ServiceNow Principal Architect - Remote

Ecolab Inc. • Naperville, IL

18h • $166,300 - $249,600 • Remote

About The Position

The Principal Platform Architect for ServiceNow owns the platform’s architecture and standards and serves as its most senior technical authority. This is a hands-on people leadership role with direct reports, accountable for managing, mentoring, hiring, and developing architects and engineers, as well as their performance. The architect sets standards, reviews important work, and makes technical decisions across design, integration, and delivery. The role also ensures ServiceNow is used appropriately within a broader, increasingly cross-platform enterprise landscape.

The position establishes architecture blueprints, reference architectures, reusable design patterns, technical standards, formal architecture governance, and enterprise-grade documentation. It leads architecture reviews and technical decision-making; defines strategy and roadmap recommendations for platform capabilities, workflow automation, and AI; and assesses whether to buy, build, use native ServiceNow capabilities, or adopt vendor solutions.

The architect partners with product and business teams to understand business problems and translate them into scalable technical solutions, which may or may not use ServiceNow. The role owns platform integration and data architecture, including APIs, webhooks, event-driven patterns, and data flows, while preserving authoritative ownership in systems of record. It works with enterprise architecture, platform engineering, security, and UX partners, and represents ServiceNow in cross-platform architecture forums.

The role also defines security, privacy, compliance, auditability, governance, and Responsible AI standards. It designs and oversees AI capabilities such as Now Assist, Virtual Agent, workflow automation, and agentic patterns where appropriate, with evaluation, monitoring, and guardrails for production reliability and safety. The position is remote, and the base salary range is $166,300 to $249,600, with eligibility for an annual performance-based bonus.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, or a related technical field.
• 12 years of software engineering and architecture experience, including the ability to personally make and defend design, integration, and delivery decisions.
• Proven people management experience directly managing, hiring, and developing architects or senior engineers.
• Deep hands-on ServiceNow architecture, development, and platform governance experience across Incident, Change, Problem, Request, and Employee Center Pro.
• Experience owning and enforcing standards across integrations, data, architecture, AI, security, and UX.
• Experience creating enterprise architecture-grade documentation and establishing formal architecture governance, including review boards and gates.
• Strong integration and data architecture background, including APIs, API design, integration patterns, event-driven architecture, and modern software architecture principles.
• 5 years of experience architecting enterprise solutions spanning multiple business systems, applications, data sources, and organizational stakeholders.
• Experience designing or delivering AI-enabled capabilities in an enterprise setting and practical judgment about where AI is useful.
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar.
• Proven ability to work directly with product and business teams and translate business problems into appropriate technical solutions.
• Strong communication and facilitation skills with technical teams, business stakeholders, and executive leadership.
• ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA).
• One or more ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist (CIS) certifications, or Certified Application Developer (CAD).

Nice To Haves

• ServiceNow Certified Technical Architect (CTA) is strongly preferred; Certified Master Architect (CMA) is also welcome.
• Architecture background on enterprise platforms in addition to ServiceNow; this is a strong preference.
• Experience with ServiceNow AI capabilities, including Now Assist, Virtual Agent, AI Search, and Predictive Intelligence.
• Experience with ServiceNow industry and workflow applications, specifically APO, MCO, and Source to Pay Operations.
• Experience integrating ServiceNow with ERP systems or working knowledge of ERP platforms and the processes they support.
• Knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks such as TOGAF, integration platforms, API management, and workflow orchestration platforms.
• Familiarity with security, privacy, auditability, and risk management requirements for regulated business processes.
• Experience influencing platform, vendor, and architecture decisions at enterprise scale.

Responsibilities

• Own and enforce platform architecture and standards across integrations, data, architecture, AI, security, and UX.
• Define solution blueprints, reference architectures, reusable design patterns, technical standards, and enterprise-grade architecture documentation.
• Lead architecture reviews and technical decisions across ServiceNow and connected enterprise systems.
• Recommend technology strategy and roadmaps for platform capabilities, workflow automation, and AI-enabled operations.
• Establish and run a formal architecture practice with decision gates; chair the Technical Review Board and partner on change and release governance.
• Establish development standards, quality controls, and platform governance.
• Lead buy-versus-build assessments of native ServiceNow capabilities, custom development, and vendors against business requirements, complexity, risk, security, scalability, and total cost of ownership.
• Directly manage, mentor, hire, and develop architects and engineers; manage performance and career development.
• Build the architecture bench, identify development opportunities, and foster a culture of good design and learning.
• Set engineering best practices and lead technical design reviews for teams building on the platform.
• Partner with product and business teams to understand problems and align solutions to business needs, including determining when ServiceNow is not the right fit.
• Translate business problems into scalable architectures encompassing application design, workflow orchestration, integration patterns, and data flows.
• Advise product and business stakeholders on platform capabilities, request costs, and platform suitability.
• Set standards and make decisions about where AI belongs on the platform and how it should be implemented.
• Design AI capabilities such as Now Assist, Virtual Agent, workflow automation, and governed agentic patterns integrated with the enterprise AI Agent Fabric where appropriate.
• Establish evaluation, monitoring, and guardrails for reliable, safe, observable AI in production.
• Own platform integration and data architecture, including APIs, webhooks, event-driven patterns, and clean data flows.
• Ensure systems of record retain authoritative ownership of records, approvals, and compliance workflows.
• Collaborate with enterprise architecture, platform engineering, and security to establish scalable solution patterns; represent ServiceNow in cross-platform architecture forums.
• Establish standards for security, privacy, compliance, auditability, enterprise governance, and Responsible AI.
• Design controls and guardrails for governed workflows and incorporate governance into solution designs.
• Partner with central UX and the Associate Experience UX Council to meet design and usability standards.
• Ensure solutions meet enterprise requirements for data protection, access control, monitoring, and operational support.

Benefits

• Comprehensive and market-competitive benefits for associates and their families.
• Eligibility for annual bonus pay based on performance, subject to plan terms.

What This Job Offers

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