Principal Enterprise Architect

Wolters Kluwer•Riverwoods, IL

About The Position

The Infrastructure Operations team is transforming its technology platforms and operating model to simplify operations, accelerate AI and automation adoption, improve service quality, and increase organizational effectiveness. This individual-contributor transformation leadership role is responsible for defining and driving strategic initiatives across Infrastructure & Operations. The Principal Enterprise Architect partners with executives, technology leaders, architects, engineers, and business stakeholders to modernize infrastructure capabilities, evolve operating models, accelerate innovation, and deliver measurable business outcomes across a highly matrixed global environment. The role focuses on shaping the future of Infrastructure & Operations and ensuring adoption of new capabilities, technologies, and ways of working. It is not a traditional program management or operational leadership role. The successful candidate will create solutions, align stakeholders around a common vision, remove obstacles, guide critical decisions, and drive sustainable organizational change. The role leads development of a multi-year transformation roadmap, future-state operating models, organizational capabilities, and technology strategies. It drives modernization across infrastructure, operations, cloud, platform engineering, database services, observability, service management, automation, and operational tooling; champions simplification and standardization; and advances AI-enabled operations, intelligent automation, self-service, and data-driven decision-making. The position also drives organizational change and adoption, establishes transformation governance, aligns cross-functional workstreams, supports executive steering committees, develops dashboards and outcome-based reporting, and manages strategic risks. It serves as a trusted partner to executives, leads through influence rather than formal authority, and guides decisions that balance business, technology, operational, and financial considerations. The role develops business cases and investment strategies, defines success criteria, validates outcomes with Finance and business leaders, and monitors value realization in areas such as efficiency, resiliency, service quality, user experience, and business performance.

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 opportunities to improve operational effectiveness, resiliency, scalability, and business value.
Define future-state operating models, organizational capabilities, and technology strategies; establish transformation priorities and sequencing.
Create and communicate a vision for the future of Infrastructure & Operations.
Lead enterprise-wide modernization 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.
Develop change management, communication, and stakeholder engagement strategies, and foster innovation, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Establish governance frameworks and align workstreams across infrastructure, architecture, engineering, security, operations, and business teams.
Coordinate cross-functional dependencies, remove barriers, support executive steering committees and transformation forums, and develop dashboards, metrics, and outcome-based reporting.
Identify and mitigate strategic risks and ensure initiatives remain aligned to target-state operating models, architecture principles, and business objectives.
Serve as a trusted transformation partner to executives and technology leaders; build partnerships and lead through influence without formal authority.
Facilitate strategic decisions balancing business, technology, operational, and financial considerations, and communicate progress, challenges, opportunities, and outcomes to executives.
Develop transformation business cases and investment strategies; define success criteria and value realization objectives.
Partner with Finance and business leaders to validate operational and financial outcomes and monitor and communicate transformation results.