Architecture Lead: IT Online and ROG

Closing Date 2026/07/17

Reference Number WWL260703-12

Job Title Architecture Lead: IT Online and ROG

Job Type Full Time

Business Unit Information Technology

Location - Country South Africa

Location - Province Western Cape

Location - Town / City Cape Town

Minimum Education Level Diploma | Advanced Certificate

Job Advert Summary

Join Woolworths in Cape Town as anArchitecture Lead: IT Online and ROG: Lead the Digital and Stores commerce architecture team through transformation to an integrated architecture. Translate business vision into architectural decisions across payments, inventory, order management, OL fulfilment and other customer experience domains. Drive alignment and architectural thinking among solution architects to deliver to the Stores, Digital Channels and Online Fulfilment operating model capabilities.

Minimum Requirements Education and Certification

• Relevant 3-year tertiary or NQF-aligned qualification
• Relevant architecture certification (e.g., TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture framework)

Experience

• 12-15 years IT architecture experience, with a track record of shaping technical direction
• Minimum 5-7 years leading major architectural decisions such as guiding teams through architectural transformation, influencing on complex technical directives, driving architecture strategy in complex matrix style environments
• Minimum 3-5 years hands-on digital channel architecture, as an example decomposed e-commerce platforms, payment gateways, customer data, order management for online/app environments
• Minimum 1-2 years leading peer-level influence in matrix or cross-functional structures where there was no direct authority over outcomes
• Demonstrated experience in at least one major architectural transformation or redesign in a complex environment that potentially included multiple teams, legacy constraints, competing priorities

Technical and Domain Knowledge

• Deep expertise in digital channel architecture such as online/app platforms, payment processing, customer experience architecture
• Working knowledge of core commerce domains such as order management, inventory systems, fulfilment orchestration, payment processing, customer data platforms
• An understanding of security architecture and compliance requirements relevant to payments, employee and customer data
• Evident systemic thinking through an understanding of how architectural changes in one domain cascade across others
• Knowledge of modern architecture patterns for distributed systems, API-first design, and event-driven architecture
• An understanding of how to integrate security and compliance thinking into architectural design at the onset
• Retail or large-scale e-commerce environment experience preferred

Leadership and Influence

• Proven ability to influence senior technical peers without formal authority—getting buy-in through credibility and architectural logic
• Track record of getting senior architects or engineers to change direction on major technical decisions
• Experience working collaboratively with technical leaders who have competing priorities and different accountability
• Demonstrated ability to articulate complex technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders (business leaders, commercial teams)

Skills And Attributes

• Strong communication, presentation and facilitation skills across all organisational levels
• Systemic thinking
• Intellectual humility paired with strong conviction
• Project and programme management experience, particularly an understanding of how architecture connects to delivery
• Business and commercial acumen
• Ability to operate under ambiguity and influence upward while clarity is being sought
• Comfortable working in a transformation journey with competing priorities and resource constraints

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead Architecture Transformation for Online, App and Stores Systems

• Establish and articulate architectural vision and principles that translate business strategies into technical guidance across multiple domains
• Build consensus among senior architects on non-negotiable architectural patterns and trade-offs that serve Stores, Digital Channels and Online Fulfilment objectives
• Drive architectural alignment across teams ( as an example in-store, digital, order management, inventory, payments) to solve integration challenges collaboratively
• Identify where current channel-specific architectures conflict with cross channel vision and lead the team through crafting those solutions that are sustainable

Shape Technical Direction and Influence Peer Architects

• Guide architectural decisions by working with senior solution architects in peer groups, influencing with credibility and thought leadership
• Mentor architects through major architectural decisions, helping them maximise their expertise
• Surface architectural blockers and resource gaps to IT leadership and escalate when appropriate

Lead the Commerce Architecture Team

• Manage solution architects, setting clear accountability for how their work advances the Business and IT vision and roadmaps
• Define roles and expectations for the solution architects understand their domains and how it the team should work towards the Business and IT vision and roadmaps
• Support architects through crafting solutions and approaches
• Foster a teaming and collaborative culture where architects can challenge each other in service of better outcomes

Own the Commerce Architecture Roadmap

• Partner with business stakeholders and IT Capability managers to translate aligned priorities into an architecture roadmap/s
• Define the sequencing and dependencies of architectural work so that foundational decisions unblock later capability builds
• Anticipate architectural constraints that will impact future capabilities and proactively design for them
• Communicate architectural trade-offs clearly so business and technology leaders can make informed priority decisions

Bridge Digital and Store Domains

• Provide deep digital channel expertise (online/app architecture) to inform solutions, avoiding decisions that work in only in digital channels
• Foster an understanding of in-store and operations constraints to ask the right questions and spot integration gaps
• Work across technical managers, in-store operations, and fulfilment to translate business and IT vision into sustainable technical decisions and solutions

Integrate Security Architecture and Compliance into Design

• Collaborate with CISO function to bring PCI DSS, EMV, POPIA, and other regulatory requirements into architectural design
• Understand how payment processing, employee and customer data flows create security and compliance implications and architect to address the impacts
• Guide architecture team to design with compliance in mind with security and governance as design inputs
• Work with IT Governance and Finance teams to ensure architecture decisions are documented, reviewed, and tracked through governance and operational processes
• Identify where architecture decisions create risk and work with CISO teams to design mitigations

Maintain Governance and Quality Standards

• Work within EA governance frameworks and contribute to their evolution for commerce-specific needs
• Ensure architecture deliverables across the team meet quality and consistency standards
• Actively identify technology enablement risks and mitigations based on the commerce architecture roadmap
• Connect architects with implementation teams during planning and building to translate architecture into delivery