Blog Insights
What’s It Like Being a Technical Architect at Forum One?
Forum One is growing. As we take on new projects and clients, we have a number of openings to fill. Among them is the role of the Technical Architect. But what is a Technical Architect? And what does being a Technical Architect at Forum One look like? To answer these questions, let’s hear directly from our incredible Tech Architect team.
You’re a technical architect. In your own words, what does that mean?
Deanna: A technical architect is someone who is given a request and an ecosystem and asked to turn it into a final product. They are someone who is able to understand the personalities and skill sets at their disposal and adapt to best support and guide their team to a successful delivery. In order to lead effectively, you must always have a 3000-foot view of the end goal, but be able to answer the fine detail questions around the development as well.
Cody: Often it feels like my most important role is to facilitate conversations between different team members, and to provide context and translation when the conversation is between the tech team and other roles. You need to be able to explain technical problems and solutions to clients in a way that delivers the necessary detail, but doesn’t overwhelm them.
Give us an example of what you’ve been working on lately?
Deanna: Recently I have been working on optimizing my architectural planning process to trim development time where possible and help with tight turn-around projects.
Cody: I’ve been working with the Project Managers of a couple of my projects to better understand how we can divide up certain tasks and responsibilities throughout the build process.
What’s your advice for future and aspiring technical architects at Forum One?
Deborah: Be able to multitask. Be organized so you can handle multiple projects at once. Adapt to your team.
Deanna: Be involved early and often. Everything from initial discovery and on will impact the decisions that you need to make in order to deliver a great product. Don’t be afraid to speak up if some of those early decisions could be improved upon for later phases.
Cody: Your communication skills can be more relevant day-to-day than pure engineering expertise. Learning to provide a good working space for your team and trusting them to deliver is a skill that will take practice and time to develop.
To you, what is the biggest skill a technical architect needs to bring to the table?
Deborah: It is helpful if you are a full-stack developer. It’s highly recommended that you are comfortable communicating with clients in a non-technical manner. It is also important to be able to deal with multiple personalities, usually accomplished by having lots of patience.
Deanna: You need to be able to communicate with any stakeholder. Whether it is your own internal team or the client, your ability to extract and clearly deliver information is paramount. You act as the communication bridge that translates the original project-ask into the final delivered product and your ability to do so in a timely and confident manner can make or break a project.
Now that you have a better understanding of what it’s like to work as a Technical Architect at Forum One, we would love to meet you! You can also find out more about what it’s like to work at Forum One and our Tech Team before applying today!
