With the increase in the adoption of automation abilities by various organizations, technologies like robotic process automation or RPA are gaining momentum. RPA is undeniably generating a lot of interest and hiring activity because of its potential for automating and integrating processes without the need for a big-budget IT project.

In the current market landscape, RPA opportunities are not limited to technologists. Business analysts and others with the ability to analyze business processes and imagine how they can be automated can learn to produce bots themselves or write up the requirements for an RPA developer to work from. Business leaders whose organizations have not yet taken advantage of Robotic Process Automation have the opportunity to champion the possibilities and carve out a role for themselves leading that initiative.

Here are some of the hottest Robotic Process Automation job titles in 2020.

RPA Developer

RPA developer is someone who works cross-functionally with business operations and business analysts to create and optimize workflow processes. However, this is a relatively new career path, and many organization’s formal titles for RPA developers differ.

The role of a successful RPA developer requires specific skills and best practices like documentation and planning. In order to automate a business process, an RPA developer will be required to create workflow diagrams and strategically document the process prior to implementation.

While the responsibilities of an Robotic Process Automation developer may vary, someone in this role is typically in charge of designing and managing workflow automation projects. The person may also be responsible for testing or bug fixes, so coding skills are important as well. In order to be successful in the role of RPA Developer, they must have the ability to navigate various appropriate technologies, such as UiPath or Automation Anywhere.

RPA Solutions Architect

An RPA solution architect is the pillar of an organization’s Robotic Process Automation implementation and enables the RPA solution to be developed and deployed. The solution architect is responsible to oversee the initial infrastructure setup for the dev, test and production environments. The solution architect also explores the server and other RPA deployment options.

The solution architects is responsible for getting everyone on the CoE including the stakeholders to agree on the best practices to be followed. They makes sure that proper coding standards and guidelines are laid out. Collaborating with the Business Analyst on feasibility and optimization is undertaken. As part of the preparation, the solution architect is also responsible to estimate the time and cost and plans on the technical meetings to be conducted during the process.

Furthermore, the candidate is in charge of designing solutions, building the workflows, testing and sustaining the solution. The solution architect is responsible for identifying reusable components that can save duplicate effort and also defining how to manage configurable parameters, queues, and schedules of Robots to optimize the cost and runtime.

RPA Analyst

According to Tony Walker, RPA/AI Analyst Consultant, Author & Director @ Leania.co, here are the things an RPA analyst is expected to do:

•  Develop a center of excellence for correct robotic process automation processes across the whole business.

•  Create and ensure the correct use of tools, templates, best practices, and quality assurance measures – May include holding governance meetings.

•  Be an evangelist for RPA – educate and upskill teams on robotic process automation and Lean process improvement.

•  This should include running Lean and RPA ‘Lunch & Learns’ to ensure teams are not just bought in, but involved in identifying, assessing, and re-designing processes.

•  Identify and assess automation opportunities.

•  Gather and analyze requirements, write up use cases and test plans.

•  Lead workshops with stakeholders and process experts.

•  Have enough knowledge of the Robotic Process Automation platform(s) to, at the very least, be able to build a basic automated process. This is so you are accurate in advising the business on what is and isn’t possible.

•  Develop an implementation roadmap for Robotic Process Automation, as well as suggesting other automation (scripts, macros, COTS tools, etc) – this will inevitably lead on to working with OCR/ICR, Machine learning and AI.

•  Work with SMEs (subject matter experts) to document As-Is process maps and procedure, and run process re-design exercises for To-Be solution design.

•  Record users executing the process and develop keystroke documents for the Process Design Document (PDD).

•  Support UAT and evaluation of automated processes – making bug logs for developers to address.

•  One final point, in some (many) cases, you may also need to take on the project manager role to ensure you and your team achieve objectives, and meet deadlines.

RPA Champions

According to UiPath, RPA Champion can evangelize and drive Robotic Process Automation adoption across the organization. The Champion is the guardian of the Robotic Process Automation solution overall. They are responsible for ensuring a healthy automation pipeline while leading the operational management of the virtual workforce.

Shail Khiyara, who until recently served as Customer Experience Officer at UIPath says, “An RPA champion coming from outside of IT ought to put some energy into establishing a good relationship with IT that will ensure long-term success. I do think the vendor community can do a better job of bridging the gap between business and IT, rather than expecting that to happen on its own.”