Lead Engineer, Enterprise Architecture

DuCharme McMillen & Associates • Fort Wayne, IN

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead Engineer, Enterprise Architecture is a senior, hands-on architecture leader responsible for establishing DMA’s future-state technology architecture and aligning significant business and technology initiatives with the company’s strategy, enterprise capabilities, and long-term technology direction. The role leads a small architecture team in a player-coach capacity, setting enterprise direction, shaping complex solutions before delivery begins, and contributing directly to high-impact solution design.

The position partners with business leaders, IT leadership, security, data, systems, engineering, delivery teams, and vendors to translate business needs into practical technology strategies and solution options. It establishes architecture standards and governance, guides build-versus-buy decisions, identifies cross-system dependencies and risks, and supports DMA’s transition from an organically grown technology environment toward a coherent target state. The role also provides architecture leadership for emerging technologies, including AI, with innovation selected to advance business outcomes and the approved enterprise architecture.

This is a hybrid position requiring work in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, or Indianapolis, Indiana, office at least two days per week. Relocation assistance and employment-based visa sponsorship are not available. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without needing employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in solution architecture, enterprise architecture, software engineering, systems design, platform architecture, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise or solution architecture for complex, cross-functional initiatives involving multiple systems, data sources, integrations, vendors, and business functions.
• Demonstrated ability to establish target-state architectures, architecture standards, governance processes, reference patterns, and multi-year roadmaps.
• Experience translating ambiguous business needs into structured options, architecture recommendations, and decision-ready materials.
• Experience evaluating build-versus-buy alternatives, third-party platforms, vendor solutions, and total lifecycle implications.
• Strong working knowledge of cloud architecture, APIs and integration patterns, identity and access management, data platforms, security principles, system lifecycle management, and modern software delivery.
• Practical experience solutioning AI-enabled capabilities, including generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation, intelligent agents, automation, and enterprise knowledge solutions.
• Experience with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.
• Experience leading, coaching, or formally managing architects, senior engineers, or other technical professionals.
• Strong executive communication, facilitation, negotiation, and decision-framing skills, with the ability to influence across organizational boundaries.
• Ability to communicate architecture through capability models, roadmaps, diagrams, decision records, standards, and executive presentations.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Azure AI services, or comparable enterprise AI platforms is strongly preferred.
• Experience in professional services, tax, financial services, or another information-intensive and regulated environment is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain DMA’s current-state, future-state, and transition architecture, including enterprise standards, principles, reference architectures, and reusable solution patterns.
• Partner with business leaders and stakeholders to understand strategic objectives, business capabilities, operational challenges, and emerging needs, translating them into practical technology strategies and solution approaches.
• Engage early in business initiatives to shape requirements, evaluate alternatives, identify dependencies, and ensure proposed solutions address the underlying business need before significant investment or development begins.
• Ensure major technology initiatives align with business strategy, enterprise capabilities, security requirements, data strategy, platform direction, and the long-term technology roadmap.
• Lead solution architecture for significant business and technology requests, developing solution options, conceptual architectures, trade-offs, risks, dependencies, and implementation recommendations.
• Facilitate architecture and solution-design discussions across business stakeholders, engineering, data, security, systems, delivery teams, and external vendors to drive informed decisions.
• Establish and lead architecture governance, including solution reviews, architecture standards, design decisions, exceptions, dependencies, and technical risk management.
• Lead build-versus-buy evaluations and assess third-party solutions for business fit, enterprise alignment, integration, security, data considerations, scalability, supportability, and long-term maintainability.
• Provide architecture leadership for AI-enabled solutions, including generative AI, intelligent agents, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), document intelligence, automation, Microsoft Copilot, and other emerging technologies.
• Help establish architectural standards and governance for AI solutions, partnering with security, data, systems, legal/compliance, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions are appropriately designed, governed, and operationalized.
• Partner with engineering leads and delivery teams to validate technical feasibility and translate approved architectures into implementable designs while maintaining alignment with broader enterprise direction.
• Identify opportunities to reduce architectural fragmentation, redundant capabilities, technical debt, unnecessary complexity, and inconsistent technology patterns.
• Support technology investment and portfolio decisions by identifying opportunities for enterprise reuse, shared capabilities, platform consolidation, modernization, and strategic technology adoption.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 2–3 technical professionals while remaining personally engaged in high-impact enterprise and solution architecture work.
• Communicate architecture direction, solution recommendations, investment implications, risks, and trade-offs to executives, business leaders, and technical teams, building alignment around key technology decisions.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Employee stock ownership program eligibility begins on day one of employment; ESOP contribution is targeted at 6% of annual compensation.
• Company-paid parental leave.
• Generous time-off package.
• Multiple benefit plans, with eligibility beginning on day one of employment.
• Work/life balance and employee wellness are emphasized.

What This Job Offers

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