Senior Director, Platform Architecture – Financial Services

ServiceNow•Santa Clara, CA

9d•$228,900 - $412,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director of Platform Architecture – Financial Services is a strategic executive who defines the vision for platform architecture across the FSI vertical. This role manages multiple Directors and Senior Managers leading 60+ Platform Architects, cultivates C-suite relationships across FSI enterprise accounts, and drives AI-powered transformation initiatives. This leader ensures alignment with FSI business priorities, shapes the future of integrated Impact and Expert Services delivery, and builds high-performing teams with deep financial services industry and technical expertise.

Requirements

10–15+ years in consulting, digital transformation, or enterprise architecture leadership, with significant tenure in or serving the financial services industry
5+ years managing multi-level teams including Directors and Senior Managers in distributed or geographically dispersed organizations
Proven track record building and scaling technical teams from 30+ to 100+ professionals in FSI or highly regulated industry contexts
Demonstrated ability to engage and influence C-suite executives (CIO/CTO/CDO/CRO/CISO) across tier-1 financial institutions, insurance carriers, capital markets firms, and wealth management organizations
Deep expertise in one or more FSI sub-verticals: Banking & Capital Markets, Insurance, Wealth & Asset Management, or Fintech
Working knowledge of FSI regulatory frameworks including Basel III/IV, Dodd-Frank, DORA, MiFID II, GDPR, SOX, PCI-DSS, and prudential regulatory requirements, and their implications for enterprise technology architecture
Experience navigating core banking/insurance system modernization programs, data governance at FSI scale, and cloud adoption within regulated environments
Understanding of FSI-specific risk operations, financial crime prevention, regulatory reporting automation, and connected front-to-back office transformation use cases
Deep understanding of AI, automation, data architecture, and emerging technology trends — with ability to translate these for FSI risk and compliance contexts
Experience shaping enterprise operating models, digital transformation programs, and platform strategies within regulated industries
Strong business acumen including P&L management, financial planning, and operational metrics

Nice To Haves

Expertise in ServiceNow platform and multiple product suites preferred; experience with FSI-relevant modules (IRM, SecOps, FSO, CSM) a strong plus

Responsibilities

Lead Strategic FSI Industry Alignment at Scale
Develop and enable high-performing Directors, Senior Managers, and Platform Architects to address complex, FSI-specific challenges including regulatory compliance, risk management transformation, core banking modernization, and AI-driven process automation
Actively engage with Major Area organizations to ensure architectural strategies for resourcing and talent deployment remain aligned with FSI market trends, regulatory shifts, customer needs, and organizational priorities
Drive thought leadership, reference architectures, and FSI-specific playbooks tailored to the unique compliance, integration, and governance requirements of financial services customers
Build and Lead a High-Performing Multi-Level Organization
Manage multiple Directors and Senior Managers with responsibility for coaching, performance assessment, career development, and quality oversight across 60+ Platform Architects
Attract, recruit, and hire top talent for Director, Senior Manager, and Platform Architect roles, leveraging networks across FSI verticals and enterprise markets
Proactively manage pipeline of accounts across all FSI Major Areas, ensuring visibility into upcoming projects and resource needs to support strategic business growth
Ensure proper staffing for all engagements by matching skills, experience, certifications, and FSI domain knowledge to project needs, optimizing team performance and customer outcomes
Drive AI tooling opportunities to increase job satisfaction, process efficiency, and collaboration between Platform Architecture and Expert Services teams
Monitor and adjust staffing plans and skillsets to maintain alignment with FSI Major Area priorities, regulatory trends, and evolving delivery needs
Embed a customer-first mindset and foster continuous learning, especially in AI, automation, financial services platform innovation, and regulatory technology
Build a welcoming culture that embraces and models ServiceNow's core values across a geographically and industry-diverse organization
Shape Platform Architecture Strategy for Customer Outcomes
Influence Impact product roadmap by identifying and communicating customer insights, emerging architecture patterns, and FSI-specific opportunities for innovation across Banking, Insurance, Capital Markets, and Wealth Management
Serve as executive sponsor for major modernization initiatives, enterprise-scale digital transformations, and industry-specific platform programs — including core banking system migrations, insurance claims transformation, and regulatory reporting automation
Foster a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence, empowering teams to experiment, learn, and adopt best practices that advance FSI-specific organizational capabilities
Build strategic partnerships across Customer Outcomes, Sales, Product, and Partner ecosystems to drive adoption, value realization, and enterprise digital transformation at scale within the FSI vertical
Ensure Platform Architects deliver architectural guidance across the full customer lifecycle: strategic roadmaps, solution design, deployment oversight, optimization initiatives, and ongoing technical governance — with FSI regulatory and data governance requirements as a first-class design consideration
Enable Integrated Impact + Expert Services Delivery
Define how Platform Architects provide architectural oversight and guidance for Expert Services-led implementations across FSI accounts, ensuring technical excellence and platform best practices through Config Assist and new Impact offerings
Collaborate with Expert Services Workflow leaders to build seamless delivery experiences integrating Impact advisory capabilities with ES professional services execution across all FSI Major Areas
Drive Platform Architect technical fluency and delivery excellence to guide complex FSI implementations — including multi-cloud integrations, data sovereignty requirements, and compliance-driven configuration patterns — while maintaining clear role differentiation from hands-on implementation work
Drive Pre-Sales Excellence and Strategic Growth
Collaborate with GTM teams to define strategy for leveraging Platform Architecture within pre-sales motions and strategic deal pursuits across FSI enterprise accounts
Advocate ServiceNow best practices, AI-powered capabilities, and FSI-specific use cases including intelligent risk operations, regulatory change management, financial crime prevention, and connected front-to-back office transformation
Support pre-sales motions with guidance on customer technical readiness and solution architecture for complex FSI transformations, including due diligence on regulatory constraints and architectural scalability
Manage Business Performance
Own key business metrics including customer satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), Gross Revenue Retention (GRR), and Impact bookings contribution across all FSI Major Areas
Manage revenue targets, team utilization, margin performance, and operational expenses for the FSI Platform Architecture organization
Collaborate with Finance and Operations business partners to forecast capacity, manage headcount plans, and optimize resource deployment across the FSI vertical