Architect Lead for Terminal Domain

Led by Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group, a global leader in shipping and logistics, serves more than 420 ports around the world on five continents. With its subsidiary CEVA Logistics, a world leader in logistics, and its air freight division CMA CGM AIR CARGO, the CMA CGM Group is continually innovating to offer its customers a complete and increasingly efficient range of new shipping, land, air and logistics solutions.

Committed to the energy transition in shipping, and a pioneer in the use of alternative fuels, the CMA CGM Group has set a target to become Net Zero Carbon by 2050.
Through the CMA CGM Foundation, the Group acts in humanitarian crises that require an emergency response by mobilizing the Group’s shipping and logistics expertise to bring humanitarian supplies around the world.

Present in 160 countries through its network of more than 400 offices and 750 warehouses, the Group employs more than 155,000 people worldwide, including 4,000 in Marseilles where its head office is located.

THE ROLE

The Architect Lead for Terminal Domain is responsible for defining, maintaining, and evolving the IT architecture for a network of maritime terminals worldwide.  
You will act as the reference point for all architecture topics in the terminal domain, ensuring that local and global solutions are:
•    Technically coherent
•    Secure and reliable
•    Cost-efficient and scalable
•    Aligned with the company’s overall IT and business strategy
You will lead and animate a team of enterprise, solution and technical architects, providing direction, standards, and guidance to ensure consistent architecture across all terminals.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

1.    Domain Architecture & Strategy
•    Define and maintain the target architecture for the container terminals domain (business, application, data, and technology layers).
•    Translate business strategy, operational needs, and regulatory requirements into IT architecture roadmaps for the terminals.
•    Identify and drive standardization opportunities across terminals (e.g., TOS, Gate Systems, IoT, OT/IT convergence, analytics platforms).
•    Ensure alignment of domain architecture with enterprise architecture principles, cybersecurity policies, and global IT standards.
•    Anticipate technology trends (cloud, edge computing, IoT, AI/analytics, 5G/private LTE, automation) and assess their relevance for terminal operations.

2.    Governance & Standards
•    Define and maintain architecture principles, patterns, and reference designs for terminal IT (e.g., network and connectivity patterns, integration patterns, data models, security controls).
•    Establish and run architecture governance for the domain:
o    Review solution designs for new projects and major changes
o    Validate deviations and manage technical debt
o    Ensure consistent application of standards across all terminals
•    Contribute to and enforce cybersecurity, resilience, and compliance standards in collaboration with security and risk teams.

3.    Team Leadership & Animation (Non-Hierarchical)
•    Coordinate and animate a global community of architects (enterprise, solution and technical architects).
•    Provide thought leadership and mentoring: help architects resolve complex design issues and make balanced trade-offs (cost, risk, performance, resilience).
•    Organize knowledge sharing (forums, design reviews, best practices, reusable patterns).
•    Lead the Terminal domain IT community and actively contribute to the Group's architect community.

4.     Project & Portfolio
•    Contribute to major transformation programs (e.g., TOS replacements, automation projects, OT/IT integration, cloud migrations) 
o    Shaping solution options and architectural scenarios
o    Assessing impacts on existing systems and operations
o    Providing clear architectural requirements and constraints
•    Act as the architecture counterpart to project managers, product owners, and business sponsors.
•    Ensure that project portfolios reflect the architecture roadmap, addressing obsolescence, risk reduction, and strategic capabilities (data, integration, automation)

5.    Stakeholder Management
•    Act as trusted advisor to terminal IT operations, IT Terminals Performance Leaders & Project Managers.
•    Ensure regular reporting to relevant management on roadmap progress, major risks, and key architecture decisions.
•    Communicate clearly on choices, risks, and tradeoffs, adapting language to technical and non‑technical audiences.
•    Influence internal stakeholders and external partners to support the architecture vision.

6.    Risk, Resilience & Operations
•    Ensure architectures support 24/7 operations, high availability, and business continuity.
•    Work with infrastructure and security teams on resilience, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity by design.
•    Contribute to post‑incident reviews and continuous improvement of performance and robustness.

Key Domains & Technologies

Experience in some of the following is highly valuable:

•    Terminal/Port Systems:
o    Terminal Operating Systems (TOS)
o    Gate and yard management systems
o    Equipment control / crane systems interfaces
o    Reefer monitoring, access control, safety & security systems

•    Architecture & Integration:
o    Enterprise architecture methodologies (TOGAF or similar)
o    Integration platforms (ESB, API Gateway, event streaming)
o    Microservices, REST/GraphQL APIs, messaging

•    Infrastructure & Cloud:
o    Hybrid architectures (on-prem, edge, cloud)
o    Network and connectivity (LAN/WAN, Wi-Fi, 4G/5G, SD-WAN, VPN)
o    Virtualization, containers, Kubernetes (optional, depending on environment)

•    Data & Analytics:
o    Data platforms, data lakes/warehouses, reporting/BI
o    Operational data flows and real-time data for operations
•    Cybersecurity & OT/IT:
o    Security by design, network segmentation, identity & access management
o    OT/IT convergence, industrial protocols, secure remote access
 

WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Education:
•    Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
Professional Experience:
•    10+ years of experience in IT, with at least 5 years in architecture roles (solution architect, domain architect, enterprise architect, or similar).
•    Strong end to end understanding of enterprise IT: applications, integration, infrastructure, security, and operations.
•    Experience in complex, distributed, and mission critical environments, ideally in:

Ports and terminals, logistics, transport, manufacturing, or other industrial operations
•    Proven experience leading architecture across multiple sites/countries and working with distributed, multicultural teams.
•    Excellent communication skills, capable of explaining technical concepts to non technical stakeholders.
•    Demonstrated ability to coordinate and influence architects and technical experts.

Architecture & Methodology:
•    Strong knowledge of architecture frameworks and modeling practices.
•    Experience with architecture tools (e.g., ArchiMate-based tools, UML, or equivalent).
•    Solid understanding of application, data, infrastructure, and security architecture.

Languages
•    Fluent in French & English (spoken and written).
•    Additional languages (e.g. Portugues, Arabic) are a plus.

Come along on CMA CGM’s adventure !