Senior AI Solutions Architect

Company: Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies
Location: Cape Town (Hybrid)
Employment Type: Permanent

About Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies

Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies is a purpose-driven organisation dedicated to creating long-term, sustainable impact across Southern Africa. Guided by the vision of empowering responsible entrepreneurs and ethical leaders, the organisation invests in initiatives that strengthen education, entrepreneurship and employment creation, helping to address the root causes of poverty and inequality.

Technology is a key enabler of this mission. Through its Group IT Shared Services function, Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies is investing in modern, secure and intelligent technology platforms that support collaboration, operational excellence and data-driven decision-making across its philanthropic entities. As part of its digital transformation journey, the organisation is embracing emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, to enhance productivity, strengthen governance and unlock innovative ways of delivering greater impact.

Joining Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies means becoming part of a collaborative, values-driven environment where integrity, curiosity, continuous learning and long-term thinking are highly valued. This is an opportunity to contribute to technology initiatives that not only advance the organisation's strategic objectives but also support meaningful social impact across the region.

About the Opportunity

Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies is seeking a Senior AI Solutions Architect to join its Group IT Shared Services team. This is a strategic architecture role for an experienced technology leader who is passionate about designing enterprise-grade solutions and enabling responsible AI adoption across the organisation.

The successful candidate will bridge enterprise architecture, cloud technologies, business applications and artificial intelligence, ensuring that technology solutions are secure, scalable and aligned with long-term business objectives. Working closely with business stakeholders, engineering teams and the Group AI function, you will help shape the organisation's technology landscape while driving innovation through practical AI solutions.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex business challenges, influencing enterprise technology strategy and leading digital transformation initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and maintain enterprise solution architectures aligned with business strategy and technology standards.
• Translate business requirements into scalable, secure and sustainable technology solutions.
• Partner with business stakeholders to identify opportunities where AI can improve operational efficiency and organisational impact.
• Collaborate with the Group AI team to design, implement and govern AI-enabled solutions.
• Lead solution architecture across enterprise applications, cloud platforms, integrations and infrastructure.
• Define architecture principles, standards and governance frameworks.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and provide recommendations for adoption.
• Ensure all solutions comply with security, risk and compliance requirements.
• Design modern integration patterns using APIs, messaging and microservices.
• Support enterprise application modernisation initiatives, including ERP platforms.
• Provide technical leadership throughout the solution delivery lifecycle.
• Produce architecture artefacts including solution designs, integration diagrams and technical roadmaps.
• Work closely with engineering teams to ensure successful implementation of architectural designs.
• Mentor technical teams and contribute to architecture capability development.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5–8 years' experience in Solution Architecture, Enterprise Architecture or a similar senior technology role.
• Proven experience designing enterprise-scale technology solutions.
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure, AWS or Google Cloud Platform.
• Experience with enterprise application architecture and ERP environments, ideally Sage.
• Strong knowledge of systems integration, APIs and microservices architecture.
• Experience designing secure, resilient and highly available solutions.
• Practical understanding of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI and Machine Learning technologies and their enterprise application.
• Experience working within Agile and DevOps environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to influence senior business and technology stakeholders.

Technical Knowledge

• Enterprise Solution Architecture
• Enterprise Architecture frameworks (TOGAF advantageous)
• Cloud Architecture (Azure, AWS or GCP)
• Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI
• Machine Learning concepts
• API Design and Integration
• Microservices Architecture
• Enterprise Integration Patterns
• DevOps practices
• Identity and Access Management
• Information Security
• ISO 27001, NIST or similar security frameworks
• ERP platforms (Sage experience advantageous)
• Data Architecture and Information Management

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related discipline.
• TOGAF certification advantageous.
• Cloud certifications (Azure, AWS or GCP) advantageous.
• AI, Machine Learning or Data certifications would be beneficial.

Personal Attributes

• Strategic thinker with strong commercial and business acumen.
• Passion for innovation and emerging technologies.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Strong collaboration and influencing skills.
• Comfortable engaging with both technical and executive stakeholders.
• Self-driven with a continuous learning mindset.
• High levels of integrity and accountability.
• Passionate about using technology to create meaningful organisational impact.

Why Join Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies?

This is an opportunity to join an organisation where technology is more than a business enabler—it is a catalyst for meaningful social impact. As the Senior AI Solutions Architect, you will help shape the organisation's enterprise technology strategy, lead the responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence, and work alongside experienced technology and business leaders to deliver innovative solutions that create lasting value for the organisation and the communities it serves.