Executive Director - Principal Architect | Cloud-native Platform

Job Responsibilities: Advise cross-functional teams on technology selection, architectural abstractions, and integration patterns to achieve target-state architecture and drive continuous improvement across current technologies Define and document foundational platform architecture for neocloud, on-premises, and appliance-based environments, capturing target-state designs, trade-offs, and standardized deployment patterns Ensure platform alignment with the firm's firmwide control plane architecture, including abstraction of database and other services to enable deployment on-premises, in neoclouds, at the edge, or in high-risk locations Shepherd designs through all architectural review gates — permit to plan, permit to build, permit to deploy, and permit to operate — ensuring each checkpoint's evidence and approvals are satisfied before progressing Develop and maintain multi-year architecture roadmaps aligned with business strategy, AI platform priorities, and engineering capacity Specify new architectural patterns where necessary to enable emerging AI capabilities, and establish reuse-first, AI-enabled engineering patterns and governance across the software development lifecycle Apply enterprise-authorized AI capabilities within the work environment to accelerate architecture analysis, roadmap development, and design decisioning, with human-in-the-loop validation and appropriate handling of sensitive data Develop secure, high-quality production code and review and debug code written by others, ensuring compliance with architecture standards and firm controls Ensure engineering alignment with architectural direction through structured reviews, design feedback, and prioritization of engineering tasks required to achieve architectural imperatives Document proper integration with firmwide services — including identity and access management — while satisfying all necessary security and compliance controls Serve as the team's go-to subject matter expert and contribute to the development of technical methods in specialized fields, in line with the latest product development methodologies Required qualifications, capabilities, and skillsFormal training or certification on architecture concepts and 10+ years applied experience Hands-on practical experience delivering system design, application development, testing, and operational stability across complex, large-scale environments Expertise in one or more programming languages with a strong foundation in writing, reviewing, and debugging production-grade code Deep knowledge of software, applications, and architecture, including advanced software architecture, application development, and technical processes within one or more disciplines such as cloud, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or mobile Demonstrated experience applying enterprise-authorized AI capabilities within architecture and engineering workflows, with strong validation habits and awareness of data sensitivity Ability to evaluate and integrate AI-enabled capabilities into scalable platforms while meeting resiliency, security, and auditability requirements Experience applying expertise and new methods to determine solutions for complex architecture problems across one or more technical disciplines Experience leading a product as a product owner or product manager, with the ability to align technical direction to business outcomes Ability to present and effectively communicate complex architectural concepts to senior leaders and executives Preferred qualifications, capabilities, and skillsFormal training or certification in enterprise, solution, or software architecture — such as TOGAF, The Open Group Certified Architect (Open CA), SEI/Carnegie Mellon software architecture, or an equivalent cloud provider Professional or Expert Architect certification from AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Experience designing and operating AI/ML platform infrastructure, including model training, fine-tuning, and inference workloads across hybrid and multi-cloud environments Familiarity with edge computing, high-risk deployment environments, or regulated infrastructure patterns Experience establishing architectural governance frameworks, including design review processes, pattern libraries, and engineering standards at an enterprise scale Background in platform engineering or developer experience tooling, with a focus on enabling engineering velocity through reusable, well-governed foundations