Head of Portfolio Architecture, Group Benefits

Guardian Life Insurance•Holmdel Township, NJ

3d•$178,690 - $293,560

About The Position

The Head of Portfolio Architecture, Group Benefits is a senior architecture leader responsible for shaping the end-to-end architecture and portfolio roadmap for the Group Benefits business unit. This role involves influencing key investment decisions to deliver the architecture and works closely with the Head of the Digital & Technology Business Unit Leader to define, align, and drive the necessary architecture. Expertise in end-to-end architecture, including business processes, data, integration, AI, and digital experiences, is required to deliver scalable, secure, and compliant solutions. The role matrixes into the Head of Enterprise Architecture, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards while influencing architecture direction and investment priorities. This position operates with enterprise-level influence, shaping cross-business outcomes, informing enterprise standards, and advising executive leadership on technology strategy.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in technology and architecture roles, with significant experience in the insurance industry.
Proven experience as a Portfolio, Domain, Product or Enterprise Architect in a large, regulated insurance or financial services environment.
Deep understanding of insurance operations and systems, including policy administration, underwriting, claims, billing, and distribution.
Deep understanding of Corporate system (HR, Legal, Finance and Investments).
Strong expertise in end‑to‑end enterprise architecture, including business, application, data, integration, AI, and digital domains.
Experience influencing CIO‑level and executive stakeholders on technology strategy and investment decisions.
Strong understanding of cloud platforms, modern integration patterns, data platforms, and AI capabilities applied to insurance use cases.
Solid knowledge of insurance regulatory, risk, and compliance requirements.
Insurance domain and systems expertise.
Strategic and systems thinking.
Portfolio planning and investment influence.
Executive communication and stakeholder management.
Architectural governance and design authority.
Business technology alignment in regulated environments.
Operates with an enterprise and insurance‑first mindset, balancing BU needs with enterprise outcomes.
Champions modernization while respecting regulatory, operational, and risk constraints.
Drives architectural consistency without slowing delivery.
Develops strong architectural talent and elevates architecture practices.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship.

Responsibilities

Drive architecture across multiple value streams within the business unit, ensuring cohesive, end-to-end design across platforms, products, and capabilities.
Own BU target state, portfolio roadmap, BU architecture priorities, investment influence, and architect leadership within the BU.
Shape and advance modern platform architecture, including cloud, data, and AI capabilities, to enable scalable, secure, and future-ready solutions.
Improve engineering productivity and delivery speed by defining architecture patterns, standards, and operating structures that enable teams to execute effectively at scale.
Define and own the BU target-state architecture and portfolio-level roadmap aligned to enterprise architecture standards and insurance business strategy.
Work with Principal Solution Architect on scalable patterns for the BU; Principal Enterprise Architect on enterprise alignment and cross-BU tradeoffs.
Serve as the primary architecture advisor to the BU Head of Digital & Technology, influencing technology strategy, investment decisions, and transformation priorities.
Ensure alignment of BU architecture, strategy and technology to Enterprise Architecture and strategy.
Shapes enterprise architecture direction indirectly by contributing to standards, influencing investment decisions, and advocating for cross-business solutions through architecture governance and leadership forums.
Translate insurance business objectives into capability-driven architectures, including product, corporate systems, underwriting, policy, claims, billing, and customer engagement platforms.
Ensure architectural alignment across modernization initiatives, new product launches, regulatory programs, and operational efficiency efforts.
Manage a team of Solution Architects supporting the BU.
Shape and influence strategic investments across: Core insurance platforms (policy administration, claims, billing), Data, analytics, and AI (pricing, underwriting, fraud detection, customer insights), Digital and omni‑channel customer and distributor experiences, Integration, APIs, and ecosystem enablement (partners, reinsurers, vendors), Corporate Systems (HR, Legal, Finance, Investments).
Balance near‑term delivery commitments with long‑term architectural sustainability.
Identify opportunities to reduce technical debt, improve platform reuse, and accelerate time‑to‑market for insurance products.
Identify opportunities that drive reuse, simplification, and consistency across business units, not just within the portfolio.
Drive holistic architecture across: Insurance business processes and value streams, Core and surrounding application ecosystems, Insurance data domains (policy, claims, customer, product, financial, actuarial), Integration and event-driven architectures, AI/ML use cases for underwriting, claims automation, fraud, and personalization, Digital experiences for customers, agents, brokers, and internal users.
Ensure all solutions meet regulatory, risk, security, privacy, and resiliency requirements (e.g., NAIC, SOX, SOC, data privacy).
Promote cloud‑native, API‑first, data‑centric, and AI‑enabled patterns where appropriate.
Enforce enterprise and insurance‑specific architecture standards, principles, and guardrails.
Lead or participate in architecture review and governance forums, ensuring alignment with regulatory and risk management expectations.
Collaborate with security, risk, compliance, and legal partners to ensure architecture supports auditability and operational resilience.
Act as a strategic advisor to Business Unit and senior enterprise technology leadership, influencing decisions that extend beyond the Group Benefits portfolio.
Represent Business Unit architecture needs and trade-offs in enterprise forums, shaping outcomes across business units.
Clearly communicate architectural direction, trade‑offs, and risk implications to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
Mentor and develop architects across the portfolio, raising overall insurance architecture maturity.
Lead a team of technology architects.
Partner with business and technology leaders to ensure key business initiatives.
Partner with key enterprise technical domain architects and governance leader to apply the enterprise patterns, platforms and standards within the business unit.
Co-create with Enterprise Architecture Team on business unit technology planning.