Architect IT Applications (Front End) at Garmin International in Olathe, Kansas

Job Description:

GPS Manufacturer/Distributor

Garmin is hiring a Front End Applicaiton Architect for our office in Olathe, KS.  In this role you are responsible for the technical roadmap, technology standards, performance and scalability, and maintainability of one or more applications.  Identifies and implements system improvements and serves as a technical leader who guides technical and implementation direction of applications and projects.  Provides mentoring and technical direction to other associates.  Participates in developing complex software solutions to enhance the project team. Other duties to include:

• Develops technical roadmaps, supports, and enforces adherence to the technical roadmaps and development standards through interacting  and collaborating with the development teams and functional owners.


• Negotiates with the business on prioritizing technical work with new business features; creating a balance between healthy systems and delivering critical business features.


• Contributing to, supporting, and encouraging application development and integration best practices during the SDLC


• Identifies opportunities for improvement and implementing solutions to address those opportunities (e.g. architectural, performance, maintainability, security, scalability, reusability, etc.) within one or more business applications 


• Translates, negotiates, and communicates complex architectural and development concepts across development teams and key (often non-technical) stakeholders to meet both architectural and business objectives


• Maintains a technical application roadmap by partnering with internal customers to understand the long-term functional vision.


• Performs reviews of technical design and code changes for a specific, assigned portion of the overall applications and integrations code base; providing direction and recommendations to application implementation teams and developers as needed.


• Recommends technology and development standards to be used on day-to-day feature development.


• Ensures utilization of standard development tools, technologies, libraries, and frameworks (e.g. JavaScript, React, Vue, GraphQL, Node.js, Cloud Foundry, Elasticsearch, CSS3, and HTML5)


• Exercises a significant degree of leadership to projects and programs which contribute directly to organizational objectives


• May lead major development, integration, or application implementation projects consisting of multiple components or sub-projects which require sophisticated project planning 


• Identifies and implements opportunities for system improvement around stability, performance and maintainability


• Works with Directors, Managers, Garmin IT Analysts, and Project Managers to determine system wide design impacts


• Regularly participates in partnering with Garmin IT Architects by participating in vetting new technology solutions


• Assists in validating and communicating detailed Level of Effort estimates for each project


• Evaluates new technologies, features and functions and provides input on broader technology solutions outside of core discipline


• Attends or participates in applicable professional organizations to bring outside knowledge to Garmin


• Serve as a mentor to less experienced team members  (Levels  1, 2 & 3)


• Demonstrates broad and global understanding of Garmin’s business model including Engineering, Operations, Finance, Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, etc.


• Develops reliable solutions to complex problems which require the regular use of ingenuity and creatively


• Serves as a leader of change


• Demonstrates professional maturity through giving and receiving constructive feedback


• Conflict is addressed effectively without appreciable oversight 


• Provides on-call responsibilities as required by the team


• Exemplifies Garmin’s Mission, Vision and Values and proactively works to improve Garmin’s image and culture

Qualifications - External

Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, or another relevant field AND a minimum of 9 years relevant experience OR a Master's and 6 years of experience OR equivalent years of experience for the degree

• Must possess experience (in years noted above) in developing and architecting scalable n-tier enterprise business applications relevant to Garmin’s business needs


• Must possess experience (in years noted above) in defining and implementing application development and integration best practices and processes relevant to Garmin’s business needs


• Must be team-oriented, possess a positive attitude, and work well with others


• Must be detail-oriented and have the ability to work proactively and effectively with minimal supervision


• Must possess the ability to prioritize and multi-task in a flexible, fast paced and challenging environment


• Must possess excellent leadership skills and the ability to generate and support pragmatic solutions that meet Garmin’s market launch requirements, while maintaining high quality standards


• Superior organizational and analytical skills with keen attention to detail and quality


• Demonstrated experience in successful implementation of technology solutions


• Must demonstrate proficiency and possess experience necessary to design, enhance and develop single and multi-system applications


• Demonstrated strong and effective verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills in a large team or departmental setting


• Must have experience with maintaining, improving and extending the entire architecture of a front-end application including deployment, API/database integration, server setup, user interface design, accessibility and performance.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

• Previous experience working in a team environment


• Expert knowledge of JavaScript/Node.js


• Expert knowledge of HTML/CSS


• Experience developing web applications using JavaScript frameworks (Vue, React, Angular, etc.)


• Experience using REST and AJAX


• Experience with web standards, usability, and accessibility principles


• Experience mentoring senior and junior developers


• Experience communicating and interacting with non-technical individuals

Garmin International is an equal opportunity employer.  Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age or disability.