Lead Architect - Infrastructure

Cox Enterprises • Atlanta, GA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

The M&A Infrastructure Architect analyzes target organizations’ infrastructure and provides recommendations to integrate with Cox Automotive (CAI) technology standards while preserving deal value. A core objective is to balance integration priorities with the capacity of acquired staff to support a sustainable integration program. As infrastructure management evolves, this role leverages AI-powered tools to accelerate due diligence, improve technology analysis, and enable data-driven integration planning. The Architect serves as both a practitioner and an advocate for AI-augmented architecture across the full M&A lifecycle—from Due Diligence through Integration Planning, Day 1, Post-Merger Integration, and Steady State.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a relevant discipline and 6 years of related experience. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master’s degree and 4 years of experience, a Ph.D. and 1 year of experience, or 18 years of experience in a related field.
• 3+ years’ experience integrating and divesting technologies using structured architecture processes.
• 3+ years’ experience supporting M&A technology integration and due diligence.
• Experience designing multi‑tiered technology architectures.
• Subject Matter Expert in one or more infrastructure layers with a broad understanding across network, compute, virtualization, storage, monitoring, and security.
• Working knowledge of cloud infrastructure concepts (IaaS and PaaS).
• Experience with architecture modeling and executive-level presentations.
• Proficiency with AI-powered architecture and modeling tools (e.g., Claude, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Copilot).
• Understanding of AI/ML infrastructure patterns, AI governance, and model lifecycle management.
• Ability to review and validate AI-generated designs and assessments for production readiness.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience leading architecture design and implementation initiatives.

Nice To Haves

• Infrastructure, cloud, enterprise architecture, or project management certifications.
• Experience facilitating working sessions to drive architectural alignment.
• Demonstrated leadership in AI-enabled architecture initiatives.
• Experience with AI-driven vendor and platform evaluations.
• Familiarity with digital twins, simulation tools, or intent-based automation.

Responsibilities

• Architecture Planning & Road-mapping: Define and maintain current, transition, and future state infrastructure architectures and integration roadmaps for acquisitions and divestitures.
• Design & Standards Alignment: Produce infrastructure design artifacts aligned with enterprise standards; document variances and guide approvals as needed.
• M&A Integration Support: Partner with the IOPS M&A Integration Lead and cross functional teams to support acquisition and divestiture activity.
• Technology Assessment & Emerging Trends: Evaluate infrastructure technologies and industry trends—including AI/ML requirements, agentic ecosystems, and composable architectures—to inform integration and disentanglement decisions.
• AI Assisted Due Diligence & Analysis: Use AI tools to analyze data room materials, identify infrastructure scope, risks, overlaps, and consolidation opportunities, and generate assessment summaries.
• AI Enabled Architecture Design & Validation: Apply AI tools to generate, evaluate, and validate architectural options; simulate integration scenarios to balance cost, risk, and performance.
• Governance, Compliance & Vendor Evaluation: Implement AI driven governance, compliance checks, and vendor/platform assessments aligned with enterprise standards.
• Capacity, Quality & Cost Analysis: Assess operational capacity impacts, system quality attributes, and contribute to high-level estimates and business cases using AI assisted analytics.
• Stakeholder Communication: Facilitate working sessions and synthesize complex integration data into executive level narratives and decision materials.
• Technical Leadership: Serve as a trusted advisor and technical interface for infrastructure and platform engineering teams.

Benefits

• The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company’s needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members.
• Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.
• Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees