Senior Director - Enterprise Architecture

As a leader on the Enterprise Architecture team, you will be responsible for working closely with delivery teams to define Northwestern Mutual’s target state architecture and reference architecture. You will lead a team of enterprise architects and will collaborate with engineering leaders across the enterprise to identify our strategic architecture direction and chart a path to execute on this vision.   You will collaborate with our enterprise partners to understand the current state and together chart the path toward the future state. 

This is an outstanding opportunity to join a company of choice and enjoy the best of both worlds: the strong foundation and resources of a thriving organization built over more than 160 years, alongside a progressive, fast-paced IT team working with the latest and greatest technology.

Responsibilities:

• Lead a team of enterprise architects and work effectively across organizational boundaries.

• Work closely with the enterprise to define our target state architecture and strategy to support our business goals.

• Drive the systematic advancement of our current state architecture towards the target state architecture through the definition of standards and transitional architectures.

• Identify opportunities for platformization across the enterprise.

• Build strong working relationships with architects and delivery leaders.

• Establish clear performance goals for multiple teams/ADs, ensure objectives are aligned to organizational priorities.

• Continuously prioritize and delegate work to the team, ensure effective process to keep ADs/teams/employees informed of changes as applicable.

• Take responsibility for the team’s results, make timely decisions to enable execution.

• Communicate and collaborate with leadership chains to remove roadblocks and clarify goals & outcomes

• Ensure close alignment between our application technology strategy and our enterprise technology strategy.

• Accountable for the attraction, development and retention of team resources, and delegating/supporting team.

• Serve as conduit to Human Resources in the event that situations require HR involvement, ensure both individual and organizations interests are safeguarded.• 10+ years experience in an individual contributor technology role, and 5 or more years in a technology management role.

• Ability to collaborate and/or provide leadership in a larger group of technical/engineering leads and be accountable for driving efforts towards defined outcomes that align to business strategic goals.

• Ability to synthesize complex technical initiatives to a broad array of audiences, including senior leadership.

Bring your best! What this role needs:

• 10+ years of experience architecting, designing and developing large-scale application solutions.

• Deep expertise in modern application and cloud technology required.

• Proven ability to drive broad enterprise alignment and the successful implementation of impactful technology solutions.

• Effective communicator with both technical and non-technical partners.

• Skilled at influencing and working across organizational boundaries.

• Experienced leader and mentor to engineers and architects.

• Identify, develop, and provide visibility to high potential talent on your team.

• Align recognition and differentiated rewards with performance.

• Connect your team’s work to enterprise priorities, creating linkage between organizational goals and how your team is helping to drive them.

• Build an Inclusive Culture where employees contribute their best work, collaborate and respect diverse perspectives to drive performance.

Northwestern Mutual pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement in the salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. At Northwestern Mutual, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Please note that the salary range listed in the posting is the standard pay structure. Positions in certain locations (such as California) may provide an increase on the standard pay structure based on the location. Please click here for additional information relating to location-based pay structures.

We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you work or would be working in California, Colorado, New York City, Washington or outside of a Corporate location, please click here for information pertaining to compensation and benefits.