Solution Architect | Data & Product Enabling Functions | Inter IKEA

Tech & Innovation

Join Inter IKEA’s Transformation Journey

At IKEA we are on a journey to transform our operating model. One way to ensure long-term success and a fantastic partner, co-worker, and customer experience is to strengthen our Data & Digital Product Management capabilities. We are establishing data & digital product teams across Inter IKEA, bringing business processes, people, data and technology together. A journey that needs passionate people who embrace change, dare to question, and want to make a difference. If that sounds like you, come and join us. Together we can do great things!

About the area 

Operations Management works together with operations teams across Inter IKEA to lead and develop the overall IKEA operating model, and to enable strategic movements towards IKEA goals. It includes teams for business insights, capability and process development, strategy and roadmap, data and product, and technology and platforms. 

Job description

We are currently establishing a product and platform-based organisation, where product areas will enable development of the needed and prioritised capabilities across Inter IKEA. Our aim is to secure a strong and clear connection between business strategies and the goals for each product team. A new framework is being developed to define how we lead in the process and capability dimensions and how this will connect to the data product, digital product and platform management. Our aim is to create a clear and simple framework for Inter IKEA that will enable product teams to deliver value to our customers, co-workers, and partners in an efficient and scalable way, connecting functions and improving collaboration across the IKEA value chain.

In the work it is expected to understand the current architecture, define a future-oriented target architecture and a logical sequence of activities on how to reach the target state in a stepwise approach. For this role we are looking for architects with a product mindset, also called product architects. Product architects are aligned with one or more product teams. They translate the enterprise/information architecture to the context for product teams and support the implementation.
You are a natural leader, a team player and a person that actively collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to get progress and reach concrete business results.

More specifically, in this role you will be accountable for:

• Shaping ideas – in close collaboration with relevant internal and external stakeholders – into concrete, robust and appropriate Process, People, Data and Technology solution architectures and transition roadmap.
• Describe the current and future state of intended business change as well as the transition to reach the future state ensuring aligned and consistent business process and IT development across IKEA value chain.
• Secure that the transition roadmap reflects the level of uncertainty of the future state. Balance the transformations of foundational building blocks with continued business value delivery.
• Communicate and baseline the solution architectures and transition roadmaps with relevant business and IT stakeholders within and across organization(s).
• Collaborate closely with Enterprise/Information architects and product teams to improve architecture with learnings from the implementation.

About You

You will be an experienced and dynamic Solution Architect with a focus on Data and Product domains. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in digital and data products, data as a product, data management, possessing hands-on experience as a product owner, solution architect or developer. This role requires excellent communication and collaboration skills, the ability to lead cross-functionally, and a strong understanding of data and analytics frameworks.

With the focus on Data and Product Architecture and co-responsibility for the development and delivery of:

• D&P architecture guidelines
• Target architecture of the data products
• Data and business capabilities
• Roadmap
• Reusable patterns
• Approved exceptions
• Support a culture of data-driven decision making across IKEA organisations.
• Work closely together with data scientists, data and software engineers, architects, analysts, data & digital product teams, and other relevant roles across IKEA as well as in your team.
• Drive continuous improvement, collaboration and knowledge sharing of the data landscape and its value.
• Collaborate and communicate with other parts of the organisation to understand needs of stakeholders and advise viable solutions.
• Experience in data architecture or solution architecture.
• Experience in Azure, Microsoft technologies.
• Architecture modelling expertise and a solid understanding of the underlying capabilities, processes, applications, data and technology.
• In-depth knowledge of all angles of data, like data management, data governance, analytics, modelling.
• Technology knowledge of data platforms, data integration/sharing and data management and governance tools.
• Act as the translator between different subject matter experts to move with a common understanding in the chosen direction.
• Translate concepts in concrete action plans.

Qualifications

• Min. 2 years relevant job experience
• Bachelor’s/University level in computer science, information technology, engineering, or another STEM disciple
• Experience in agile practices and ways of working
• Analytical skills and eye for detail
• Planning and organisational skills
• Effective communicator, able to present content and gain buy-in
• Excellent English language skills (written and verbal communication)

More Information

This role is full-time (40 hours per week) and based in Delft, Netherlands or Malmo, Sweden. This role sits in the Operations Management, Data and Product and reports to the Architecture Manager within Data & Product.

We always recruit based on values, competence, potential and diversity. We will prioritise co-workers employed in Inter IKEA Systems BV, Inter IKEA Services BV, Inter IKEA Systems Service AB and Inter IKEA Technology Services AB provided competence requirements are met for the roles, starting with the ones whose position cease to exist.

At IKEA, we do things a little differently. We think differently, act differently and work differently as well. We like to break things. Like rules. And then make things. Like music-playing lamps. And beds disguised as sofas. Even plantballs that help us look after our planet. It’s all part of our vision - to create a better everyday life for the many. And it’s been keeping our co-workers going for over 75 years. By 2030, we hope to help millions more look forward to going home. Maybe you can help us?

We want to become an even more affordable, sustainable and accessible home furnishing retailer in an omni-channel reality. We bring business and data & technology together to improve how we work and meet customers, and enable us to focus on creating value. So we can continuously improve and scale IKEA, together with our partners and the many people.

Please be aware that there will be a delay in the response and in the overall process, due to the summer period. We at IKEA, thank you for your patience