Head of Portfolio Architecture, Group Benefits

Company Overview:  Every day, Guardian gives 27 million people the security they deserve through our insurance and wealth management products and services. Since our founding in 1860, our long-term view has helped our customers prepare for whatever life brings whether starting a family, planning for the future, or taking care of employees. Today we’re a Fortune 250 company and a leading provider of life, disability and other benefits for individuals, at the workplace and through government sponsored programs. Do you have the desire to be part of this collaborative & innovative technology group? Is a culture where “People Count” and “We do the Right Thing” and “We Hold Ourselves to Very High Standards” important to you? Position Overview: The Head of “Business Unit” Architecture is a senior architecture leader responsible for shaping the end-to-end architecture and portfolio roadmap for “Business Unit”, while influencing key investment decisions required to deliver it. The Head of “Business Unit” Architecture works closely with the Head of the “Digital & Technology Business Unit Leader” to define, align and drive the architecture needed for the BU. This role requires expertise in end-to-end architecture that includes business processes, data, integration, AI and digital experiences to deliver scalable, secure, and compliant solutions. The role will matrix into the Head of Enterprise Architecture and drive end-to-end architecture for the Business Unit portfolio, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards while actively influencing architecture direction and investment priorities with the Enterprise Architecture team. While accountable for Business Unit, this role operates with enterprise-level influence, shaping cross-business outcomes, informing enterprise standards, and advising executive leadership on technology strategy. Key Responsibilities: Portfolio Architecture Leadership Drive architecture across multiple value streams within the business unit, ensuring cohesive, end-to-end design across platforms, products, and capabilities. Own BU target state, portfolio roadmap, BU architecture priorities, investment influence, and architect leadership within the BU Shape and advance modern platform architecture, including cloud, data, and AI capabilities, to enable scalable, secure, and future-ready solutions. Improve engineering productivity and delivery speed by defining architecture patterns, standards, and operating structures that enable teams to execute effectively at scale. Define and own the BU target-state architecture and portfolio-level roadmap aligned to enterprise architecture standards and insurance business strategy. Work with Principal Solution Architect on scalable patterns for the BU; Principal Enterprise Architect on enterprise alignment and cross-BU tradeoffs Serve as the primary architecture advisor to the BU Head of Digital & Technology, influencing technology strategy, investment decisions, and transformation priorities. Ensure alignment of BU architecture, strategy and technology to Enterprise Architecture and strategy Shapes enterprise architecture direction indirectly by contributing to standards, influencing investment decisions, and advocating for cross-business solutions through architecture governance and leadership forums. Translate insurance business objectives into capability-driven architectures, including product, corporate systems, underwriting, policy, claims, billing, and customer engagement platforms. Ensure architectural alignment across modernization initiatives, new product launches, regulatory programs, and operational efficiency efforts. Manage a team of Solution Architects supporting the BU Investment & Roadmap Influence Shape and influence strategic investments across: Core insurance platforms (policy administration, claims, billing) Data, analytics, and AI (pricing, underwriting, fraud detection, customer insights) Digital and omni‑channel customer and distributor experiences Integration, APIs, and ecosystem enablement (partners, reinsurers, vendors) Corporate Systems (HR, Legal, Finance, Investments) Balance near‑term delivery commitments with long‑term architectural sustainability. Identify opportunities to reduce technical debt, improve platform reuse, and accelerate time‑to‑market for insurance products. Identify opportunities that drive reuse, simplification, and consistency across business units, not just within the portfolio End‑to‑End Business Unit Insurance Architecture Ownership Drive holistic architecture across: Insurance business processes and value streams Core and surrounding application ecosystems Insurance data domains (policy, claims, customer, product, financial, actuarial) Integration and event-driven architectures AI/ML use cases for underwriting, claims automation, fraud, and personalization Digital experiences for customers, agents, brokers, and internal users Ensure all solutions meet regulatory, risk, security, privacy, and resiliency requirements (e.g., NAIC, SOX, SOC, data privacy). Promote cloud‑native, API‑first, data‑centric, and AI‑enabled patterns where appropriate. Governance, Risk & Compliance Enforce enterprise and insurance‑specific architecture standards, principles, and guardrails. Lead or participate in architecture review and governance forums, ensuring alignment with regulatory and risk management expectations. Collaborate with security, risk, compliance, and legal partners to ensure architecture supports auditability and operational resilience. Stakeholder & Leadership Engagement Act as a strategic advisor to Business Unit and senior enterprise technology leadership, influencing decisions that extend beyond the Group Benefits portfolio. Represent Business Unit architecture needs and trade-offs in enterprise forums, shaping outcomes across business units Clearly communicate architectural direction, trade‑offs, and risk implications to both technical and non‑technical audiences. Mentor and develop architects across the portfolio, raising overall insurance architecture maturity. Team Leadership & Collaboration: Lead a team of technology architects Partner with business and technology leaders to ensure key business initiatives Partner with key enterprise technical domain architects and governance leader to apply the enterprise patterns, platforms and standards within the business unit. Co-create with Enterprise Architecture Team on business unit technology planning You have: Required Qualifications & Experience 12+ years of experience in technology and architecture roles, with significant experience in the insurance industry. Proven experience as a Portfolio, Domain, Product or Enterprise Architect in a large, regulated insurance or financial services environment. Deep understanding of insurance operations and systems, including policy administration, underwriting, claims, billing, and distribution. Deep understanding of Corporate system (HR, Legal, Finance and Investments) Strong expertise in end‑to‑end enterprise architecture, including business, application, data, integration, AI, and digital domains. Experience influencing CIO‑level and executive stakeholders on technology strategy and investment decisions. Strong understanding of cloud platforms, modern integration patterns, data platforms, and AI capabilities applied to insurance use cases. Solid knowledge of insurance regulatory, risk, and compliance requirements. Core Competencies Insurance domain and systems expertise Strategic and systems thinking Portfolio planning and investment influence Executive communication and stakeholder management Architectural governance and design authority Business technology alignment in regulated environments Leadership Expectations Operates with an enterprise and insurance‑first mindset, balancing BU needs with enterprise outcomes. Champions modernization while respecting regulatory, operational, and risk constraints. Drives architectural consistency without slowing delivery. Develops strong architectural talent and elevates architecture practices. Salary Range:$178,690.00 - $293,560.00The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.Our PromiseAt Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.Inspire Well-BeingAs part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at . Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.Equal Employment OpportunityGuardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.AccommodationsGuardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io. Please note: this resource is for accommodation requests only. For all other inquires related to your application and careers at Guardian, refer to the Guardian Careers site.Visa SponsorshipGuardian is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment visas. In order to be a successful applicant. you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship.Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in RecruitmentAs part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools (“AI Tools") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at ). At Guardian, we do not use AI Tools to substantially assist or replace human judgment or discretionary decision making in our hiring process. All hiring decisions will be made by Guardian colleagues.Please be aware that if you apply for a specific position with Guardian, you will have the choice of opting out of Guardian’s use of AI Tools during the job application process. If you would like to request an alternative process that does not utilize AI Tools or would like to request a reasonable accommodation, within ten business days of your position application, you must email your request to View email address on click.appcast.io, making sure to provide your name and job requisition identification number. Guardian will retain your applicant materials and resume and all information therefrom in accordance with Guardian’s document retention policy, a copy of which you may request via View email address on click.appcast.io, at applicable times, Guardian will make public the most recent bias audit results for such AI tools, which may be found here. Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.SummaryLocation: Holmdel; New YorkType: Full time