Principal Enterprise Architect

Wolters Kluwer•Riverwoods, IL

4d•$146,900 - $262,400

About The Position

The Principal Enterprise Architect is an individual-contributor transformation leadership role within the Infrastructure Operations team. The role leads a significant modernization effort to simplify operations, accelerate AI and automation adoption, improve service quality, and increase organizational effectiveness across Infrastructure & Operations. It partners with executives, technology leaders, architects, engineers, and business stakeholders to modernize infrastructure capabilities, evolve operating models, accelerate innovation, and deliver measurable business outcomes in a highly matrixed global environment. This is not a traditional program management or operational leadership role. It focuses on shaping the future of Infrastructure & Operations and ensuring adoption of new capabilities, technologies, and ways of working. The successful candidate will define strategic initiatives and a multi-year transformation roadmap, guide technology modernization and organizational change, enable cross-functional execution, influence enterprise decisions, and ensure measurable business value realization. The listed base compensation range is $146,900 to $262,400 USD, and the role is eligible for a bonus. Actual offers are influenced by skills, experience, and hiring location. Wolters Kluwer offers benefits and programs including medical, dental, and vision plans, 401(k), FSA/HSA, commuter benefits, tuition assistance, vacation and sick time, and paid parental leave. Applicants may be required to appear onsite at a Wolters Kluwer office during recruitment.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline.
12+ years of experience in Infrastructure, Cloud, Platform Engineering, Technology Operations, Database Engineering & Operations, Enterprise Architecture, or related fields.
5+ years leading large-scale technology modernization or transformation initiatives.
Proven success driving enterprise-wide transformation programs from strategy through implementation and adoption.
Experience driving AI, automation, platform engineering, or AIOps initiatives.
Demonstrated ability to influence large matrixed organizations and lead without direct authority.
Strong understanding of Infrastructure & Operations within complex enterprise environments.
Experience guiding technology organizations through operating model changes, modernization efforts, and organizational transformation.
Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills.
Strong business, financial, and strategic thinking capabilities.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, Technology Management, Engineering, or a related discipline.
Experience leading Infrastructure & Operations transformations within global enterprises.
Experience implementing cloud modernization programs on Azure and/or AWS.
Experience leading large-scale operational excellence programs.
Experience with managed services, strategic sourcing, or technology transformation partnerships.
Experience defining transformation governance frameworks and executive reporting models.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain a multi-year Infrastructure Transformation roadmap aligned with business and technology objectives.
Partner with senior executives to identify strategic opportunities that improve operational effectiveness, resiliency, scalability, and business value.
Define future-state operating models, organizational capabilities, and technology strategies.
Set transformation priorities and sequencing to maximize business impact and value realization.
Create and communicate a vision for the future of Infrastructure & Operations.
Lead enterprise-wide modernization initiatives across infrastructure, operations, cloud, platform engineering, database services, observability, service management, automation, and operational tooling.
Accelerate adoption of modern engineering practices, automation, reliability engineering, and cloud-native operating models.
Champion simplification, consolidation, and standardization across technology platforms and services.
Drive adoption of AI-enabled operations, intelligent automation, self-service capabilities, and data-driven decision making.
Ensure technology investments support strategic objectives and measurable business outcomes.
Drive adoption of new technologies, platforms, processes, and operating models.
Build alignment across technology and business organizations and develop change management, communication, and stakeholder engagement strategies.
Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Establish governance frameworks that support transformation outcomes.
Align workstreams across infrastructure, architecture, engineering, security, operations, and business teams; coordinate dependencies and remove barriers.
Support and facilitate executive steering committees and transformation leadership forums.
Develop executive dashboards, transformation metrics, and outcome-based reporting.
Identify and mitigate strategic risks that may affect transformation success.
Ensure initiatives align with target-state operating models, architecture principles, and business objectives.
Serve as a trusted transformation partner to senior executives and technology leaders, leading through influence rather than formal authority.
Facilitate strategic decisions that balance business, technology, operational, and financial considerations.
Communicate transformation progress, challenges, opportunities, and outcomes to executive leadership.
Develop transformation business cases and investment strategies; define measurable success criteria and value realization objectives.
Partner with Finance and business leaders to validate operational and financial outcomes.
Ensure investments improve efficiency, resiliency, service quality, user experience, and business performance; monitor and communicate outcomes to leadership.