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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for ServiceNow Technical Architect

💰 $120,000 - $180,000

ITArchitectureServiceNowCloudAutomation

🎯 Role Definition

The ServiceNow Technical Architect is a senior technical leader responsible for designing, delivering, and governing scalable ServiceNow solutions that align with enterprise IT and business strategies. This role combines deep platform expertise (ITSM, ITOM, SecOps, CMDB, Service Portal, Flow Designer, IntegrationHub) with strong architectural judgement, integration experience (REST, SOAP, MID Server, LDAP/SSO), and the ability to lead large cross-functional programs, technical teams, and vendor partners to successful production adoption.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior ServiceNow Developer with multiple full-lifecycle implementations
  • ITSM/ITOM Consultant or Implementation Engineer with platform specialization
  • IT Infrastructure or Application Architect moving into ServiceNow-centric roles

Advancement To:

  • Enterprise Architect (Cloud & IT Services)
  • Head of Platform Engineering / ServiceNow Center of Excellence (CoE)
  • Director of IT Service Management or Digital Operations

Lateral Moves:

  • Product Owner / Technical Product Manager for ServiceNow
  • Lead Integration Architect (Enterprise Integration Platforms)
  • DevOps/Platform Engineering Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Architect end-to-end ServiceNow solutions that meet business requirements, ensure security and compliance, and support high availability, scalability, and maintainability across ITSM, ITOM, SecOps, and custom scoped applications.
  • Lead technical design workshops with stakeholders to translate business processes into ServiceNow design patterns, data models, and application boundaries while maintaining reuse and platform governance.
  • Design and implement complex integrations using IntegrationHub, MID Server, REST, SOAP, JDBC, SFTP, and message-based architectures to synchronize ServiceNow with source systems (CMDB sources, HR systems, identity providers, monitoring tools).
  • Define and enforce CMDB architecture, discovery pattern strategy, reconciliation logic, CI relationships, and data pipelines to achieve and maintain CMDB health and trusted configuration data.
  • Drive ServiceNow upgrade and platform lifecycle planning—including impact analysis, regression testing strategy, customizations remediation, and automated upgrade validation—to minimize downtime and risk.
  • Provide solution architecture and build guidance for Service Portal, UX frameworks, AngularJS/Glide-based widgets, and responsive design to ensure intuitive, accessible, and performant user experiences.
  • Lead and mentor development teams on scoped application design, best practices for scripting (Glide API, JavaScript ES5/ES6), asynchronous processing, and performance optimization techniques.
  • Establish and maintain ServiceNow governance, design standards, security controls (role-based access, ACLs), and change management processes to enforce platform consistency across multiple business units.
  • Design and implement automation and orchestration solutions (Orchestration, Flow Designer, Action Designer) to reduce manual effort and accelerate incident, request, and remediation workflows.
  • Collaborate with security and compliance teams to design SecOps/SOAR integrations, vulnerability-to-remediation workflows, and secure API authentication patterns (OAuth, SAML, JWT) for protected data flows.
  • Oversee complex data migration and transformation activities (CSV, ETL, scripted transforms, IntegrationHub ETL, custom transforms) to move historical tickets, users, and CMDB data into ServiceNow with integrity.
  • Architect and support CI/CD pipelines, source control strategy (Git), automated testing frameworks, and release management processes to enable frequent, safe platform delivery.
  • Troubleshoot and tune platform performance issues—database queries, large-scale reports, Scheduled Jobs, UI rendering—and recommend architectural or code-level fixes to improve SLAs and user satisfaction.
  • Author and maintain technical solution documentation, architecture diagrams, integration contracts, and runbooks to support operations, audits, and knowledge transfer activities.
  • Serve as the escalation point for complex technical issues during implementations and production incidents, coordinating cross-functional teams, vendors, and ServiceNow support when required.
  • Evaluate third-party integrations and marketplace applications (ServiceNow Store) for fit, security, and supportability, and manage procurement/implementation of selected apps.
  • Lead pilot and proof-of-concept (POC) initiatives to validate new capabilities (AI/ML, Predictive Intelligence, Virtual Agent, Performance Analytics) and advise on roadmap adoption.
  • Champion platform standardization and reusability by developing and promoting shared components, patterns, and libraries to reduce technical debt and streamline future delivery.
  • Define operational runbooks, backup/restore strategies, and disaster recovery considerations specific to the ServiceNow tenancy and integrations landscape.
  • Facilitate knowledge transfer and technical enablement sessions for developers, administrators, and operations teams, including creation of training materials and architecture best practices.
  • Partner with business analysts, product owners, and process SMEs to align roadmap priorities, scope trade-offs, and delivery timelines for maximum business value.
  • Monitor and report on platform health metrics (transactions, API usage, job performance, CMDB accuracy) and provide executive-level summaries and remediation plans.
  • Manage vendor relationships and third-party integrators delivering custom components or modules, ensuring code quality, security reviews, and contractual SLAs are met.
  • Design identity and access strategies (LDAP, SAML/SSO, SCIM, role provisioning) to ensure secure and auditable access to ServiceNow across the enterprise.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc reporting and analytics requests by translating business needs into ServiceNow Performance Analytics and reporting solutions.
  • Contribute to the organization's ServiceNow strategy and technical roadmap, aligning platform capabilities with business transformation initiatives.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate process improvements into technical requirements and backlogs for iterative delivery.
  • Participate in sprint planning, architecture grooming, and agile ceremonies to ensure solutions meet non-functional requirements and long-term maintainability.
  • Review and validate third-party or partner deliverables for technical compliance and production readiness.
  • Assist in vendor selection and RFP evaluations for ServiceNow-related tools or managed services.
  • Provide input on licensing optimization and cost management strategies for ServiceNow and related integrations.
  • Maintain awareness of ServiceNow product updates and emerging platform features; recommend adoption plans and pilot opportunities.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • ServiceNow Platform Expertise: Deep, hands-on knowledge of ITSM, ITOM (Discovery, Event Management), SecOps, CMDB design, Service Portal, Flow Designer, Scoped Applications, and Performance Analytics.
  • Integration Design & Development: Experience building robust integrations using IntegrationHub, REST, SOAP, JDBC, Web Services, MID Server, and message queues; strong understanding of integration patterns, throttling, and error handling.
  • Scripting & Development: Advanced JavaScript (Glide API), client scripts, server-side scripting, Script Includes, UI Actions, Business Rules, and Custom APIs for high-quality, maintainable code.
  • Identity & Security: Practical implementation knowledge of SAML, OAuth, LDAP, SSO, SCIM provisioning, role-based access control (RBAC), and ACL design in ServiceNow.
  • CMDB & Discovery: Skilled in Discovery, Pattern Design, Identification and Reconciliation rules, CI relationship modeling, and CMDB health processes.
  • Automation & Orchestration: Hands-on with Flow Designer, Orchestration, Action Designer, and event-driven automation to streamline operations and incident remediation.
  • Performance Tuning & Troubleshooting: Ability to analyze logs, transactions, slow queries, scheduled jobs, and service impacts to propose and implement performance improvements.
  • Data Migration & ETL: Experience planning and executing complex data migrations, transformation maps, scripted imports, and ensuring data integrity in ServiceNow.
  • DevOps & Release Engineering: Familiar with Git, branch strategies, CI/CD tools, automated testing, and release processes for ServiceNow code promotion.
  • Cloud & Monitoring Integration: Experience integrating ServiceNow with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), monitoring tools (Splunk, Nagios, Datadog), and enterprise systems.
  • UI/UX & Service Portal Development: Proficient in Service Portal widget development, AngularJS, HTML/CSS, and building accessible user interfaces.
  • Testing & QA: Design of test plans, automated test cases, and validation strategies for upgrades, POCs, and production releases.
  • Architecture & Documentation: Ability to produce high-quality solution architecture diagrams, integration contracts, and technical design documentation.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic Thinking: Translate business strategy into technical roadmaps and actionable architecture decisions.
  • Communication: Clear, concise communicator with the ability to present complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and executives.
  • Leadership & Mentorship: Lead cross-functional technical teams, mentor junior engineers, and drive a culture of engineering best practices.
  • Problem Solving: Strong analytical mindset to troubleshoot complex production issues under pressure.
  • Stakeholder Management: Build trusted relationships with business owners, IT leaders, vendors, and third-party integrators.
  • Collaboration: Work effectively in Agile teams; facilitate workshops and consensus-building around architecture choices.
  • Project & Time Management: Prioritize competing demands, manage multiple parallel initiatives, and deliver against deadlines.
  • Continuous Improvement: Advocate for process improvements, technical debt reduction, and platform hygiene.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or related technical discipline (or equivalent professional experience).

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or related field or advanced technical certifications.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Information Technology / Information Systems
  • Software Engineering
  • Business Information Management
  • Cybersecurity / Network Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 8+ years in IT with 5+ years of hands-on ServiceNow implementation, customization, and architecture experience.

Preferred:

  • 10+ years of experience with at least 5 years in a lead architect or technical lead role, supporting enterprise-scale ServiceNow deployments, multiple full-lifecycle implementations, and proven track record of cross-functional stakeholder leadership.

Preferred certifications (nice-to-have):

  • ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA)
  • ServiceNow Certified Application Developer (CAD)
  • ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist (CIS) in ITSM, ITOM, Discovery, SecOps, or relevant modules
  • ITIL Foundation or ITIL Intermediate
  • Cloud certifications (AWS/Azure) and security certifications are advantageous
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