Technical Architect
Saatchi & Saatchi, a leading advertising firm, is seeking two technical architects to join its growing digital team. The positions report directly to the head of technology and include the following responsibilities:
Working with the creative teams to assist in the conception of digital advertising initiatives including Facebook apps, mobile apps, microsites, rich media concepts.
Using experience in software development, systems engineering, and database architecture across a number of different platforms to guide new concepts from their initial high-level proposals through to practical projects that can be implemented on-time and on-budget.
Using experience in systems integration with third party APIs like Google Maps, Twitter, Facebook, Twilio, payment processors, etc. to enhance the richness of our digital initiatives.
Handling communications with client and vendor technical staff to ensure their development process is understood and followed, that required deliverables are defined, and systems architecture requirements are met. This includes involvement with the pricing of services and infrastructure.
Applying experience gained working in other agencies to help Saatchi continue to shape technical best practices.
Implementation of software using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, C#, Objective-C, Python, Ruby, and other platforms for prototypes, internal projects, and occasional production-quality work.
The ability to quickly learn new platforms, programming languages, and third-party APIs, and understand what can and can’t be accomplished.
The ability to understand client requirements for security, data collection and storage, and general policies on handling of personally identifying information and the ability to translate the technical requirements into practical implications the rest of the team can understand.
Providing support and guidance to the creative and account teams when they have questions on technology-related matters.
The background requirements for the position are:
Bachelor’s in computer science or software engineering, or equivalent work experience.
3-5 years minimum professional software development experience in an agency environment such as an interactive shop or digital department at a traditional agency.
Demonstrable client project experience in several server-side programming languages, such as PHP, C#, Python, Ruby, Java.
Knowledge of major design patterns and high-level organizational patterns like MVC.
Expertise with client-side tech: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, ActionScript
Experience with client-server techniques such as AJAX exchange of XML and JSON data.
Experience creating Facebook apps and a solid working understanding of developing for that platform, including its capabilities and limitations, and an understanding of their permissions system.
Working knowledge of the iOS and Android platforms with the ability to do a feasibility assessment of mobile proposals and assist in their creation. Experience getting an app onto the iTunes App Store and Google Play are a plus.
The ability to do light systems administration tasks on Windows and Linux servers, such as creating new web sites, starting and stopping services, creating new databases on MySQL and SQL Server, and an understanding of security principles.
A working understanding of major internet protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, and DNS, and others and the ability to investigate problems at the protocol level, when necessary.
The ability to guide and assist external vendors in the execution of software projects.
Experience with agile project management methodologies like scrum.
Excellent writing skills and experience creating technical project documentation.
Excellent general communications skills and a client-facing personality.
contact: kedma.brown@saatchiny.com