Architect, IT Solutions

Based in our Corporate Headquarters in Schaumburg, IL, Mizkan America is a subsidiary of the Mizkan Group, a global, family-owned company that has been Bringing Flavor to Life™ for over 220 years. As one of the leading makers of vinegars, condiments, and sauces in the United States, Mizkan America maintains 12 manufacturing facilities that serve the retail, foodservice, specialty-Asian and food-ingredient trade channels. We are committed to following our two core principles: continuously challenging the status quo and delivering only the finest products for our customers. Our leadership seeks out, embraces, and implements ideas for improvement from all of its employees. Transparency and accountability are two key factors that drive our company’s overall management approach.

We are looking for people who are seeking to deliver their best so that we can deliver ours. Above all, we’re dedicated to maximizing the potential of our greatest assets—our team members. That’s reflected in our ongoing commitment to recruit, develop, reward, and retain our talented, multicultural workforce. We hope to see you as part of our team’s future success!

POSITION SUMMARY:   

The IT Solutions Architect is a hands‑on technical role responsible for designing, building, configuring, and supporting scalable, secure, and integrated technology solutions that enable business outcomes. This role combines deep technical expertise with architectural leadership, actively contributing to solution implementation while ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and long‑term strategy. The Solutions Architect works closely with business stakeholders, developers, engineers, and vendors to translate requirements into working solutions, often serving as both the solution designer and a key technical contributor throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Essential Functions:

• Design, implement, and maintain secure, reliable, and highly available infrastructure solutions aligned with organizational standards, roadmaps, and security policies.
• Lead and contribute to cloud architecture and strategy, with a strong focus on Microsoft Azure and hybrid environments.
• Establish and manage governance, security, and operational controls to ensure compliance, resiliency, and efficiency.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for infrastructure technologies, providing technical guidance, mentorship, and problem resolution for complex issues.
• Collaborate closely with IT teams, vendors, and business partners to deliver end‑to‑end infrastructure solutions.
• Support and maintain cloud and on‑premises systems through upgrades, lifecycle management, troubleshooting, and performance optimization.
• Plan capacity, analyze costs, optimize infrastructure and cloud expenses, and ensure financial governance.
• Participate in 24x7 infrastructure support and incident response as required.
• Regular, predictable, in-person attendance on the business days the Company requires in-person attendance at this facility. (In-person attendance is optional on the other workdays.)  For non-required-in-person attendance days, employees are expected to be present and engaged during the designated work hours for this role.
• Perform other duties assigned that support the overall success of the team, department, or organization. This may include participating in cross-functional initiatives, contributing to process improvements, or assisting with special projects as needed.
• This list is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed. This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities required for this role.

Key Skills/Competencies:

• Strong expertise in Microsoft networking and identity technologies, including AD/AAD, DNS, DHCP, GPO, Kerberos, LDAP, IIS, DFS, and file services.
• Proficiency with Windows 10/11 and Windows Server (2012–2022).
• Experience with virtualization platforms such as Hyper‑V and VMware.
• Extensive experience with Microsoft collaboration and productivity platforms (Microsoft 365, Entra ID, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams Voice).
• Experience with enterprise backup and recovery solutions, including Veeam.
• Demonstrated project and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Strong documentation and technical writing skills.
• Familiarity with Operational Technology (OT) environments is a plus.

Education/Experience/Qualifications/Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience delivering and leading infrastructure services and projects, including cloud, servers, networking, storage, virtualization, backups, endpoints, identity, and data protection.

• 5+ years of hands‑on experience with Microsoft Azure infrastructure, services, and security capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience both designing and implementing enterprise technology solutions.

Physical Requirements and Work Conditions:

• Ability to remain seated at a workstation for extended periods (up to 8 hours per day).
• Frequent use of hands and fingers for typing, writing, and handling office equipment.
• Ability to view computer screens and read printed materials for prolonged periods.
• Occasional standing, walking, and reaching within the office environment.
• Ability to lift and carry office supplies or equipment weighing up to 10–15 lbs.
• Adequate hearing and speech to communicate effectively in person and via phone/video.
• Willingness to work extended hours or weekends when required.
• Travel up to 10%.

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $122,000 to $170,000.

Compensation is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills and experience. Short-Term Incentive and other forms of compensation may also be provided as part of a total compensation package.

A full range of medical, dental, vision, 401K plus up-to-four percent (4%) match, profit sharing, wellness program, paid parental leave, long-term-care insurance, critical accident insurance, short- and long-term disability and education assistance are also available.

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