JOB TITLE: FORWARD DEPLOYED ARCHITECT | RECORD TO REPORT JOB SUMMARY: The Forward Deployed Architect role is an integral part of the Consulting team, delivering HighRadius Cloud product implementations for Fortune 1000 clients. Forward Deployed Architects are highly visible, act as a primary client contact, and own the solution architecture throughout the project life cycle. In this role, you will work closely with key client stakeholders to understand their pain points, identify automation opportunities, and drive the realization and adoption of the tool to achieve intended value. This role requires an independent thinker with strong problem-solving and solutioning skills, a detail-oriented mindset, and excellent communication capabilities. Additionally, the Forward Deployed Architect directly manages, mentors, and coaches a team of Design Consultants (DCONs) and Senior Design Consultants (SDCONs), driving their career development and performance reviews. ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 1. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP & CLIENT ADVISORY * Trusted Advisor: Serve as the primary solution architect, partnering with client executives and global process owners to align business goals with HighRadius capabilities. * Value Strategy: Define deployment strategies that deliver "Value at Speed with Quality," validating that 80% of the value is achieved in the first phase of deployment. * Relationship & Stakeholder Management: Cultivate strategic, win-win relationships with clients, leveraging emotional intelligence and assertiveness to manage expectations, negotiate scope, and travel to client locations for Monthly Steerco/MBRs as required. 2. SOLUTION ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN GOVERNANCE * End-to-End Solution Ownership: Review overall solution architecture, manage cross-product dependencies, eliminate common interface gaps, and ensure total alignment across all products in scope. * Design Governance: Recommend, structure, and establish a cadence for Design Council meetings for strategic accounts, attending monthly boards to resolve design conflicts and prioritize change requests. * Standardization: Drive system standardization and simplification by championing industry best practices and minimizing custom development. 3. PORTFOLIO QUALITY & DELIVERY EXCELLENCE * S2V (Strategy to Value) Inspections: Execute S2V inspections to identify risks, track monthly Value of Implementation (VOI) metrics, and provide "path to green" recommendations for a portfolio of accounts. * Quality Assurance: Conduct comprehensive quality reviews at critical project stages, including future-state designs, system builds, testing phases, and production cutover plans. * Risk & Scope Management: Anticipate and proactively mitigate project scope changes, ensuring on-time and on-budget delivery across multiple concurrent client projects. 4. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & PRODUCT COLLABORATION * Continuous Improvement: Identify patterns across the project portfolio to drive continuous process improvements, and mentor the team on Playbook/Opera creation. * Product Partnership: Drive meetings with the Product team for significant strategic requirements, managing high-value product enhancements based on the ValueCom framework. * Enablement: Lead internal cross-functional training enablement sessions for the practice and actively participate in internal discussion forums. 5. PEOPLE MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP * Team Coaching: Directly manage, coach, and mentor a group of DCONs and SDCONs to deliver high-quality solution designs and progress in their careers. * Performance Management: Conduct Weekly Business Reviews (WBRs), review PQRs and 360-degree feedback, and lead formal semi-annual performance reviews. 6. EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS * Experience: 5+ years in software, professional services, or ERP consulting, with deep subject matter expertise in OTC (Order-to-Cash) or R2R (Record-to-Report) processes. * Implementation Mastery: Proven track record of leading end-to-end customer SaaS or ERP implementations, driving projects through scoping, requirements gathering, UAT, and successful go-live. * Financial & Systems Acumen: Strong understanding of accounting concepts (Receivables, Payables, Financial Close & Financial Consolidation Reporting). Experience with financial modules in major ERPs (SAP, Oracle Cloud, NetSuite, Workday, etc.) is highly preferred. * Consulting & Communication Skills: Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and solution design skills. Highly capable of presenting to and facilitating sessions with both small and large executive stakeholder groups. * Project Management: Proven capability to independently manage priorities across multiple concurrent projects and a complex stakeholder matrix. * Travel: Willingness to travel on-site (up to 20%) to facilitate user training, oversee system testing, attend steering committee meetings, and strengthen client relationships.