Application Architect (CRM)

About Vancity

Vancity is a member-owned credit union built on the principles of inclusion and social justice. A relentless commitment to their values has helped them challenge the status quo and break down barriers since day one in 1946. They have bold commitments to make Vancity net-zero by 2040 across all mortgages and loans and are pursuing strategies on Indigenous banking and to improve the financial resilience of their members.

Vancity is the largest private sector Living Wage Employer in Canada and has been consistently recognized as one of the Top Employers in Canada. If you’re interested in joining their team of 2,700 diverse individuals and accessing competitive rewards and benefits, all while knowing you are part of a greater movement, then apply today!

 

About the Workplace

 

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Application Architect – CRM to join our IT Solutions team at Vancity to lead the design, development, and implementation of scalable and secure customer relationship management solutions. You will work closely with business leaders, product managers, developers, and IT teams to ensure that solutions are scalable, secure, and aligned with regulatory requirements specific to the financial services industry. This role will be pivotal in aligning CRM architecture with business strategy, ensuring the platform supports sales, service, and marketing goals efficiently. 

This role will enjoy hybrid working arrangements which can be fulfilled primarily from the Vancity head office location and your Lower Mainland based home office or Ontario home based office. Vancouver-based candidates may be expected to come into office at least once per week.

 

A Typical Day Would Involve:

 

• Lead the design and architecture of Temenos applications, ensuring alignment with business requirements, security protocols, compliance standards, and vendor guidelines. Develop and maintain a comprehensive application architecture framework that supports scalable, reliable, and high-performance Temenos applications.
• Collaborate with IT leadership to define the technical direction and roadmap for Temenos application development and modernization. Identify and apply best practices for software architecture, coding standards, and system integration to meet evolving business needs.
• Oversee the technical delivery of Temenos applications across the full lifecycle: from conceptualization and design to implementation, testing, deployment, and post-launch support. Work closely with development teams to ensure timely and successful implementation of architectural designs, addressing any challenges during the software development lifecycle.
• Evaluate third-party software solutions and recommend integration strategies that meet business needs while adhering to architectural standards.
• Partner with business analysts, product managers, and other business stakeholders to understand business requirements and translate them into technical specifications. Serve as a subject matter expert on application design and architecture, providing guidance to developers and technical teams on complex projects.
• Work closely with infrastructure teams to ensure applications are optimized for the underlying infrastructure and meet performance, security, and availability.
• Stay current with emerging technologies, trends, and best practices in the financial services and technology sectors, assessing their potential impact on the organization’s application architecture. Advocate for the adoption of modern software development practices, cloud computing, and microservices architectures to enhance agility and scalability. Conduct technical reviews of application designs, code, and infrastructure components to ensure quality, security, and performance.
• Ensure that applications adhere to financial industry regulations by incorporating appropriate controls and security measures into the architecture. Collaborate with security teams, enterprise architecture team to design and implement secure coding practices, data encryption, and identity/access management solutions to safeguard sensitive financial data.
• Promote and drive continuous improvement initiatives, including application refactoring, process automation, and performance optimization, to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Provide mentorship and guidance to junior architects and development teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation.

 

Key Responsibilities: 

 

• Solution Design & Architecture: 

• Lead the design and architecture of end-to-end technology CRM application architecture strategy and roadmap solutions that address both functional and non-functional requirements, including performance, scalability, security, and compliance. 

• Evaluate new CRM capabilities and features to improve functionality, user experience and performance. Define and maintain the CRM application architecture strategy and roadmap. 

• Work closely with stakeholders across the business to understand requirements and translate them into actionable architectural designs for software applications, data management, and integration solutions. 

• Ensure that all solutions are designed with a clear focus on the overall enterprise architecture, adhering to best practices, industry standards, and compliance frameworks (e.g., SOX, PCI DSS, GDPR). 

• Design solutions that incorporate modern technologies and patterns such as microservices, cloud-native, and API-first architecture. 

• Collaboration with Stakeholders: 

• Partner with business leaders, product managers, and other stakeholders to define business requirements and ensure the solutions delivered meet both strategic and operational needs. 

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for automation, efficiency improvements, and cost savings within the organization. 

• Provide technical leadership and guidance to development teams, ensuring that the solution designs are properly implemented and optimized. 

• Technology Leadership: 

• Stay up to date with emerging technologies, industry trends, and regulatory changes within the financial services sector, evaluating their potential impact on the institution’s technology landscape. 

• Promote the adoption of best practices for system integration, cloud computing, and data management, ensuring that solutions are robust and scalable for future growth. 

• Evaluate and recommend third-party solutions, tools, and platforms that can enhance the organization's technology capabilities. 

• Security & Compliance: 

• Work closely with security teams to ensure all solutions are designed with a security-first mindset, including data encryption, identity management, and secure access controls. 

• Ensure that solutions comply with financial industry regulations and standards, including GDPR, SOX, PCI DSS, and AML/KYC. 

• Implement and advocate for secure software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices and ensure that security, privacy, and compliance are embedded into the solution architecture. 

• Integration & Legacy System Modernization: 

• Design integration strategies to seamlessly connect new solutions with existing legacy systems, optimizing processes, and data flows across the organization. 

• Support the modernization of legacy financial systems by designing architectures that enable the gradual transition to newer, more efficient technologies. 

• Documentation & Knowledge Sharing: 

• Create clear and comprehensive solution architecture documentation, including diagrams, technical specifications, and implementation roadmaps. 

• Share knowledge and best practices with the broader IT team, providing mentorship and guidance to junior architects and developers. 

• Lead or participate in architecture reviews, ensuring that design decisions align with both business needs and IT governance standards. 

 

Required Qualifications: 

 

Education & Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field 

• 7+ years of experience in architecture, systems design, or IT consulting, with at least 3 years of experience in the financial services industry focused on CRM architecture and implementations. (Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics) 

• Proven experience designing and delivering complex technology solutions for enterprise-level financial institutions. 

• Strong understanding of CRM data models, API integrations, workflows and automation 

• Strong background in enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman Framework). 

• Technical Skills: 

• In-depth knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), including cloud-native design principles and services (e.g., microservices, serverless architectures, containers). 

• Strong understanding of system integration technologies, including RESTful APIs, message queues, and ESBs (Enterprise Service Bus). 

• Experience with databases (SQL , Oracle and NoSQL), data warehousing, and data pipelines. 

• Familiarity with DevOps practices and tools (e.g., CI/CD, Docker, Kubernetes, Ansible). 

• Expertise in security technologies, such as identity management, single sign-on (SSO), data encryption, and secure coding practices. 

• Compliance & Regulatory Knowledge: 

• Strong understanding of financial regulations such as SOX, GDPR, PCI DSS, and AML/KYC. 

• Experience in ensuring that solutions meet regulatory and compliance requirements specific to financial institutions.    

Soft Skills: 

• Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to engage with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 

• Excellent problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, with a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions to complex business challenges. 

• Ability to work collaboratively within a cross-functional team environment, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence. 

• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple concurrent initiatives. 

 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Certifications such as TOGAF, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, or Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). 

• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes). 

• Experience working with lending platform , core banking systems, payments platforms, and other financial services technologies. 

• CRM Certifications (Salesforce Application Architect, MS Dynamics 365 Architect) preferred. 

 

You Are:

• Results-oriented: You have a demonstrated ability to engage stakeholders in order to elicit requirements, analyze findings, generate appropriate solutions, and build deliverables all while securing the team's commitment to these solutions.
• Technology savvy: You have education and/or experience supporting technology development/ implementation efforts.
• Analytical: You seek to facilitate data-driven decision making, including “rolling up your sleeves” to clarify requirements, research, and ensure quality artifacts are consumable for the team.
• A problem solver: Your skills to diagnose challenges and issues, develop innovative business solutions, and assess risks and opportunities that may affect the business have been put to good use.
• Curious & innovative: You always do your research and analyze it to assess and recommend course of action on industry, political, and economic trends, and to identify risks and opportunities that may impact the business unit and/or designated area.

 

We value lived experience, so if you are interested in this role, we encourage you to apply even if you feel your skills don't perfectly align with those listed.

Posting Deadline: Posted until Filled

The salary range for this role is $102,200.00 to $153,200 annually. Base pay offered may vary depending on factors such as relevant qualifications, skills, previous experience, and internal equity. As part of our total rewards package, employees may also be eligible for our annual incentive program, subject to program eligibility requirements.

A career at Vancity is more than just a job, you’re joining a tradition of change-makers who are creating lasting change for our communities. Beyond base pay, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package to ensure our employees are empowered to thrive:

 

We offer:

• We are the largest private-sector Living Wage Employer in Canada and have been consistently recognized as one of the Top Employers in Canada.
• Our permanent employees qualify for attractive benefit packages that can be customized and changed each year to meet their evolving needs.
• New employees receive between three to four weeks of vacation allowance per calendar year, and the number of vacation days grows
• In addition to the 10 statutory holidays in British Columbia, Vancity provides an additional three statutory holidays. We offer care days for periods of short-term personal illness or emergency family illness.
• We have flex credits for our health care & dental benefits offer three levels of coverage for you to select from. These benefits will also be effective immediately based on your hire date.  
• We understand that retirement means different things to different people and at Vancity we will offer you a Defined benefits pension plan that pays you a retirement income for life.

At Vancity we’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace to help our people and communities thrive and prosper. Diversity in our workforce is integral so that we can truly represent, understand and respond to our community needs and deliver on our member experience.

We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates. If you require any accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process, please reach out to our Talent Acquisition team at recruitment@vancity.com for confidential support. In-person assistance is also available. We will collaborate with you to ensure your needs are met promptly and effectively.