AISB 1095 - SharePoint Online Intranet Architect

AISB 1095 - SharePoint Online Intranet Architect

Context and project

A large public administration, organised into several directorates-general, is modernising its intranet landscape. The current environment includes:

• an institutional intranet running on an ageing CMS;
• several business sites and intranets built in SharePoint Online by different directorates;
• Microsoft 365 services used inconsistently across entities.

The goal is to build a Corporate Intranet on SharePoint Online and the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It must give staff consistent access to institutional information, internal services and business content, on both desktop and mobile. The aims are better internal communication, higher user satisfaction and a stronger shared culture.

The project runs in two stages:

• Migration of the institutional intranet to SharePoint Online, maintaining or strengthening its central role.
• Integration of the existing SharePoint sites, providing a single entry point for staff.

Role and responsibilities

The role involves acting as the functional and strategic lead for business and IT project managers, technical teams, communication teams and representatives of the directorates-general. An in-house UX/UI team can provide support.

Architecture and functional design

• Support the migration of the existing intranet to SharePoint Online
• Define the target architecture: Home Site, Hub Sites per directorate, associated sites, Communication Sites
• Define global and local navigation principles
• Ensure consistency between the corporate intranet and business intranets
• Make recommendations on cross-site search and content discoverability

SharePoint Online / Microsoft 365 expertise

• Define SharePoint Online best practices for intranet use and related document management principles
• Advise on modern components and integration with Microsoft Teams and the wider Microsoft 365 ecosystem
• Determine, for each need, whether it is covered by standard features, requires advanced configuration or justifies custom development
• Depending on progress: audience targeting, profile enrichment (people skills), personal app links, Viva Connections, Viva Engage, migration and update of a staff directory

Governance

• Define a federated governance model balancing a common corporate framework with managed autonomy for directorates: roles, editorial governance, publishing rules

UX and adoption

• Contribute to user journey design and page and site templates
• Ensure a consistent experience, accessibility and responsive design
• Contribute to the adoption, training and contributor support strategy

Phases and deliverables (indicative)

• Phases: assessment and scoping, target design, governance, implementation support, adoption
• Deliverables: current-state analysis, target architecture, Home Site / Hub Sites / associated sites diagram, information architecture model, search strategy, governance model

Profile

Experience

• At least 3 years of relevant decision-level experience on SharePoint Corporate Intranet projects
• Proven involvement in at least two SharePoint Online Corporate Intranet projects with several thousand users and multiple organisational entities
• Experience consolidating several existing intranets into a single entry point while preserving decentralised editorial ownership

Essential technical skills

• SharePoint Online: Home Site, Hub Sites and associated sites, Communication Sites, global and hub navigation
• Microsoft Search and cross-site search
• Audience management and content targeting
• Extended directory features
• Integration with Microsoft Teams, Viva Connections, Viva Engage
• Federated SharePoint / Microsoft 365 governance
• Adoption and business change support strategy

Nice to have

• Experience in public, semi-public or decentralised multi-entity organisations
• Migration from an existing CMS or intranet
• Editorial governance
• Workshop facilitation
• Ability to explain technical topics to non-technical stakeholders
• Feel for design and online publishing
• Ability to take different business perspectives into account
• Long-term vision and the ability to put it into action
• Autonomy, creativity, team spirit

Languages

• French: excellent spoken and written command, essential
• English: level not specified in the brief