The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is at the heart of Belgium’s international policy. The main lines of Belgian foreign policy are set out here and the positions of our country, both nationally and internationally, are defended. Through active diplomacy, our organization promotes the interests of Belgium and our compatriots around the world. In doing so, we contribute to a safe, just, and sustainable world, based on shared values, human rights, and international rules.

The staff members of FPS work not only from the headquarters in Brussels, but also from around 120 posts (embassies and consulates). This makes our organization unique and allows staff members to take on many different and interesting challenges.

In this context, the Directorate-General for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is responsible for everything related to the IT and telecommunications support required to carry out the missions of the FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, particularly concerning infrastructure, software, and IT security aspects. It is a dynamic and innovative environment that tackles the challenges of providing modern and secure applications and support to our internal services and fellow citizens.

Given the sensitive nature of the FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, every staff member is expected to demonstrate reliability and respect for ethics. They must also be familiar with, comply with, and apply the security rules to ensure the continuity of the organization and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the processed data.

Job Description

The Application/Solution Architect is responsible for developing proposed technical solutions to a level where projects can effectively implement them. He/she describes the involved processes and how these are supported by IT. In doing so, he/she ensures that the solutions are in line with the applicable domain architectures and the enterprise architecture of our organization. He/she works actively in the entire IT domain and possesses the technical knowledge required to further structurally develop solutions. The Application/Solution Architect acts as a bridge between business and technology, ensuring that solutions are not only technically sound but also align with the organization’s strategic vision.

General tasks and responsibilities

• Contribute to a technology guideline and structure for internal application development, provide technical support, serve as a point of contact, and effectively contribute technically in projects
• Collaborate with the security architect on the development and setup of a DevSecOps environment, always keeping a focus on “secure development”
• Collaborate with the application security architect on code reviews
• Design and develop solutions: From concept to technical design, including migration scenarios, always with continuity in mind
• Translate processes into IT solutions, in line with business analyses, strategic objectives, and enterprise architecture
• Collaborate with various stakeholders: Project managers, product owners, architects, technical leads, and developers
• Monitor application architecture standards: Develop, implement, follow up, and evaluate
• Present solutions to internal and external stakeholders
• Support implementation: Oversee quality and consistency
• Documentation and reporting: Maintain project documentation and progress
• Knowledge sharing: Keep the organization informed about architectural choices and best practices
• Contribute to the modernization of legacy applications and transition to modern architectures to elevate the organization to a higher level

Behavioral skills

• Strong analytical skills
• Goal- and result-oriented
• Independent, precise, with strong initiative
• Ability to propose innovative solutions
• Communicative team player who does not shy away from challenges
• Leadership
• Stress-resistant
• Eager to learn, regularly researching new technologies