Strategic Planning Specialist Jobs in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Technology Program Manager
Technology Program Manager
About the role
Role: ServiceNow Architect
Location: Toronto, ON (REMOTE) Duration: Long Term Contract
Job Description
We are seeking a trusted and experienced Platform Architect (PA) to act as a key architectural advisor to our customers. The primary purpose of this role is to ensure customers realize the full value of their ServiceNow investment. The Platform Architect will guide customers in identifying and sequencing the adoption of capabilities that align with their business outcomes, delivering value quickly and sustainably, and ensuring the long-term health and scalability of their platform. This is an advisory role focused on shaping the customer's platform strategy and direction, achieved through expert guidance rather than direct implementation.
Key Responsibilities
- Architectural Advisory: Translate customer business objectives into a coherent platform strategy. Guide customers in defining their platform roadmap, sequencing workflow adoption, and conducting solution design reviews.
- Platform Health & Governance: Lead technical governance discussions to establish frameworks that prevent platform health degradation over time. Interpret platform health reports and advise on remediation plans for maintainability, performance, security, and upgradeability.
- Risk Management: Proactively identify, track, and assess risks across architectural, technical, and platform health dimensions. Advise customers on mitigation strategies to ensure risks are managed before they become incidents.
- Customer Engagement: Build and maintain strong relationships with customer stakeholders, from technical teams to senior leadership. Facilitate architectural reviews, executive conversations, and workshops.
- Technical Expertise: Demonstrate platform capabilities and guide customers through ServiceNow functionality. Maintain deep expertise in a few core areas while having broad knowledge across the entire ServiceNow platform.
- Strategic & Conceptual AI Expertise: Guide customers in adopting AI capabilities on the ServiceNow platform, including advising on how these capabilities fit within their broader organizational AI strategy and how to align AI capabilities to business outcomes.
Required Skills and Competencies
- Technical Architecture: Ability to design scalable, secure, and high-performing ServiceNow platform architectures that translate business objectives into sound architectural decisions.
- Stakeholder Influence: Proven ability to build and sustain trusted relationships across all organizational levels, from working teams to the C-suite, and influence outcomes through credibility and deep relationships.
- Effective Communication: Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex architectural decisions, risks, and platform direction with precision to diverse audiences, including executive stakeholders.
- Problem-Solving: Ability to diagnose the root cause of complex, multi-threaded problems, evaluate options, and develop sound, scalable resolution approaches.
- Business & Industry Acumen: Understand and credibly engage with the customer's industry context, business model, and strategic priorities to connect platform decisions to business outcomes.
- Platform and Product Roadmapping: Ability to develop and maintain a clear, defensible ServiceNow platform and product roadmap that translates customer business objectives into a sequenced adoption plan.
Required Knowledge & Certifications
- ServiceNow Platform Knowledge: Deep understanding of the core ServiceNow platform, including its data model (CMDB, CSDM), application development patterns, integration capabilities, security model, and instance lifecycle management.
- Architectural Knowledge: Expertise in solution design principles, governance frameworks, technical debt remediation, and enterprise architecture concepts (e.g., TOGAF).
- Workflow & Product Knowledge: Deep expertise in ITSM is mandatory. Expertise in at least one other ServiceNow workflow area (e.g., ITOM, CSM, HRSD, SecOps) is expected.
- Certifications: o Required: Certified System Administrator (CSA), Certified Application Developer (CAD), Certified Implementation Specialist (CIS - at least one). o Expected: ArchX - Advanced Architecture, Certified Technical Architect (CTA - in pursuit or completed). o AI Certifications: Now Assist Essentials, Now Assist Executive Micro-Certification, Agentic AI Executive Micro-Certification.
Duties
Lead and drive large and complex Expert Service engagements
- Ensure on-time, on-budget delivery of solutions to achieve customer outcomes
- Act as thought leader, mentor, and trusted advisor on transformation execution
- Serve as key point of communication and coordination for delivery team
- Establish and maintain governance forums
- Mitigate risks and issues
- Drive rapid and effective decision-making, escalating as required
- Leverage extensive expertise to assess project impacts and cross-effects
- Build cross-geo, cross-functional, and partner relationships to elevate ES brand
- Demonstrate transformation execution thought leadership during ambiguity or conflict
- Drive large-scale, high-risk engagements with multiple workstreams
- Ensure strategic alignment and future account growth
- Focus on governance, stakeholder alignment, quality checks, and project structure
- Provide comprehensive oversight with full project accountability
- Coach and mentor junior EMs and lead Senior EMs in large complex projects
- Manage engagement governance, timeline, scope, risk, change management, resourcing, reporting, and financials
- Work with Sales Account Team, partner, and customer to understand challenges and value
- Apply Now Create methodology and prescriptive guidance
- Identify gaps between actuals and plan, proposing solutions and driving resolutions
- Lead delivery team throughout complex programs with multiple workstreams Skills: AI Integration & Strategic Optimization (Expert level)
- ServiceNow Platform & Certifications
- Transformation Execution Thought Leadership
- Large-Scale, High-Risk Engagement Leadership
- Multi-Workstream Program Management
- Strategic Alignment & Account Growth
- Engagement Governance & Oversight
- Stakeholder Alignment & Quality Checks
- Risk Management & Mitigation
- Change Management
- Resource & Financial Management
- Now Create Methodology
- Cross-Geo & Cross-Functional Relationship Building
- Partner Relationship Management
- Coaching & Mentoring (Senior EM, EM, Associate EM)
- Ethical AI & Value-Driven Adoption
- Industry Domain Expertise
Not the right fit? Search for ServiceNow Architect jobs in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
About Apptoza Inc.
Apptoza is a boutique IT service provider, offering a comprehensive range of IT services and solutions. We take pride in delivering excellence in IT consulting to businesses of all sizes, from large enterprises to mid-sized and small businesses.
Founded by a team of seasoned IT professionals, Apptoza provides the expertise and leadership necessary to drive successful IT projects and help companies achieve their strategic goals. Whether you require full-scale IT project execution, application management services, or short-term consulting, our solutions are designed to enhance efficiency across systems, processes, and teams.
As a one-stop IT solutions provider, we offer end-to-end expertise in IT applications. Our consultants have an average of 10+ years of experience, delivering IT implementations across North America, Europe, and Asia. With deep industry knowledge, strong business acumen, and exceptional communication skills, we ensure tailored solutions that align with your unique business needs.
With a global team based in the USA, Canada, and India, we provide flexible, high-quality, and cost-effective IT project implementations. Our customized delivery models—blending on-site, near-site, and off-site services—ensure optimal outcomes for our clients.
At Apptoza, our success is built on a client-first philosophy. We believe that delivering outstanding service and long-term collaboration sets us apart from the competition. Our commitment to excellence and innovation fosters strong, lasting partnerships with our clients.
At Apptoza, your success is our priority.