Salesforce Architect - Honda

A Salesforce Architect is a highly experienced and critical role within the Salesforce ecosystem, responsible for designing and overseeing the implementation of complex Salesforce solutions that align with a company's business goals and technical strategy. They are 'big-picture thinkers' and 'in-depth problem solvers' who ensure solutions are scalable, maintainable, secure, and performant.

Here's a comprehensive breakdown of the typical job description for a Salesforce Architect:

Overall Purpose:

• The Salesforce Architect leads the design, development, and implementation of robust, scalable, and secure Salesforce solutions. This role serves as a trusted advisor to stakeholders, translating complex business requirements into technical solutions and guiding development teams through the entire project lifecycle.

Solution Design and Architecture:

• Lead the design of comprehensive Salesforce solutions, including data models, automation, integration strategies, and user experience, ensuring alignment with business objectives and Salesforce best practices.
• Develop high-level and low-level architectural diagrams and technical documentation (e.g., system landscape, data models, integration patterns, data migration strategies).
• Assess existing Salesforce environments and recommend improvements, identifying gaps between current and desired states.
• Make critical decisions regarding configuration vs. customization, declarative vs. programmatic solutions, and the appropriate use of Salesforce products (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Experience Cloud, etc).
• Design solutions that account for large data volumes, data privacy, security, and performance.

Technical Leadership and Governance:

• Provide strategic oversight and technical guidance to Salesforce development and administration teams.
• Define and enforce architectural standards, coding standards, security best practices, and governance policies.
• Conduct code reviews and ensure quality and adherence to design patterns.
• Act as the subject matter expert (SME) for the Salesforce platform, staying current with new features, releases, and industry trends.
• Lead discussions on solution design trade-offs, considering lifecycle costs, usability, and feasibility.

Stakeholder Collaboration and Communication:

• Collaborate extensively with business stakeholders, product owners, and executives to understand requirements, define project priorities, and align technology solutions with business goals.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear, concise, and business-friendly language for diverse audiences.
• Facilitate workshops, discovery sessions, and presentations to gather requirements, present designs, and gain consensus.
• Act as a bridge between technical and non-technical teams.

Integration and Data Management:

• Design and oversee complex integrations between Salesforce and other internal and external systems (ERP, marketing automation, other cloud applications, etc) using various integration patterns (REST, SOAP API, middleware).
• Define and maintain the data architecture, including data modeling, data migration strategies, and data governance.
• Ensure data accuracy, consistency, and security across all integrated systems.

Project and Release Management:

• Support project planning, estimation, and scoping.
• Oversee the technical delivery of Salesforce implementations, including custom development, integrations, and data migration.
• Provide guidance on environment management, release management, code versioning, and deployment methodologies.
• Assist with troubleshooting production issues and performing root cause analysis.

Mentorship and Coaching:

• Mentor and coach junior technical team members (developers, administrators), fostering their growth and ensuring best practices.
• Share knowledge and expertise within the team and across the organization.

Education: Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).

Experience:

• Typically 7+ years of hands-on Salesforce experience, with a strong focus on solution design, configuration, and development (Apex, Visualforce, Lightning Components).
• Proven experience as a Salesforce Architect or in a similar leadership role on large-scale Salesforce implementations.
• Experience with various Salesforce Clouds (Sales, Service, Marketing, Experience, etc).
• Strong understanding of CRM processes within sales, marketing, and service environments.
• Experience with integration tools and methodologies (APIs, middleware like MuleSoft).
• Knowledge of deployment processes and release pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, Bitbucket/Git).

Technical Skills:

• Deep expertise in Salesforce platform features and capabilities.
• Proficiency in Apex, Visualforce, Lightning Components (Aura and LWC), SOQL, and Salesforce APIs.
• Strong understanding of web services, databases, and security practices.
• Familiarity with various architectural patterns and design principles.
• Experience with data modelling, data migration, and large data volumes.