Role : End-to-End (E2E) Solution Architect (OSS - BSS - Fintech - Connectivity - Digital - EBU)

Location : Remote - Might need Travel to Kabul, Afghanistan occasionally

Project Duration : 1-2 Years

Type : Contract

Exp : 12 Yrs

About the Operator :

Client is a leading telecommunications and digital services provider in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, serving consumer, enterprise, and government segments across mobile, fixed, fintech, and digital services. The Operator is delivering a multi-year transformation program covering OSS, BSS, mobile money / fintech, connectivity, digital channels and data, and the Enterprise Business Unit (EBU). To ensure these initiatives are designed, governed, and delivered as a single coherent architecture - rather than as disconnected vendor projects - the Operator is engaging an experienced External End-to-End (E2E) Solution Architect on a 12-month consulting basis.

Role Purpose :

The E2E Solution Architect is the Operator's senior, vendor-neutral, integrated technical authority. The role owns the target-state architecture across OSS, BSS, Fintech, Connectivity, Digital, and EBU - and ensures every program, vendor design, and procurement decision aligns to it. The role chairs the Operator's Technical Design Authority (TDA) and reports into the CTO/CIO with direct exposure to the CEO and the Heads of Fintech, Digital, and EBU. This is a hands-on senior consulting role, not an advisory observer position. The successful candidate will produce architectures, sign off vendor designs, sit in war-rooms, defend EBU bids, and coach the Operator's domain leads.

Scope of Responsibility :

The E2E Solution Architect owns the integrated design across six pillars. For each, the architect is accountable for the target architecture, interface standards, vendor-design sign-off, and roadmap alignment with business strategy.

Operations Support Systems (OSS) :

- Service fulfillment, assurance, inventory, and orchestration aligned to TM Forum ODA, eTOM, SID, and Open APIs.

- Closed-loop assurance, AI/ML-assisted fault management, and zero-touch provisioning.

Business Support Systems (BSS) :

- CRM, product catalog, convergent charging/billing, mediation, order management, partner settlement, and revenue assurance.

- Single Customer View across consumer, fintech wallet holders, and enterprise accounts.

- TM Forum Open API exposure for digital, partner, and EBU monetization.

Fintech / Mobile Financial Services :

- Wallet, ledger, settlement, payment rails, agent platform, and merchant integrations.

- KYC, AML/CFT, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, fraud, and regulatory reporting (Da Afghanistan Bank).

- Open banking and partner API exposure for banks, MFIs, NGOs, and humanitarian payment programs.

Connectivity (Mobile, Fixed, Transport, Core) :

- RAN evolution (4G capacity, spectrum refarming, 5G readiness), transport (microwave, fiber, IP/MPLS, segment routing), and core (EPC, IMS, NFV / cloud-native).

- FTTx / fiber-to-the-business design where applicable to support EBU connectivity products.

- Telecom-grade security : signaling firewalls, GTP-C/U protection, anti-fraud, DDoS, and lawful interception.

- Resilience and DR engineered for the Afghan operating context (power, security, transport fragility).

Digital Transformation :

- Digital experience layer (super-app, self-care, web, USSD, IVR, chatbot, agent app).

- Customer Identity & Access (SSO, biometric/eKYC, consent management) federated across telecom, fintech, and EBU.

- API gateway, event streaming, microservices governance, and data platform (lake / lakehouse, CDP, AI/ML use cases).

- Cybersecurity reference architecture (zero-trust, IAM, SOC integration, DevSecOps) and hybrid cloud strategy.

Enterprise Business Unit (EBU) :

- B2B/B2G connectivity (MPLS-VPN, IP-VPN, ILL, SD-WAN, dedicated fiber), cloud and DC services, UC&C, managed security, and IoT/M2M.

- Enterprise BSS layer : B2B CRM, contract lifecycle, custom rating/billing, SLA reporting portals, and service-credit automation.

- Solution architecture support to EBU pre-sales for strategic RFPs from government, banking, and NGO customers.

Key Deliverables :

- E2E Target Architecture Blueprint : Documented, version-controlled current-state and 3-year target-state architecture across all six pillars.

- Multi-Year Technology Roadmap : Phased roadmap aligned to business plan, CAPEX envelope, and regulatory milestones.

- Technical Design Authority (TDA) : Stand up and chair the TDA; sign off all major vendor designs before procurement and before go-live.

- Interface & API Catalog : Inventoried catalog of critical interfaces between Network, IT, Fintech, Digital, and EBU systems.

- Architectural Risk Register : Living register of single points of failure, vendor lock-in, and regulatory exposure with mitigation plans.

- RFP & Vendor Design Reviews : Architecture-led inputs to all major RFPs and signed-off review notes on vendor HLDs/LLDs.

- CAPEX Optimization Reports : Identification of duplicated investments, reuse opportunities, and alternative architectures with quantified savings.

- EBU Pre-Sales Architecture Support : Solution design and bid-defense support for nominated strategic enterprise opportunities.

- Quarterly CXO Reports : Architecture health reports to the executive committee on architectural debt, alignment, and roadmap progress.

- Knowledge Transfer & Handover : Coaching plan and final handover pack for the Operator's permanent E2E Solution Architect.

Required Experience :

- Minimum 12-15 years in telecommunications, with at least 5 years in an end-to-end / chief architect role at a Tier-1 or Tier-2 mobile operator, system integrator, or major telecom consulting firm.

- Demonstrable ownership of at least two large-scale transformation programs in different domains - for example : BSS transformation plus fintech platform launch, or OSS modernization plus EBU productization.

- Direct architectural experience in at least four of the six engagement domains (OSS, BSS, Fintech, Connectivity, Digital, EBU) - and working familiarity with all six.

- Hands-on familiarity with leading vendor stacks : Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, Nokia, Amdocs, Netcracker, Oracle BRM, Mavenir, Comviva, Ericsson Wallet Platform, Huawei Mobile Money, or equivalents.

- Direct experience with mobile money / fintech platforms under regulatory supervision (KYC, AML/CFT, central bank reporting).

- Direct experience architecting EBU / B2B services (MPLS-VPN, SD-WAN, managed services, IoT, cloud connectivity).

- Prior experience in emerging or challenging operating environments (South Asia, Central Asia, Africa, MENA) is strongly preferred.

Technical Competencies :

- OSS/BSS architecture grounded in TM Forum frameworks (eTOM, SID, TAM, ODA, Open APIs).

- Deep knowledge of 3GPP architecture, signaling (Diameter, SIP, SS7), and IP networking.

- Strong understanding of NFV, SDN, cloud-native telco workloads, Kubernetes, and orchestration/automation.

- Mobile money / fintech architecture : ledgers, settlement, payment rails, agent platforms, fraud and AML controls, partner integrations.

- Enterprise networking : MPLS-VPN, SD-WAN, internet peering, security architectures, IoT connectivity platforms.

- Digital architecture : API gateways, microservices, event streaming (Kafka), data platforms, identity, and zero-trust security.

- Hybrid cloud architecture and workload placement decisions (on-prem, private cloud, regional public cloud).

- Capability to read, challenge, and re-author vendor HLDs and LLDs across all six domains.

Behavioral & Leadership Competencies :

- Vendor-neutral mindset - able to challenge incumbent vendors with data, standards, and reference architectures.

- Strong stakeholder management at CXO and board level; able to translate technical risk into commercial, regulatory, and reputational language.

- Cross-functional credibility - equally comfortable in a Network war-room, a fintech compliance review, and an EBU bid defense.

- Coaching orientation - committed to upskilling local domain leads as part of the engagement.

- Cultural awareness and willingness to operate within Afghanistan's security, logistical, and regulatory context.

- Discretion and integrity - comfortable handling commercially and politically sensitive information.

Qualifications :

- Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications, Electronics, Computer Science, or Computer Engineering (Master's preferred).

- Industry certifications such as TOGAF, TM Forum (ODA, Open API, Business Process Framework), CCIE/CCDE, AWS/Azure architect, or vendor architect-level certifications are an advantage.

- Fluency in English (written and spoken) is mandatory; working knowledge of Dari or Pashto is an advantage.