Principal Enterprise Architect

CCCS is hiring a new Principal Enterprise Architect to join our System Office team. We are looking for a curious individual who can engage with stakeholders across organizational levels to find solutions to our technology challenges. If you are looking for an opportunity to work for a service-oriented organization where our employees are our greatest resource, this position may be for you!

In this role you’ll be responsible for owning the technology strategy for the Colorado Community College System (CCCS). This encompasses 13 colleges, 35 facilities, and approximately 150,000 users. You will set the standards and reference architectures our teams adopt within, run the architecture review board, and turn the chancellor’s five-year strategy into a roadmap the organization can fund and execute. Two days in the office is required., * Define the organization’s multi-year technology strategy, oversee the design of scalable systems, and ensure IT investments align with long-term business goals and digital transformation.

• Evaluate, select, and champion the adoption of new frameworks, platforms, and technologies that improve organizational capability while building consensus among internal and external stakeholders to support strategies, funding, and implementations.
• Architect and guide the integration of enterprise data, platforms, and systems to ensure scalability, security, and interoperability.
• Run the architecture review board and the standards that teams design against, with real governance authority behind them.
• Explain and justify positions on selection, investments, requirements and decisions affecting CCCS, the colleges, consultant partners, and the learners of Colorado. Execute this by owning application portfolio management for System Office services: what we invest in, what we consolidate, and what we retire, backed by a defensible model.
• Own multi-year technology budgeting and financial planning for the CCCS enterprise (13 colleges, 35 sites): develop and maintain the five-year IT investment roadmap, translate architectural priorities into annual capital and operating budgets, and report on budget variances and forecasted spend to the Chancellor and CFO.
• Champion and establish ITSM (ITIL v4) with the goal of transforming the current Operations and Maintenance (O&M) model into a Shared Services enterprise.
• Translate CCCS’s vision into technology decisions that leadership can fund. Create and maintain documentation for posterity.

We are looking for a curious individual who can engage with stakeholders across organizational levels to find solutions to our technology challenges. If you are looking for an opportunity to work for a service-oriented organization where our employees are our greatest resource, this position may be for you!, * Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or a related field. An equivalent combination of education and/or experience may substitute for the degree on a year-for-year basis.

• Five years in software, infrastructure, or architecture roles, with at least half of that time owning architecture above the single-project level.
• Proven experience serving as lead architect on at least one project exceeding 12 months in duration with a budget greater than $1,000,000., * Experience operating within regulated industries (e.g.: finance, healthcare, government, education) and associated compliance frameworks is highly desired.
• Comprehensive knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman, FEAF, DoDAF) and reference-architecture practices, sufficient to define and maintain a target-state architecture across the business, data, application, and technology domains.
• Working knowledge of cloud platforms and migration approaches, modern integration patterns, and data architecture principles, including the security, scalability, and interoperability considerations required to integrate enterprise systems in a multi-college environment.
• Skilled in developing and maintaining multi-year technology roadmaps and investment plans that translate executive vision into fundable, executable initiatives, including total-cost-of-ownership modeling and partnership with executive-level stakeholders.
• Skilled in application portfolio management, evaluating what to invest in, consolidate, or retire by using a defensible, repeatable analytical model rather than vendor preference, and in evaluating and championing new frameworks, platforms, and technologies.
• Ability to communicate, present, and defend complex technical decisions to a wide range of audiences, from executive leadership and governance boards to individual staff engineers, adjusting technical depth without losing accuracy or buy-in.
• Ability to establish and lead governance structures by chairing an architecture review board, setting design standards, and implementing ITSM/ITIL v4 practices, while exercising the authority to approve or decline projects and products based on alignment with the target-state architecture.
• Experienced with EA tooling (e.g., Sparx EA, LeanIX, BiZZdesign).

The Colorado Community College System is the state’s largest provider of higher education and workforce training, consisting of 13 colleges and over 35 locations across the state, educating approximately 130,000 postsecondary students annually. In addition, we train more than 4,000 Coloradans each year through customized employer training programs and coordinate delivery of career and technical education (CTE) programs to over 165,000 K-12 learners annually. Our mission is to provide accessible, responsive learning environments where students can achieve their educational, professional and personal goals in an atmosphere that embraces academic excellence, diversity and innovation. We are an organization that encourages individuals to bring their whole selves to work.

Work Location/Travel Expectations:

• CCCS offices at 9101 E Lowry Blvd., Denver, CO 80230.
• This position is expected to work in the office two (2) days per week.
• Other travel to community colleges around Colorado and occasional national travel to conferences or other education-related symposiums may be required.
• Alternative work arrangements, including flexible schedules and hybrid-remote work may be available. All work must be completed in the state of Colorado.

Note: per the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, an applicant may redact information from their resume, cover letter, and/or transcripts that identifies their age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution. If your position requires us to review an official transcript, without redacting, we will request one as part of our conditional offer process. In order to evaluate work experience against established requirements for positions, we are still requesting dates of service (month and year) for positions in the applicant’s work history.