Chief Architect

ADP • Toronto, ON

20h

About The Position

In this role, you will serve as the technology visionary and architectural leader for ADP SmartCompliance's Tax Platform, driving the strategy, design, and evolution of the next generation of compliance, payroll, and tax solutions. You will work at the intersection of business strategy, technology innovation, and engineering execution to create scalable, resilient, intelligent platforms that support millions of clients and workers worldwide. As a Chief Architect, you will partner with Product Management, Engineering, Security, Infrastructure, Data, and Executive Leadership to define long-term technology roadmaps, establish enterprise architecture standards, and lead transformational initiatives across the organization. You will be responsible for ensuring architectural consistency, technical excellence, and innovation while balancing business priorities, operational efficiency, and delivery commitments. You will provide technical leadership across multiple engineering teams, acting as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to senior leaders. You will guide critical architecture decisions, establish engineering best practices, and mentor architects and senior engineers while fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement. A key responsibility of this role will be driving ADP's adoption of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, and Agentic AI capabilities across products and platforms. You will define architectural patterns and governance frameworks for AI-powered solutions, intelligent agents, autonomous workflow orchestration, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Large Language Models (LLMs), and human-in-the-loop systems. You will ensure AI solutions are scalable, secure, compliant, and aligned with responsible AI principles. You will lead the modernization of legacy applications and platforms through cloud-native architectures, event-driven design patterns, microservices, APIs, platform engineering practices, and modern data architectures. You will evaluate emerging technologies, conduct proofs of concept, and establish strategies for scaling successful innovations into enterprise-grade solutions. Success in this role requires a deep understanding of distributed systems, cloud technologies, data architecture, software engineering, and enterprise-scale solution design. You must be equally comfortable engaging in executive-level strategic discussions and hands-on technical reviews, helping teams navigate complex challenges while maintaining a clear focus on business outcomes. You'll be accountable for something significant: creating the technology foundation that powers mission-critical compliance, payroll, tax, and workforce solutions used by millions of clients and workers worldwide. Our best architects are builders, innovators, and mentors. They continuously evaluate new technologies, challenge conventional thinking, and inspire engineering teams to deliver exceptional solutions. They bring clarity to complexity, communicate effectively with executives and engineers alike, and create environments where innovation thrives.

Requirements

• 15+ years of progressive software engineering and architecture experience, including leadership responsibilities across multiple enterprise applications and platforms.
• 5+ years in Enterprise Architecture, Principal Architect, Chief Architect, or equivalent strategic technology leadership roles.
• Proven experience defining and executing enterprise architecture strategies at scale.
• Expert-level knowledge of distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, and enterprise application design.
• Deep expertise in Java, Spring Boot, microservices, event-driven architecture, and API-first development.
• Experience designing and implementing solutions on AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud platforms.
• Strong experience with messaging and streaming technologies including Kafka, Kinesis, SQS, and event-driven integration patterns.
• Deep understanding of relational and NoSQL databases including Oracle, Aurora PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, ElasticSearch, MongoDB, and Redis.
• Experience establishing architecture governance processes, conducting architecture reviews, and guiding technical standards.
• Expertise in Domain-Driven Design (DDD), Event Storming, API design, and modern software architecture practices.
• Experience designing highly available, resilient, and secure enterprise platforms.
• Strong understanding of DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, observability, monitoring, and operational excellence.
• Experience leading large-scale modernization and digital transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and drive alignment across multiple organizations.
• Experience architecting and deploying Generative AI solutions using Large Language Models (LLMs).
• Knowledge of Agentic AI architectures, autonomous agents, multi-agent systems, and AI orchestration frameworks.
• Experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, embeddings, prompt engineering, and model evaluation techniques.
• Understanding of AI governance, responsible AI principles, model lifecycle management, and AI security practices.
• Experience integrating AI capabilities into enterprise products, workflows, and business processes.
• Familiarity with AI platforms and frameworks such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon Bedrock, Vertex AI, LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen, or equivalent technologies.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to connect technology decisions to business outcomes.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills.
• Ability to simplify complex technical challenges and drive organizational alignment.
• Proven experience mentoring architects, principal engineers, and senior technical leaders.
• Track record of driving innovation while balancing delivery commitments and operational excellence.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree preferred.
• Experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale cloud-native platforms serving millions of users.
• Experience with Databricks, Snowflake, Redshift, and modern data platform architectures.
• Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, OpenShift, and container orchestration platforms.
• Experience building platform engineering, developer experience, and internal developer platform capabilities.
• Experience implementing enterprise observability, site reliability engineering (SRE), and operational excellence practices.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide modernization and digital transformation programs.
• Experience architecting and deploying Generative AI, Agentic AI, and intelligent automation solutions at scale.
• Experience building AI-powered products leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, and multi-agent systems.
• Experience establishing AI governance, responsible AI frameworks, and secure AI deployment practices.
• Experience within Payroll, Tax, HR, Compliance, Financial Services, or other highly regulated industries.
• Experience influencing technology strategy across multiple business units and executive leadership teams.
• Proven track record of mentoring architects, principal engineers, and senior technical leaders.
• Experience driving build-versus-buy evaluations, technology selection, and enterprise platform standardization initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Define Technology Strategy: Develop and execute architectural vision, technology roadmaps, and modernization strategies that align with business objectives and enable long-term growth. Drive architectural consistency across platforms, products, and engineering organizations.
• Lead Enterprise Architecture: Design and govern scalable, resilient, secure, and high-performing solutions leveraging microservices, event-driven architectures, cloud-native platforms, APIs, distributed systems, and modern data architectures. Ensure architecture decisions support enterprise standards and operational excellence.
• Drive AI and Agentic AI Innovation: Lead the adoption and implementation of Generative AI and Agentic AI capabilities across products and engineering platforms. Define architectures for intelligent agents, autonomous workflows, AI orchestration frameworks, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), LLM integrations, vector databases, and human-in-the-loop systems. Establish best practices for secure, ethical, and scalable AI deployment.
• Modernize Platforms: Lead large-scale transformation initiatives including cloud migration, application modernization, platform consolidation, and technical debt reduction. Identify opportunities to improve reliability, performance, developer productivity, and operational efficiency.
• Influence and Collaborate: Partner closely with Product Owners, Engineering Leaders, Security, Infrastructure, Data, and Executive Leadership to align technology investments with business priorities. Facilitate architecture reviews and guide critical technical decisions.
• Mentor and Elevate Engineering Teams: Serve as a trusted advisor and technical mentor across multiple organizations. Establish architectural best practices, design patterns, engineering standards, and governance processes that help teams scale effectively.
• Evaluate Emerging Technologies: Continuously assess industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovation opportunities. Conduct proofs of concept and develop strategies to operationalize successful technologies at enterprise scale.
• Executive Communication: Translate complex technical concepts into business outcomes. Communicate architectural strategy, risks, tradeoffs, and investment recommendations to executive leadership with clarity and confidence.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior