Terms of Reference: Consultant - Solution Architect

The Solution Architect provides independent technical oversight and assurance of the architecture and design of digital health systems, ensuring alignment with user requirements, enterprise architecture, applicable digital health standards, and regulatory requirements. The role reviews and evaluates proposed technical architectures, assesses their suitability, scalability, security, interoperability, and sustainability, and provides evidence-based recommendations to support technical approval and implementation decisions. The Solution Architect also monitors adherence to approved architectural specifications throughout implementation and advises on technical risks and design changes.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Architecture Review and Assurance

• Review proposed system architectures, technology stacks, infrastructure designs, and integration approaches against approved requirements, national digital health standards, and national digital health architecture
• Assess the suitability of proposed solutions in terms of scalability, performance, reliability, maintainability, resilience, and long-term sustainability.
• Evaluate interoperability approaches, including compliance with applicable health information exchange standards such as HL7 FHIR, data exchange protocols, and integration requirements.
• Assess architectural provisions for data security, privacy, access control, and compliance with the Data Protection Act (DPA).
• Define and review technical benchmarks and acceptance criteria for critical architectural requirements, including system performance, availability, data synchronisation, and offline functionality where applicable.
• Assess architectural provisions for system portability, maintainability, and avoidance of unnecessary vendor or technology dependencies.
• Identify architectural risks, dependencies, and design gaps, and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.
• Provide documented, evidence-based recommendations to support the approval or revision of proposed technical architectures.

1. Ongoing Technical Oversight

• Conduct periodic reviews of digital health systems implementation to verify adherence to approved architectural designs, technical specifications, and standards.
• Identify and document deviations from approved architecture and recommend corrective actions or escalation where necessary.
• Assess the architectural implications of proposed changes to requirements, technology, integrations, infrastructure, or system scope.
• Review proposed technical solutions to ensure they address identified risks and maintain alignment with the approved architecture.
• Provide technical advice on emerging technologies, design alternatives, and opportunities to improve system performance, interoperability, security, and sustainability.

1. Technical Governance and Stakeholder Coordination

• Maintain independence from the system development and implementation technology partners, providing objective technical assurance rather than undertaking implementation responsibilities.
• Document architecture reviews, identified risks, recommendations, decisions, and their supporting rationale to inform formal technical governance and approval processes.
• Work closely with product management, project management, quality assurance, cybersecurity, data management, and other technical teams to ensure coordinated technical oversight.
• Provide clear technical assessments and recommendations to decision-makers, translating complex architectural issues into actionable options and implications.
• Contribute to technical governance forums, architecture reviews, and design approval processes as required.

Academic and Professional Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software/Systems Engineering, Health Informatics, Information Systems, or a related field. A relevant Master’s degree is an added advantage.
• Enterprise or solution architecture certification (e.g., TOGAF).
• Demonstrated expertise or certification in FHIR/HL7 interoperability standards.
• Cloud architecture certification (AWS, Azure, or GCP) or equivalent.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 6–10 years of experience in software or solution architecture, including at least 3–5 years working on health information systems or large-scale digital health platforms.
• Demonstrated expertise in FHIR-based interoperability standards and health data exchange.
• Experience defining and evaluating performance benchmarks for systems operating at national scale.
• Familiarity with data protection and privacy regulations (e.g., the Kenya Data Protection Act) and secure system design.
• Experience providing independent technical assurance or audit of vendor-built systems, ideally within a government or donor-funded digital health context.