Salesforce Solution Architect

Salesforce Solution Architect

Reporting to the Office of Alumni Relations and Development Chief Technology Officer (CTO); the Salesforce Solution Architect is responsible for defining and delivering scalable, secure, and maintainable Salesforce solutions that support the University's alumni relations and development initiatives.

This role combines technical expertise with strategic architectural leadership to advance Salesforce as an enterprise platform. The role ensures solutions align with institutional data governance standards and regulatory requirements, including environments containing sensitive data such as protected health information (PHI).

Working across business stakeholders, product owners, and Columbia University IT (CUIT), this role translates complex requirements into well-architected solutions aligned with Salesforce and enterprise best practices. The position includes direct management of Salesforce administrators and developers and plays a key role in shaping service ownership, governance, standards, and long-term platform strategy.

Architecture & Solution Delivery:

• Lead end-to-end solution architecture across Salesforce platforms, including Service Cloud, Experience Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and ascend Advancement Suite on Salesforce
• Translate business requirements into scalable, maintainable, and secure solutions aligned with enterprise architecture standards
• Inherit and evolve data models, integration patterns, and system interactions across Salesforce and external platforms
• Evaluate and recommend platform capabilities, tools, and architectural approaches to support long-term scalability and performance
• Own architectural decisions and establish standards for solution design and implementation
• Optimize the use and service delivery of Salesforce as the Advancement platform.

Security & Compliance:

• Design and implement solutions that comply with institutional policies and regulatory requirements (e.g., HIPAA, FERPA, GDPR).
• Collaborate with CTO, CUIT and technology stakeholders to align with enterprise security architecture and risk management practices.
• Ensure secure data handling practices, including encryption, data masking, and access controls.
• Support audit readiness through system logging, monitoring, and documentation.

Leadership & Team Management:

• Provide technical leadership and architectural guidance to Salesforce administrators and developers.
• Manage, mentor, and evaluate team members, fostering a culture of quality, scalability, and continuous improvement.
• Promote and drive best practices in design, development, testing, and deployment.

Governance & Strategy:

• Collaborate with the CTO, CUIT, and business stakeholders to align technology solutions with strategic objectives.
• Contribute to and evolve governance frameworks, standards, and operating models (e.g., Salesforce Center of Excellence, alumni relations and development governance).
• Support and enhance release management and DevOps processes.
• Help drive the evolution of Salesforce as an enterprise platform.
• Ability to work weekend and off-hour work on occasion.
• All other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and/or its equivalent required. Advanced degree desirable.
• Minimum 7-9 years' related experience inclusive of Salesforce experience, including solution architecture in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Proven experience designing scalable, secure enterprise solutions on the Salesforce platform.
• Strong knowledge of Salesforce capabilities, limitations, and best practices.
• Hands-on experience with Apex, Lightning Web Components (LWC), and integrations (REST/SOAP APIs).
• Experience designing and implementing solutions in regulated environments (e.g., PHI, FERPA, GDPR).
• Strong understanding of data modeling, integration patterns, and ETL processes.
• Experience working within or establishing governance frameworks and delivery standards.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical teams and influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience working in Agile environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment.
• Demonstrated excellence in a variety of competencies including teamwork/collaboration, analytical thinking, communication and influencing skills, and technical expertise.
• Ability to work with changing priorities and with multiple projects.
• Ability to be precise and attentive to detail is essential.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Weekend and off-hour work may be necessary on occasion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Higher Education, alumni relations, or fundraising systems.
• Experience working in HIPAA-regulated or similarly controlled environments.
• Experience with DevOps tools (e.g., Azure DevOps, Gearset, Git-based workflows).
• Experience establishing or supporting a Salesforce Center of Excellence (CoE).
• Familiarity with multi-org strategies and enterprise platform consolidation.
• Salesforce certifications such as Application Architect or System Architect (CTA a plus).

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.