Director, Technical Architecture

USAA • San Antonio, TX

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families. Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values – honesty, integrity, loyalty and service – define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful. The Opportunity The Director of Technical Architecture — Digital will lead a team of highly skilled architects across Member Digital Platforms, Contact Center, Marketing, and Enterprise Applications & Services. They will ensure the architecture organization operates smoothly day‑to-day, remove operational impediments, and manage administrative coordination so architects can focus on high‑value technical work. In addition, the Director will prioritize the personal and technical growth of direct reports—providing mentoring, performance development, career pathing, and hands‑on coaching to build a high‑performing, future‑ready architecture practice while translating strategy into consistent, high‑quality execution across the association’s mission areas (Member Value, Communications & Public Affairs, and Marketing). We offer a flexible work environment that requires an individual to be in the office 4 days per week. This position can be based in one of the following locations: San Antonio, TX, Plano, TX, Phoenix, AZ, or Charlotte, NC, Chesapeake. Relocation assistance is not available for this position.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field; OR 4 additional years of related experience in lieu of a degree.
• 8 years of experience in a broad range of technology functions, including 3 years’ experience as a practicing Architect supporting successful completion of multiple architecture lifecycles.
• 3 years of direct team lead or people management experience.
• Comprehensive understanding of architectural frameworks, methodologies, and technologies.
• Proven experience managing all phases of the technology lifecycle— from conception through deployment, including a strong understanding of architectural principles, design patterns, best practices and post-implementation support, ensuring successful project outcomes.
• Strong technical knowledge across infrastructure services, cloud platforms, application development, and integration.
• Demonstrated experience in cost-benefit analysis, budgeting, and financial planning for technology functions.
• Experience managing technology vendor contracts and distributed teams.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to present complex technical decisions to executive and non-technical audiences.
• Familiarity with industry frameworks such as TOGAF, ITIL, COBIT, or SAFe.
• Strong understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements relevant to enterprise IT environments.

Nice To Haves

• Strategic thinking and enterprise architecture leadership focused on member experience and business value.
• Deep understanding of real‑time engagement platforms, voice/contact center architectures, personalization engines, and digital platform ecosystems.
• Ability to balance innovation with governance, compliance, and risk management.
• Collaborative stakeholder management across business, marketing, and communications functions.
• Strong operational leadership: proven ability to run day‑to‑day architecture operations, coordinate delivery across teams, and act as an effective support to the architecture team.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary operational lead supporting the entire Digital Architecture team—manage the architecture team’s daily operations, coordinate priorities, and ensure continuity of leadership and delivery.
• Operational leadership & smooth running: Oversee task assignment, sprint/workload coordination, resource allocation, and escalations to keep architecture workstreams on schedule and aligned with strategic objectives.
• Stakeholder management: Serve as a principal liaison to business, marketing, communications, and IT stakeholders to align architecture outcomes with mission priorities and drive consensus on tradeoffs and delivery plans.
• Lead, mentor/coach and grow a high-performing team of architects and technical experts; provide recruitment, performance management, and career development.
• Provide technical direction and oversight for infrastructure, application, integration, and contact‑center/voice architectures across cloud, hybrid, and on‑prem environments.
• Champion simplification and standardization to reduce redundancy, accelerate delivery, and improve maintainability.
• Ensure solutions are secure, resilient, and scalable; embed privacy, security, and regulatory compliance into architectural decisions.
• Establish and enforce documentation standards, architecture review practices, quality assurance, and governance.
• Oversee KPIs and KRIs to measure architectural effectiveness, operational health, member experience outcomes, and compliance.
• Manage departmental budgets, forecasts, and cost‑benefit analyses; ensure cost-effective delivery of architecture services.
• Drive modernization initiatives including cloud adoption, microservices, containerization, platform engineering, and real‑time engagement platforms.
• Oversee vendor and partner relationships, including contract negotiation, service delivery oversight, and staff augmentation.
• Ensures risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends to keep architectures agile and future-ready.

Benefits

• At USAA our employees enjoy best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellness. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, 401(k), pension, life insurance, parental benefits, adoption assistance, paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours, and various wellness programs.
• Additionally, our career path planning and continuing education assists employees with their professional goals.
• For more details on our outstanding benefits, visit our benefits page on USAAjobs.com.

What This Job Offers

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