Solution Architect and AI Integration Lead

ICF Next is looking for a Solution Architect and AI Integration Lead for one of our client.The expert will work as part of a 4-5 people team responsible for the knowledge management platform. The expert’s primary function is solution design and architecture — acting as the mandatory layer between business requirements and technical implementation. In particular, the expert will provide the following services:

MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION OF EXISTING SOLUTIONS

• monitoring, maintaining and improving the existing PnP Search pages and web parts, ensuring search relevance, performance and consistency with evolving content structure; adapting query logic, refiners, result templates and verticals as requirements change;

• maintaining, updating and extending existing Power Apps and Power Automate flows as business rules, SharePoint structures or platform updates require;

• maintaining and evolving advanced site configurations and settings, including site columns, content types, managed metadata term store, versioning and retention policies, and site-level governance rules;

• maintaining and continuously improving the access and permissions strategy, including SharePoint group configurations, audience-based visibility rules, and role-based access controls across all sites; ensuring changes are documented and auditable;

• identifying, diagnosing and resolving technical incidents and degraded functionality across all existing custom solutions; performing root cause analysis and implementing preventive measures to avoid recurrence; documenting all changes and incidents;

• proactively monitoring platform health, Microsoft 365 roadmap updates and deprecation notices that may affect existing solutions, and proposing adaptation plans before issues become incidents;

NEW SOLUTIONS AND PLATFORM ENHANCEMENTS

• designing and specifying new PnP Search pages and web parts from the ground up, defining search verticals, refiners, result types and layouts, KQL query logic, and ensuring the search experience is aligned with the information architecture and content structure of the platform;

• designing and specifying new Power Apps and Power Automate solutions to improve platform efficiency and user experience: including workflows for content governance, notification systems;

• designing solutions for pages serving as complex and large document repositories: dynamic filtering, metadata-driven views, faceted navigation, bulk operations for content managers, and versioning or lifecycle controls adapted to high-volume document libraries;

• designing and specifying a web analytics solution for the platform: defining the measurement framework (key user behaviours, content performance indicators, search effectiveness metrics), selecting appropriate tooling within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem (Viva Insights, SharePoint analytics, or custom solutions via Microsoft Graph API – as available at the site level), and designing dashboards for the team, the content providers and the management;

• designing enhanced access and permissions management solutions: scalable group management patterns, role-based access review workflows, automated onboarding and offboarding of content providers and users, and audit-ready access logs; with a focus on reducing manual administration while maintaining security and compliance;

• proposing and designing other features and enhancements that improve the platform’s value for users: including personalised content surfaces, notification and subscription mechanisms, improved mobile and accessibility experience, and integration with other corporate tools within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem; • for all new solutions: translating business and knowledge management requirements into structured technical specifications, acting as the quality gate before development begins, ensuring specifications are complete and unambiguous before handover to the IT developer, and validating delivered solutions against specifications;

AI INTEGRATION

• serving as the platform’s technical interlocutor with the DG for the corporate AI integration: following up on the integration, testing and validating its output on the platform’s content and structure, identifying gaps or misconfigurations, and coordinating any corrective actions;

• conducting an AI readiness audit of the platform’s content and structure: assessing metadata coverage and consistency, taxonomy coherence, content duplication, and structural patterns that determine how well the platform’s content can be indexed, retrieved and cited by AI tools; producing a prioritised remediation plan;

• defining and implementing the platform’s AI governance framework: scoping which content and features are exposed to AI tools, defining access boundaries consistent with the platform’s permission strategy, establishing rules for AI-generated content where applicable, and ensuring compliance with the Commission’s data protection and information security requirements;

• designing AI-enhanced search capabilities beyond the baseline GPT@EC integration: including semantic search layers over PnP Search, natural language query handling, contextual result ranking based on user role or content recency, and search analytics to monitor AI-assisted query performance;

• designing and, where technically feasible within the Commission’s infrastructure, specifying a domain-specific chatbot or conversational assistant for the platform: scoping the use case (question-answering over platform content, procedural guidance, document retrieval), defining the knowledge base boundaries, selecting the appropriate integration pattern, and ensuring the solution is auditable and controllable;

• monitoring developments in AI tooling within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and the Commission’s AI infrastructure, evaluating their relevance and feasibility for the platform, and advising the team leader on emerging opportunities and risks; maintaining awareness of EU AI Act obligations and Commission AI governance policies as they apply to the platform;

ADVISORY, GOVERNANCE AND BACKLOG MANAGEMENT

• advising the team leader on the technical feasibility and complexity of proposed initiatives, supporting backlog prioritisation with architectural input, and ensuring the development roadmap reflects a realistic and consistent design;

• ensuring that all solutions adhere to the platform’s governance model, including naming conventions, metadata standards, content lifecycle rules, and security and access assumptions, in coordination with the site administrator and editorial lead;

• maintaining the platform’s information architecture: owning the hub and site structure, navigation model, content type hierarchy, and metadata and term store strategy;

• proposing and implementing updates as the platform evolves and documenting all architectural decisions; • managing the ongoing AI readiness of the platform as a continuous discipline: monitoring metadata coverage, taxonomy consistency, and content structure quality over time to ensure the platform remains suitable for AI-assisted retrieval; updating the remediation plan as new content areas or solution types are introduced;

• managing the technical relationship with external parties whose work affects the platform: coordinating with the DG on tenant-level Microsoft 365 changes, SPFx deployment approvals, Graph API permissions, and security review processes; liaising with other corporate service providers as required;

• producing and maintaining technical documentation for all solutions designed or modified during the contract: including architecture decision records, data models, configuration specifications, and operational runbooks sufficient for another expert to maintain each solution;

• transferring knowledge to team members (in particular the IT developer and site administrator): providing technical briefings on existing and new solutions, supporting onboarding of the IT developer and the site administrator at the start of the contract and following any change of personnel, and producing documentation accessible to non-specialist team members;

• providing reporting to the team leader and, when requested, to the management: including regular progress updates on the development backlog, status of ongoing initiatives, risks and blockers, and technical input for strategic decisions;

• The expert will be required to coordinate their tasks closely and in real time with the team leader and the other team members, keep the Ordering Service informed about the progress in implementing the tasks and any arising challenges, and propose effective and efficient solutions to address the technical and quality issues. The expert will be required to participate in regular planning and status review meetings on a weekly, or more frequent basis. The expert will provide a written progress update to the team leader at least once per week, covering tasks completed, tasks in progress, blockers, and any risks requiring a decision.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

In order to deliver the required services, in addition to the knowledge and skills set out in the framework contract, the expert must possess the following specific qualifications and skills:

• at least 5 years of experience in solution architecture or functional consulting roles on Microsoft 365 platforms;

• at least 3 years of demonstrated experience in SharePoint Online solution design and information architecture, including hub site structures, navigation models, metadata and taxonomy strategy;

• proven experience designing enterprise search experiences using the PnP Modern Search framework, including search verticals, refiners, query logic and result templates; portfolio examples required at interview;

• solid experience in Power Platform solution design (Power Apps and Power Automate), including defining architecture, data models, user flows and workflow logic before development;

• working knowledge of Microsoft 365 Copilot architecture, AI Builder capabilities, and Microsoft Graph API; experience in designing or delivering AI integration on knowledge management platforms is a strong asset;

• familiarity with Microsoft 365 governance frameworks, including information barriers, sensitivity labels, compliance policies; understanding of how tenant-level governance decisions affect SharePoint Online solutions and AI tooling;

• experience with or working knowledge of conversational AI tooling within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem;

• demonstrated ability to produce complete and unambiguous technical specifications for developers, including data models, user flows, business rules and access assumptions, without requiring further interpretation;

• strong analytical skills and ability to translate business and knowledge management requirements into structured technical designs; experience conducting requirements workshops with non-technical stakeholders;

• very good communication and presentation skills;

• fluency in English (spoken and written);

• ability to work effectively in an international and multicultural environment and within project teams;

• proactive, autonomous and results-oriented approach to work.

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