Contract - Connected Vehicle (Telematics) Solution Architect

At Honda we embrace inclusion in our various policies, so whilst our contracts state that the hours are as required to fulfil the role with a minimum of 35 hours per week, we offer flexibility for when you work.  The regular office hours are 08:00 – 16:00 Monday to Thursday with a half hour lunch break & 08:00 – 13:00 on a Friday.  However, we offer flexibility of when you work with our daily flex-time start of between 07:00 and 11:00 providing that there is no business requirement.

Whilst there is no contractual right to work from home, the flexibility we offer is that you can request to work from home for a maximum of 50% of the working days in any one month, again providing there is no business requirement to attend the office.

Role:
Responsible for defining a telematics platform architecture for Europe region aligned with our Global Connected Service Platform (GCSP).  This role will provide technical leadership and be responsible for architectural design and technical integration of the IS solutions for a number of Telematics / Connected vehicle projects.  This includes effective management of 3rd party suppliers, testing, validation, troubleshooting procedures, and leadership in the resolution of issues.

Main Responsibilities:

• Review business and system requirements with key stakeholders to ensure technical feasibility.
• Identify solution architecture and technology options to deliver core business requirements and services.
• Create telematics platform architectural specifications (application, infrastructure, security, data & services).
• Design and specify the integration points (API & communication protocols) between specific components of telematics platform and the wider IT infrastructure.
• Ensure feasibility, functionality and integration with existing systems and platforms.
• Apply enterprise architecture principles to design feasible solutions that meet requirements considering scalability, maintainability, security, reliability, flexibility, availability and re-use.
• Ensure technical solutions are aligned with Global telematics technical and IS strategies.
• Contribute to RFP process for 3rd party vendors & service providers by defining technical requirements and functional specification.
• Evaluate 3rd party vendor proposals to ensure supplier’s design architecture delivers a solution that meets Honda’s requirements.
• Coordinate architecture and design activities with 3rd party vendors as key technical contact point.
• Coordinate design and development activities with other parts of the Honda IT organisation.
• Review system design and provide development effort estimates for project planning.
• Other related tasks as may be assigned from time to time.

 
Qualifications, knowledge, skills and experiences:

This is an important role in Honda’s transition so demonstrated success in a similar role is essential. That will include:

• Automotive experience in Infotainment and/or telematics systems working as solution architect and/or system designer including component integration.
• Understanding and experience of IT service providers – especially telematics platform, system integrators and mobile app developers.
• Knowledge of AWS or Azure cloud platforms.
• Knowledge of wide range of technologies and experience of their integration and configuration (e.g. web technologies, RDBMS, XML, SaaS/PaaS).
• Demonstrable knowledge and technical experience in system integration methods and technologies (API platform, data Integration and database design).
• Knowledge of interface protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP, MQTT, REST).
• Technical experience in RDBS such as Postgres & Postgis or MySQL.
• Practical experience of service, application, data and infrastructure architecture.
• Ability to give advice and guidance on approach to design of systems architectures.
• Experience in systems delivery including analysis, design, implementation, testing and support in the automotive space.
• Ability to think and plan strategically and to deliver tactically.
• Ability to solve complex problems in a timely manner (with attention to detail and sound judgement).

Personal qualities:

• Demonstrated ability to understand business drivers and to work closely with the business to understand their strategy and translate that into an IT environment.
• Ability to communicate at all levels of the organisation, to present a coherent proposition and to listen and understand the needs of others.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills at all levels of the organisation demonstrating confidence.
• Clarity of thinking, clarity in communication – ability to present technical concepts to non-technical audience for understanding and decision making.
• Demonstrated ability to work well with IS colleagues at all levels (flexible approach & tolerant).
• An excitement about technology opportunities and an understanding on how the business may exploit them. 

Honda is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants and visitors. Honda also encourages respect for the individual differences and talents of others while making full use of one's own abilities, based on Honda's philosophy of respect for the individual.

At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non-discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes the uniqueness and differences of people around the world. We recognise that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them. We strive to foster a culture of belonging that is consistent with Honda's core values and lived out in the way we work and respect each other. For us at Honda, diversifying our workforce means increasing its overall strength by providing people with equal opportunities - regardless of personal characteristics or previous careers.

This commitment flows directly from the Honda philosophy and the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. Honda recruits, hires, trains and promotes the most qualified/experienced individuals at all levels without regard to race, origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic.