Solution Architect (Oil & Gas) - Freelance

Job Title: Solution Architect Oil & Gas

Location: Nigeria

Contract: Freelance

Reports To: Chief Information Officer (CIO) / Head of IT Strategy

Position Overview:

We are seeking a pragmatic and technically skilled Solution Architect to translate business challenges into robust, scalable, and secure technical solutions. You will be the key link between enterprise strategy, business needs, and the development teams, designing end-to-end solutions that address specific problems within upstream, midstream, or downstream operations. Your focus will be on delivering tangible value through technology.

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Solution Design:

Analyze and translate business requirements (from domains like Drilling, Production, Subsurface, or Supply Chain) into comprehensive technical architectures and designs.

Create detailed Solution Architecture Documents (SADs) encompassing applications, data, integration, and security.

Select appropriate technologies (build vs. buy) and define non-functional requirements (performance, scalability, reliability).

2. Oil & Gas Domain Application:

Design solutions for specific industry use cases, such as:

Real-time Drilling Optimization: Architecting data flows from rig sensors to cloud analytics platforms.

Production Surveillance: Designing dashboards and alerting systems using OSIsoft PI data.

Digital Well Construction: Creating integrated platforms for well planning and execution.

Predictive Maintenance: Architecting IIoT solutions for rotating equipment.

Ensure solutions align with industry standards and data models like the OSDU™ Data Platform, WITSML, and PRODML where applicable.

3. Technology Integration & Implementation:

Design the integration between IT systems (ERP, SAP), OT systems (SCADA, Historians), and new digital applications.

Define API strategies, data flow diagrams, and microservices architectures.

Work closely with project managers, business analysts, and development teams to guide the implementation, ensuring it adheres to the architectural vision.

Hands-on collaboration with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) to architect and deploy solutions.

4. Governance & Collaboration:

Ensure solution designs comply with enterprise architecture principles, security policies, and OT cybersecurity standards (IEC 62443).

Present and defend solution designs to architecture review boards and key stakeholders.

Provide technical leadership and mentorship to development teams throughout the project lifecycle.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in a solution architecture, technical lead, or integration architect role.
• Proven experience designing and delivering technology solutions within the oil and gas industry or a related heavy industrial sector.
• Hands-on experience with:

Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native services.

Integration patterns and technologies (APIs, ETL, ESB, message queues).

Data architecture principles (data lakes, streaming data, SQL/NoSQL).

Highly Desirable:

• Solution Architecture certification (e.g., AWS/Azure/GCP Solution Architect, TOGAF).
• Familiarity with key oil and gas software: OSIsoft PI, SAP IS-Oil, AVEVA, Landmark/Schlumberger applications, or SCADA systems.
• Understanding of OT/ICS environments and the unique constraints of operational technology.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies and DevOps practices.

Key Competencies

• Practical Problem-Solver: Focuses on delivering workable, timely solutions that balance ideal-state architecture with project constraints.
• Excellent Communicator: Able to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including engineers and business managers.
• Collaborative Bridge-Builder: Thrives in a team environment, effectively mediating between business needs and technical implementation.
• Business-Outcome Focused: Always links technical decisions back to business value, such as reduced downtime, improved efficiency, or enhanced safety.

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