Solutions Architect - Supply Chain

Job Posting:

Since 1953, Ferguson has been a source of quality supplies for a variety of industries. Together We Build Better infrastructure, better homes and better businesses. We exist to make our customers’ complex projects simple, successful, and sustainable. We proactively solve problems, adapt and grow to continuously serve our customers, communities and each other. Ferguson is proud to provide best-in-class products, service and capabilities across the following industries: Commercial/Mechanical, Facilities Supply, Fire and Fabrication, HVAC, Industrial, Residential Trade, Residential Building and Remodel, Waterworks and Residential Digital Commerce. Ferguson has approximately 36,000 associates across 1,700 locations. Ferguson is a community of proud associates who operate with the shared purpose of building something meaningful. You will build a career that you are proud of, at a company you can believe in.

We have an opportunity for a Solutions Architect role in the Supply Chain Architecture and Engineering space. The candidate who fills this role will join a team of experienced technology professionals who design, develop, and support the technologies used by our Supply Chain organization. These applications include, but are not limited to, those that support Automated Warehousing, Warehouse Management Systems, and 3rd party and private fleet Transportation Management.

In this role, you will be responsible for overseeing the architecture, technical design, and integration aspects of Supply Chain technologies. You will work closely with the Supply Chain technology team, other technology teams, vendors, and business collaborators to design and implement solutions that meet the needs of our business. The main focus is providing architectural solutions, tooling, and processes that will enable the development teams to build and maintain our business applications. You will also be expected to understand and provide technical direction for all system integrations.

The ideal candidate for this role will be someone who possesses strong leadership skills and who can be a primary resource for Ferguson’s development and engineering teams. You must be capable of working independently, collaboratively within the team as well as collaboratively with other teams.

** This role is approved to be either Remote within the United States or Hybrid for associates within a 40-mile radius of Newport News, VA, in accordance with company policy. 3-days in office, 2-days remote.**

• Work with team members, leadership, and Business Analysts to understand the needs of supply chain departments.
• Technical expertise, including infrastructure and application understanding, in applying technology to automate supply chain solutions.
• Provide analysis and recommendation on the design of on-prem software/hardware implementations and/or implementation of SaaS/PaaS solutions supporting the supply chain line of business.
• Collaborate internally and across departments with peers to deliver products/solutions that align to Ferguson’s strategic vision.
• Prepare detailed design and specifications from which programs/applications/configurations will be implemented.
• End-to-end ownership of solutions, ensure accuracy and completeness of solution by having recurring check points / audit loops with technical implementation teams.
• Responsible for analyzing and solving sophisticated problems and providing solutions to overcome those problems using the newest technologies.
• Provide technical leadership on complex projects and as needed will be an escalation point on production outages.
• Complete architectural reviews of projects.
• Complete design and code reviews.
• Review team practices to identify areas of improvement.
• Work with vendors to resolve 3rd Level or project issues.
• Evaluate 3rd party tools.

The ideal candidate will need to have excellent technical skills and experience to include the following:

• Strong capabilities to analyze and lead the design of complex IT projects, focusing on interdependencies between applications whilst addressing the overall business needs.
• Excels at overlaying partner visions, goals of projects, and mandatory requirements of various functional IT departments.
• Solid understanding of IT infrastructure components (hardware, software, network, operating systems, storage) and Cloud platforms components (SaaS, PaaS and IaaS).
• Comfortable with leading designs outside of comfort zone – learning new technologies whilst contributing to strategic requirements.
• Good knowledge of IT fields, e.g., software applications and interfaces, production operations, quality assurance, systems management, etc.
• Strong knowledge of application development lifecycles, to include waterfall and agile methodologies and understanding of CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience researching and evaluating commercial IT Products and Solutions.
• Foundational knowledge of Microsoft Azure.
• Excellent written, oral, instructional, presentation, and social skills focused on motivation and positive attitude with ability to effectively engage and motivate large groups.
• Must be self-motivated, proactive, creative, and efficient in identifying issues with strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a high attention to details.
• Must be collaborative in decisions making and facilitate working to consensus to gain agreement when proposing solutions or taking ownership.
• Ability to create technical design documents with presentations using Microsoft Visio and Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a remote work setting.

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Related or Business-related field or relevant work experience is typically required to perform at expectation.
• At a minimum 10+ years of professional IT experience, with at least 5 years of hands-on implementation experience leading high-stake and sophisticated IT projects.
• Experience with Supply Chain systems, especially as it relates to automated warehouse management systems, Warehouse Control Systems, Goods to Person Picking systems, other automated material handling equipment, and transportation management systems, to include integration between those various systems.
• Developed innovative architectural designs for large commercial Enterprises (5000+ Associates) with complex integrations across various platforms and applications.
• Expert level experience defining the system architecture, identifying gaps between current and desired end-states, and delivering comprehensive solutions that will achieve desired business outcomes.

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies to perform the essential functions of this position:

• Problem solving— a creative, analytical mind able to review large quantities of data and quickly bring solutions to life.
• Interpersonal skills—the individual maintains confidentiality, remains open to others' ideas and exhibits willingness to try new things.
• Oral communication—the individual speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations and demonstrates group presentation skills.
• Written communication—the individual edits' work for spelling and grammar, presents numerical data optimally and is able to read and interpret written information.
• Planning/organizing—the individual prioritizes and plans work activities and uses time efficiently.
• Quality control—the individual demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness and monitors own work to ensure quality.
• Adaptability—the individual adapts to changes in the work environment, manages competing demands and is able to deal with frequent change, delays or unexpected events.
• Reliability—the person consistently shows up to work on time, listens to feedback from management, and seeks ways to improve their performance.

At Ferguson, we care for each other. We value our well-being just as much as our hard work. We are committed to a holistic approach towards benefits plans and programs that support the mental, physical and financial well-being of our associates. Our competitive offering not only includes benefits like health, dental, vision, paid time off, life insurance and a 401(k) with a company match, but our associates also enjoy additional meaningful and inclusive enhancements that are adaptable to their diverse situations and needs, including mental health coverage, gender affirming and family building benefits, paid parental leave, associate discounts, community involvement opportunities and more!

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Pay Range:

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Actual pay rate may vary depending upon location. The estimated pay range for this position is below. The specific rate will depend on a candidate’s qualifications and prior experience.

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Estimated Ranges displayed are Monthly for Salaried roles OR Hourly for all other roles.

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This role is Bonus or Incentive Plan eligible.

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Ferguson complies with all wage regulations. The starting wage may be higher in certain locations based on local or state wage requirements.

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The Company is an equal opportunity employer as well as a government contractor that shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-300.5(a), which prohibits discrimination against qualified protected Veterans and the requirements of 41 CFR 60-741.5(A), which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals on the basis of disability.

Ferguson Enterprises, LLC. is an equal employment employer F/M/Disability/Vet/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.

Equal Employment Opportunity and Reasonable Accommodation Information