Senior Enterprise Architect, Zurich (Zurich, CH)

Swiss Re is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking Senior Enterprise Architect (Vice President) to strengthen our Group Enterprise Architecture function in Zurich.

As a senior member of the Enterprise Architecture community, you will shape and drive target architecture design and delivery across Swiss Re's most strategic transformation initiatives. You will operate at the intersection of business and technology, ensuring that architectural decisions enable strategic priorities, regulatory compliance, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.

In this role, you will provide architectural leadership across complex, cross-domain initiatives, partnering closely with business leaders, domain architects, and technology teams to ensure scalable, resilient, and future-ready solutions. You will act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders and a strong contributor to architecture governance and design authority processes.

This is a high-impact individual contributor role with broad enterprise exposure and strong influence across Swiss Re's global landscape

Main responsibilities:

1. Enterprise Architecture Strategy & Design

• Lead the development of enterprise-level target architectures across business, application, data and technical architecture dimensions for major transformation initiatives, including how AI/GenAI can be applied.
• Translate business strategy into coherent architectural roadmaps, blueprints, and transition plans.
• Ensure alignment between business capabilities, application landscapes, data models, and technology platforms.
• Drive reuse, standardization, simplification, and long-term sustainability across the enterprise.
• Contribute to the evolution of Swiss Re's enterprise architecture frameworks, principles, and methods

2. Architecture Delivery & Program Engagement

• Act as lead Enterprise Architect on selected large-scale, complex programs.
• Ensure that solution designs are aligned with approved target architectures and enterprise standards.
• Provide architectural guidance throughout the lifecycle ranging from strategy and concept through implementation and stabilization.
• Challenge design decisions constructively to safeguard architectural integrity and measurable business value.
• Support program leadership in managing architectural risks, dependencies, and trade-offs.

3. Governance & Design Authority

• Actively contribute to the architecture Design Authority, providing oversight, review, and challenge on key initiatives.
• Ensure adherence to enterprise architecture standards, security principles, regulatory requirements, and risk frameworks.
• Support architecture governance processes, including review gates, quality assurance, and architectural compliance assessments.
• Help maintain transparency of architectural decisions and their enterprise-wide implications.

4. Cross-Domain Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with Domain Architects for business units and group functions to ensure strong enterprise alignment.
• Facilitate alignment across domains when resolving cross-functional architectural dependencies.
• Promote a "one architecture" mindset while balancing enterprise-wide consistency with pragmatic domain needs.
• Contribute to the broader architecture community by sharing best practices and mentoring junior talent.

5. Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across business and technology.
• Communicate complex architectural concepts clearly to diverse audiences, including senior management.
• Act as a strategic advisor on architecture implications of investment decisions and transformation roadmaps.
• Provide fact-based insights and data-driven recommendations to support executive decision-making.

Education: Degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering or related field (or equivalent experience)., * 10+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or large-scale transformation roles within global organizations.

• Proven experience defining and delivering target architectures for complex transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF), governance models, and operating models.
• Demonstrated experience working in matrixed, global environments with senior stakeholder exposure.
• Strong grasp of business capability modeling, application landscape modernization, data architecture, cloud/platform and AI strategies.
• Experience in re/insurance or financial services is an advantage.

Capabilities & Personal Attributes:

• Strategic thinker with strong analytical and systems thinking skills.
• Able to balance long-term architectural vision with pragmatic delivery constraints.
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Clear and compelling communicator, both written and verbal.
• Collaborative mindset with high personal accountability.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and navigating complex organizational landscapes.

Certifications: TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture certification.

Language: Fluent in English (written and spoken).

For Switzerland, the base salary range for this position is between CHF 128,000 and CHF 192,000 (for a full-time role). The specific salary offered considers:

• the requirements, scope, complexity and responsibilities of the role,
• the applicant's own profile including education/qualifications, expertise, specialisation, skills and experience.

In addition to your base salary, Swiss Re offers an attractive performance-based variable compensation component, designed to recognise your achievements. Further you will enjoy a variety of global and location specific benefits.

Eligibility may vary depending on the terms of Swiss Re policies and your employment contract.

Join one of the world's leading re/insurers, where technology and architecture are at the heart of transformation. As part of the Enterprise Architecture Team, you will shape how architecture drives business strategy, innovation, and operational excellence on a global scale., Swiss Re is one of the world's leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. We anticipate and manage a wide variety of risks, from natural catastrophes and climate change to cybercrime. Combining experience with creative thinking and cutting-edge expertise, we create new opportunities and solutions for our clients. This is possible thanks to the collaboration of more than 14,000 employees across the world. Our success depends on our ability to build an inclusive culture encouraging fresh perspectives and innovative thinking. We embrace a workplace where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive and develop professionally regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, skillset, thought or other characteristics. In our inclusive and flexible environment everyone can bring their authentic selves to work and their passion for sustainability.