Principal Enterprise Architect
Role details
Job location
Tech stack
Job description
As a Principal Enterprise Architect, you will define and lead BECU's enterprise technology strategy, modernizing core banking, payments, and digital platforms through cloudnative, APIdriven, and AIenabled architectures while operating within a highly regulated financial services environment. You will establish enterprise standards and architectural guardrails that ensure security, compliance, resiliency, and data protection, enabling the safe adoption of emerging capabilities such as AI and automation. Partnering with senior business and technology leaders, you will guide the evolution from legacy platforms to modern, scalable platforms and services-leveraging Azure and other enterprise technologies as appropriate-balancing innovation with operational stability to deliver trusted experiences that enhance member value and meet regulatory expectations., * Enterprise Architecture Leadership: Provide enterpriselevel architectural oversight across multiple concurrent initiatives, guiding design and integration decisions that align with longterm business and technology strategy.
- Modernization & Platform Evolution: Lead architectural direction for modernizing legacy platforms into cloudnative, hybrid, and platformbased architectures, leveraging technologies such as .NET, Azure, containerized services, eventdriven systems, and a mix of data platforms including Cosmos DB, Oracle DB, and other enterprise data stores that support banking, payments, and digital capabilities.
- Integration & Governance Standards: Establish, maintain, and champion enterprise architecture standards, patterns, and constraints that reduce fragmentation and promote consistency across core banking, payments, and digital platforms.
- Risk Identification & Mitigation: Proactively identify architectural, integration, platform, and data risks, and drive mitigation strategies that protect delivery timelines, security, and operational stability in a regulated environment.
- CrossTeam Influence & Partnership: Partner closely with engineering, architecture, security, vendors, and technology leadership, influencing outcomes without direct authority while maintaining strong alignment across teams.
- Architecture Blueprints & Guidance: Develop enterprise and solutionlevel blueprints that guide delivery teams and ensure implementations support approved roadmaps and reusable enterprise patterns.
- Delivery Enablement: Support delivery momentum by providing timely architectural decisions, reducing reliance on tactical or shortterm solutions, and removing architectural design debt.
- Industry & Vendor Insight: Evaluate thirdparty platforms, monitor industry trends, and recommend solutions that improve longterm business value and architectural sustainability.
- Mentorship & Thought Leadership: Serve as a mentor and architectural standardbearer for other architects and technical partners, elevating architectural maturity across the organization.
- Operational Collaboration: Partner with production and support teams to resolve nearterm architectural issues while protecting longterm enterprise integrity.
This isn't just about ticking off tasks on a list. It's about making a significant, positive change in BECU's journey, where your contributions are valued, and your growth is continually fostered.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN:
- A highly visible role shaping enterprisewide architecture across core banking, payments, and digital platforms
- The opportunity to influence modernization efforts that balance innovation with reliability in a regulated environment
- Exposure to highimpact initiatives that directly affect member trust and experience
- Strong collaboration with senior technology leaders, architects, and engineering teams
- The ability to set standards, guide governance, and reduce architectural risk at scale
- A culture that values thoughtful decisionmaking, mentorship, and longterm technology sustainability
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Information Security, Computer Science or related field, or equivalent work experience required
- Minimum of ten years of experience designing and implementing enterprise architectures required
- Minimum seven years of experience in a project lead role, either managing or advising large and strategic project teams required
- Knowledge of the Microsoft infrastructure and solution stacks operating in onpremises, cloud, and hybrid hosting environments required
- Experience with modern technology service architectural hosting, security, and risk management concerns (e.g., IAM, access control, monitoring, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS, containers) required, * Advanced degree preferred
- Ability to communicate very technically challenging concepts to a broad audience with strong facilitation and presentation skills preferred
- Broad knowledge of technologies and supplier capabilities and experience implementing these into new and existing large infrastructure/systems preferred
- Experience working within large organizations, and the ability to develop strong relationships preferred
- Certification in LEAN, Agile/Scrum, or ITIL principals with experience implementing one of these practices preferred
- Excellent organizational, problemsolving, strategic thinking and decisionmaking, planning, and negotiation skills preferred
- Proficient verbal and written skills to effectively communicate and provide customer service preferred
- Occasional travel to conferences, training events, and vendor sites preferred
- Fulltime hours required, with additional hours as necessary
- Experience driving AI adoption and applying intelligent automation or AIenabled capabilities within enterprise architectures preferred
- Experience designing or governing intelligent APIs, including reusable, secure, and scalable API patterns preferred
- Experience supporting or modernizing core banking operations and digital platforms in a regulated financial services environment preferred
- Advanced degree preferred
- Ability to communicate very technically challenging concepts to a broad audience with strong facilitation and presentation skills preferred
- Broad knowledge of technologies and supplier capabilities and experience implementing these into new and existing large infrastructure/systems preferred
- Experience working within large organizations, and the ability to develop strong relationships preferred
- Certification in LEAN, Agile/Scrum, or ITIL principals with experience implementing one of these practices preferred
- Excellent organizational, problemsolving, strategic thinking and decisionmaking, planning, and negotiation skills preferred
- Proficient verbal and written skills to effectively communicate and provide customer service preferred
- Occasional travel to conferences, training events, and vendor sites preferred
- Fulltime hours required, with additional hours as necessary
- Experience driving AI adoption and applying intelligent automation or AIenabled capabilities within enterprise architectures preferred
- Experience designing or governing intelligent APIs, including reusable, secure, and scalable API patterns preferred
- Experience supporting or modernizing core banking operations and digital platforms in a regulated financial services environment preferred
Benefits & conditions
The Target Pay Range for this position is $189,000.00-$230,700.00 annually. The full Pay Range is $146,600.00 - $273,000.00 annually. At BECU, compensation decisions are determined using factors such as relevant job-related skills, experience, and education or training. Should an offer for employment be made, we will consider individual qualifications. In addition to your salary, compensation incentives are available for the hired applicant. Incentives are performance based and targets vary by role.
BENEFITS - because people helping peoplestarts with supporting you
- 401(k) Company Match (up to 3%)
- 4% annual contribution to your 401(k) by BECU
- Medical, Dental and Vision (family contributions as well)
- PTO Program + Exchange Program
- Tuition Reimbursement Program
- BECU Cares volunteer time off + donation match