Contact Center Principal Enterprise Architect (CCaaS)

Job Summary

We are seeking a visionary and highly experienced Contact Center Principal Architect to lead the strategic design, development, and implementation of our enterprise contact center solutions. This role is crucial in defining our next-generation customer interaction capabilities, leveraging cutting-edge CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service) platforms, AI-driven technologies, and robust integrations with our enterprise ecosystem. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in modern contact center technologies, cloud-native architectures, and a strong ability to translate complex business needs into scalable, secure, and innovative technical solutions that drive exceptional customer experiences and operational efficiency.

(Farmers internal position title: Principal Enterprise Architect)

CCaaS Strategy & Architectural Design

• Define and drive the strategic roadmap for the enterprise contact center technology landscape, including CCaaS platform evolution, migration strategies, and integration frameworks.
• Lead the architectural design and implementation of complex CCaaS solutions, encompassing inbound/outbound voice, digital channels (email, chat, SMS, social), IVR/IVA, intelligent routing (ACD), and workforce engagement management (WEM/WFO).
• Develop and maintain comprehensive solution architecture blueprints, including call flow designs, data models, API strategies, and integration patterns with CRM (e.g., Salesforce, MS Dynamics) and other enterprise systems.
• Ensure architectural designs support business objectives for customer experience, operational efficiency, scalability, high availability, and disaster recovery.
• Design and champion the integration of AI/ML technologies (e.g., conversational AI, agent assist, predictive analytics, sentiment analysis) to enhance self-service capabilities and agent productivity.

Technology Leadership & Innovation

• Provide expert technical leadership and mentorship to engineering, development, and operations teams involved in CCaaS projects and support.
• Evaluate, recommend, and champion emerging contact center technologies, CCaaS platform features, AI innovations, and third-party solutions to drive continuous improvement and competitive advantage.
• Lead proof-of-concept (PoC) initiatives for new technologies and architectural approaches, assessing their feasibility, performance, and business value.
• Foster a culture of innovation within the contact center technology domain, encouraging exploration and adoption of best-in-class solutions.

Governance, Security & Operational Excellence

• Establish and enforce architectural standards, design patterns, and best practices for CCaaS solutions to ensure consistency, quality, and maintainability.
• Ensure all contact center solutions adhere to stringent security standards, data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, PCI-DSS), and industry compliance mandates.
• Collaborate with security teams to define and implement security controls, conduct risk assessments, and manage vulnerabilities within the contact center ecosystem.
• Drive initiatives to optimize the performance, scalability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of contact center platforms and supporting infrastructure.
• Oversee technical governance processes, including design reviews, architecture approvals, and change management for contact center systems.

Stakeholder Collaboration & Solution Evangelism

• Collaborate closely with business stakeholders (e.g., Contact Center Operations, Customer Experience leaders, Product Management) to understand requirements, define scope, and align technology solutions with business goals.
• Effectively communicate complex technical concepts, architectural designs, and strategic recommendations to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership.
• Act as a trusted advisor to business and IT leadership on all matters related to contact center technology and CCaaS.
• Engage with CCaaS vendors and technology partners to understand product roadmaps, influence feature development, and manage service delivery.

Documentation & Best Practices

• Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for contact center architectures, solution designs, technical standards, and operational procedures.
• Develop and disseminate best practices, reference architectures, and knowledge base articles related to CCaaS technologies and implementations.

Education You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, preferred. 
• Master’s degree in a relevant technical field, preferred. 
• TOGAF Certified EA Architect preferred.
• Relevant industry certifications for CCaaS platforms (e.g., Genesys Certified Professional, NICE CXone Certified Implementation Partner, AWS Certified Specialty - Amazon Connect), preferred. 
• Cloud platform certifications (e.g., AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Solutions Architect), preferred. 

What You'll Bring

• 8 years relevant experience in Enterprise Architecture required.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in designing, implementing, and managing enterprise-scale contact center solutions, preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of hands-on experience as a Solution Architect or Principal Architect with a strong focus on CCaaS platforms (e.g., Genesys Cloud, NICE CXone, Amazon Connect, Five9, Twilio Flex), preferred.
• Proven experience leading large-scale contact center transformations, including migrations from on-premise systems to cloud-based CCaaS solutions, preferred.
• Demonstrable experience architecting solutions that integrate CCaaS platforms with CRM systems, WFM/WFO tools, analytics platforms, and other enterprise applications, preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with AI/ML technologies in a contact center context (e.g., building/integrating chatbots, voicebots, agent assist tools, predictive routing models), prefererd. 
• Experience with DevOps practices and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) in managing CCaaS environments, preferred. 

Technical Skills

• CCaaS Platform Expertise: In-depth knowledge of the architecture, capabilities, and configuration of one or more leading CCaaS platforms (e.g., Genesys Cloud, NICE CXone, Amazon Connect, Five9). Understanding of their APIs, integration points, and development tools.
• Core Contact Center Technologies: Expertise in telephony protocols (SIP, WebRTC, RTP), PSTN connectivity, ACD, IVR/IVA design and development, CTI, call recording, speech analytics, and omnichannel routing strategies.
• Integration Technologies: Strong experience with API design and management (REST, SOAP), web services, messaging queues, and ETL processes for system integration. Familiarity with integrating various enterprise systems (e.g., Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, ServiceNow).
• Cloud Computing: Solid understanding of cloud computing principles (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and experience with relevant services from major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) that support CCaaS deployments (e.g., serverless functions, databases, storage, networking, security services).
• Security & Compliance: Deep knowledge of contact center security best practices, identity and access management (IAM), encryption, and data protection. Familiarity with relevant compliance standards like PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA.
• Networking: Understanding of network architecture principles, including LAN/WAN, VPNs, firewalls, load balancers, and QoS, as they relate to cloud and hybrid contact center deployments.
• Reporting & Analytics: Experience with contact center reporting, analytics, and business intelligence tools; understanding of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics.

Additional Qualifications

• Strategic Thinking, Complex Problem-Solving, Excellent Written and Verbal Communication, Compelling Presentation Abilities, Stakeholder Management and Influence, Leadership of Cross-Functional Teams, Mentorship and Coaching, Business Acumen, Thought Leadership.

Physical Actions

Physical Environment