs while optimizing spend.
- Champion security-by-design: identity federation, zero trust principles, data protection, and compliance with applicable privacy laws and enterprise policies.
- Support solutions from ideation through implementation; plan work, coordinate cross-functional teams, and drive consensus across stakeholders.
Required Technical Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- B.S. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent; advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g., Azure/AWS solutions architect) preferred.
- Strong understanding of REST/SOAP web services and secure integration patterns.
- Experience with identity federation protocols (SAML, WS-Fed, OAuth2/OIDC) and enterprise SSO.
- Hands-on experience with ETL/ELT and data movement tooling (e.g., SSIS, SRRS/SSRS; Azure Data Factory/Synapse; streaming/CDC).
- Experience integrating systems of record including Oracle CC&B, C2M, and adjacent platforms.
- Cloud expertise across Microsoft Azure (preferred) and familiarity with AWS and Google Cloud.
- Familiarity with modern web frameworks and front-end patterns (e.g., Bootstrap, responsive design) to inform end-to-end solution choices.
- Container technologies and platforms experience (e.g., Red Hat/OpenShift, Kubernetes) for scalable deployment and portability.
- Data architecture design across ODS, data lake/lakehouse, dimensional modeling, and semantic layers to serve both operational and analytical use cases.
- Performance and cost optimization at scale, including serverless, autoscaling, storage tiering, partitioning, and caching strategies.
- Expert knowledge of computing infrastructure and architectural design, including reliability, observability, and resilience engineering.
Required Interpersonal Skills and Competencies
- Strong application development literacy and enterprise design thinking; ability to evaluate build/buy and vendor solutions.
- Ability to build productive relationships across business and TO; influence with a strategic, outcome-focused lens.
- Exceptional analytical, conceptual, and problem-solving abilities; communicate clearly (verbal and written) to executive and technical audiences.
- Ability to prioritize and execute independently in a fast-paced environment; manage multiple, concurrent initiatives.
- Ability to present ideas in clear business language; plan work and coordinate cross-functional teams effectively.
- Sound knowledge of data privacy practices and laws; model Southern Company Values (Safety First, Intentional Inclusion, Act with Integrity, Superior Performance).
Preferred Experience (Aligned to Screening Focus Areas)
- Leading consolidation, data migration, and complex integration programs across hybrid/cloud environments.
- Designing data architectures that balance operational needs and analytical workloads using modern patterns and platforms.
- Evaluating and implementing reporting and analytics platforms (ODS vs. lake/lakehouse) to meet business SLAs and cost targets.
- Deploying and managing workloads on container platforms (e.g., OpenShift/Kubernetes) with DevSecOps practices.
- Knowledge of energy industry trends and Southstar Energy business context.
About Southern Company
Southern Company (NYSE: SO ) is a leading energy provider serving 9 million customers across the Southeast and beyond through its family of companies. Providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy with excellent service is our mission. The company has electric operating companies in three states, natural gas distribution companies in four states, a competitive generation company, a leading distributed energy solutions provider with national capabilities, a fiber optics network and telecommunications services. Through an industry-leading commitment to innovation, resilience and sustainability, we are taking action to meet customers' and communities' needs while advancing our goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our uncompromising values ensure we put the needs of those we serve at the center of everything we do and are the key to our sustained success. We are transforming energy into economic, environmental and social progress for tomorrow. Our corporate culture has been recognized by a variety of organizations, earning the company awards and recognitions that reflect Our Values and dedication to service. To learn more, visit www.southerncompany.com .
Southern Company invests in the well-being of its employees and their families through a comprehensive total rewards strategy that includes competitive base salary, annual incentive awards for eligible employees and health, welfare and retirement benefits designed to support physical, financial, and emotional/social well-being. This position may also be eligible for additional compensation, such as an incentive program, with the amount of any bonus/awards subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable incentive plan(s). A summary of the benefits offered for this position can be found here https://seo.nlx.org/southernco/pdf/SOCO-Benefits.pdf . Additional and specific details about total compensation and benefits will also be provided during the hiring process.
Southern Company is an equal opportunity employer where an applicant's qualifications are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis prohibited by law.
Job Identification: 16406
Job Category: Information Technology
Job Schedule: Full time
Company: Southern Company Services
