Chief Architect

Janney•Philadelphia, PA

14h•Hybrid

About The Position

Janney is hiring a Chief Architect to lead Enterprise Architecture for the firm – and to lead something newer and just as important: our push into applied AI and automation. You’ll set the technical standards and reference patterns that guide how Janney builds technology, and you’ll personally build and lead a small, high-caliber team of forward-thinking AI engineers who use AI to take on some of the firm’s biggest business challenges. This is a hands-on leadership role, and a highly visible one. You’ll work directly with senior business leaders across wealth management, brokerage, and operations – not as a gatekeeper they have to get past, but as a trusted advisor they bring in early because your input makes their ideas better. Think of yourself as running an in-house consultancy: business leaders bring you their hardest problems, and you and your team bring the technical judgment – increasingly, AI-powered judgment – to help solve them well. We’re looking for someone who is genuinely excited about what AI can do – not just conceptually, but hands-on, day to day – and who wants to build and lead a team that uses it responsibly to move the firm forward.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in enterprise or solution architecture leadership, including real ownership of governance – standards, patterns, and decision records – not just hands-on design work.
Deep knowledge of wealth management and wealth technology: advisory and brokerage workflows, clearing and custody, portfolio construction and performance reporting, and financial planning platforms.
A track record of being sought out by business and product leaders for early advice, not just approvals.
Genuine, hands-on comfort with modern AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT – able to direct them through real design and analysis work, and know when to push back on what they produce.
Experience leading a governance model that’s measured by adoption, not approval volume – comfortable being an advisor, not just a gatekeeper.
Comfort leading a small, senior team, and staying personally involved in architecture and design work, not just directing others.
Experience leading an applied-AI or automation team, including setting roadmap and security/control standards.
A track record of leading through influence – getting strong work out of people who don’t report to you.

Nice To Haves

Experience building or overhauling a reference architecture and pattern library from a less mature starting point.
Hands-on experience with the Atlassian suite (Jira, Confluence), ideally including migrating a team off Azure DevOps.
Familiarity with the regulatory and supervisory environment for broker-dealers and registered investment advisors (data retention, entitlements, recordkeeping, exam readiness).
Experience partnering with a dedicated data office or Chief Data Officer function.
Direct, hands-on experience with enterprise deployments of Claude or ChatGPT, rather than only casual personal use.
Broad familiarity across SaaS platforms (like Salesforce or ServiceNow), web engineering, and full-stack engineering – enough to know who to bring in for a given initiative.

Responsibilities

Set Our Architecture Standards: Own and publish Janney’s reference architectures, technology standards, and build-vs-buy guidance. Maintain our architecture pattern library as a living resource. Keep our technology reference model current and accurate. Lead our move from Azure DevOps to the Atlassian suite (Jira and Confluence) as the new home for architecture decision records, our pattern library, and backlog management.
Guide Technology Investment Decisions: Own the architecture review for every request entering our technology portfolio intake process. Chair our exception review process and keep a clear record of those decisions. Represent architecture at the quarterly Portfolio Investment Council and monthly Portfolio Checkpoint, and act as the senior architecture partner to UX research, our data office, and security architecture during intake.
Lead AI & Automation as a Core Capability: Build and lead a small, high-caliber team of forward-thinking AI engineers – spanning AI Factory & Automation, Workflow Automation, and AI Security – focused on solving real, high-priority business problems with AI. Set Janney’s roadmap for applied AI and automation, and hold it to the same standards and rigor as any other major technology investment. Own our approach to AI security and responsible AI use. Champion smart, secure, and productive use of AI across the firm.
Bring in the Right Expertise, Wherever It Sits: Pull Solution Architects from Advisor Platforms, Client Platforms, Enterprise Platforms, Data Office, and Information Security Office onto individual initiatives. Set the technical direction for each initiative and hold those architects to our enterprise standards. Feed what you learn from each initiative back into the pattern library.
Build Real Relationships Across the Business: Get involved early – while a business problem is still being framed. Build genuine depth in our business: advisor and client workflows, brokerage, clearing and custody, portfolio construction and performance reporting, and the regulatory environment. Stay current on the wealth management technology and vendor landscape.
Use AI in Your Own Work, Every Day: Use enterprise Claude (including Cowork and Code), enterprise ChatGPT, and potentially Microsoft CoPilot as everyday tools – for solution options and trade studies, vendor and market research, early prototypes and wireframes, and first drafts of architecture decision records. Own everything these tools help produce.