Principal Enterprise Architect

Northwestern Mutual (NM) has been on a path to rationalize its API, event, and data portfolio to power its ongoing digital transformation. This rationalization is driven by aligning the technology architecture with the business architecture, assessing our application and technology portfolios, assessment of the maturity of technical capabilities and their utilization, and prioritized via integrated planning.  We are looking for talented individuals as Principal Enterprise Architects, to continue building strong working relationships with Digital Product and engineering partners to lead the definition, modeling, and federated governance of business domains, data concepts, technical capabilities, and integrated plans.  You will collaborate with leaders across the enterprise to assess the current state, define the strategic architecture direction, and chart a path to execute together on this vision.

The Business Domain Architecture team works with business, product, and delivery stakeholders to both define business domain models and guide implementation of software leveraging them.

This is an outstanding opportunity to join a company of choice and enjoy the best of both worlds: the strong foundation and resources of a thriving organization built over more than 160 years, alongside a progressive, fast-paced IT team working with the latest and greatest technology. 

What's the role?

• Guide teams that deliver key architectural patterns, engineering practices and standards to align with the domain-driven approach.

• Guide delivery teams implementing software solutions mapping to business domain models with their API, event, data designs.

• Work closely with the enterprise to define and evolve our target state architecture and strategy to support our business goals.

• In partnership with Digital Product and engineering teams, assess current state application portfolios to create integrated Digital Plans containing Application Health, TIME (Tolerate, Invest, Migrate, Eliminate), Journey to Cloud, and capability assessments, and propose transitional architectures to progress toward Target State Architecture (TSA).

• Drive the systematic advancement of our current state architecture towards the target state architecture guiding high level solution approaches and roadmaps to be consistent with TSA or thoughtfully extend TSA.

• You will contribute to the Reference Architecture Library, refine capability models, and strategic architecture plans.

• As gaps or issues arise with adopting NM’s TSA, drive resolution with the appropriate stakeholders.

Bring your best! What this role needs:

• Bachelors or master’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related field. Advance degrees or certifications are a plus.

• Certification(s) in enterprise architecture (e.g., TOGAF) is highly desirable.

• Minimum of 8 years of strong experience in solution architecture, enterprise architecture.

• Extensive knowledge of industry standards and emerging trends in technology and architecture.

• Experience or exposure to Business Architecture frameworks, such as BIZBOK, and their industry-standard reference Business Architectures for Insurance and/or Financial Services.

• Experience with NM Risk and Investment product offerings and associated back-office operations; or similar experience with other insurance and/or financial product/service offerings.

• Experience with API-driven development and associated REST and/or GraphQL implementation protocols, standards, and tooling (e.g., OpenAPI, Swagger, Postman, …).

• Experience with the appropriate and beneficial application of Business Event Driven Architectural patterns.

• Visionary leadership and strategic planning skills.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills. Public speaking and writing of thought leadership articles are a plus.

Significant experience with the following:

• Role as a Solution Architect of complicated enterprise systems

• Documenting designs using C4 and/or UML

• Cloud technology: AWS, Azure or Google. (Certifications and AWS preferred)

• At least one development language preferably: Java, Node.js, or Python

• Successfully communicating and demystifying technology strategies and designs across various roles and levels

• Negotiating and working with team dynamics to drive outcomes

• Leading multi-functional teams through strategy, architecture and design

Solid understanding of:

• Business architecture concepts including domain driven design and modeling, value stream mapping, capability maturity models and assessments

• Portfolio Management, Roadmaps, and TIME application rationalization concepts

• Application, data, infrastructure, and security technology concepts

• Decisioning and problem-solving methods

• Desire and ability to research and perform self-study to acquire knowledge as the situation demands

A successful individual in this role will have the capacity for and enjoy:

• Continuous Learning: The strategy, decision, top-down architecture requires broad knowledge covering a variety of technology/business situations and continuous improvement of personal abilities.

• The scope and impact of strategies, design decisions and top-down architectures, as they will be highly visible and impactful within the organization and therefore receive a lot of scrutiny.

• The broadness of the work involving converging and weaving common understanding and conviction across multiple areas of business, product and technology given the situation.

Northwestern Mutual pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement in the salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. At Northwestern Mutual, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Please note that the salary range listed in the posting is the standard pay structure. Positions in certain locations (such as California) may provide an increase on the standard pay structure based on the location. Please click here for additiona l information relating to location-based pay structures.

We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you work or would be working in California, Colorado, New York City, Washington or outside of a Corporate location, please click here for information pertaining to compensation and benefits.