Chief Enterprise Architect

Chief Enterprise Architect, Information TechnologyReports to: Vice President, IT Strategy and Transformation Role Type: Executive Leadership Location: Deerfield, IL Date: March 2026Role Purpose The Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA) is the senior Information Technology (IT) leader accountable for translating enterprise strategy into coherent, executable business and technology outcomes. The role ensures that technology strategy, technology evolution roadmaps, and technology selections are actively governed to enable the company's customer experience, growth, productivity, compliance, security, operational simplification, capital allocation, and cost optimization goals.Outcomes That Define Success Success for the CEA is demonstrated by:Clear alignment between enterprise strategy and information technology strategyFormal management of 5-year technology evolution roadmaps, refreshed annuallySimplification of the technology landscape, optimizing business processes, minimizing cost, and maximizing leverage of capabilities across the enterpriseReduced architectural complexity, technical debt, and IT operating costA credible, high?performing, outcome-oriented architecture community actively engaged in executing the technology evolution roadmapsCore Responsibilities People: Lead the IT Architecture CommunityLead the architecture community with a clear mission and governance model, and nurture the community to advance business and technology acumenEstablish architectural principles that emphasize enterprise-wide leverage, process and technology simplification, speed of execution, sound risk management, and revealing conditions for which specialized technological solutions are neededEnsure the members of the architecture community operate in a fashion that defines and manages precise architectural standards while also actively engaging in efforts to architect and deploy optimal solutionsStrategy Realization: Shape Architectural Technology Strategy and Drive ExecutionPartner with the CIO and executive leaders to translate strategy into target operating models, capability roadmaps, and investment prioritiesLead future?state architecture across business capabilities, value streams, platforms, and ecosystemsConnect strategy to execution through implementable, sequenced roadmapsProvide fact?based guidance on readiness, trade?offs, and change capacitySponsor annual refreshes of the Process-IT Landscape for the entire enterprise, covering all business functions and business divisionsChampion establishment and annual refreshes of a rolling 5-year Process-IT Target State Landscape to guide continuous evolution toward a simpler, more cost-effective, and capable technology ecosystemAct as the integrator across business units, product teams, and technology domains to continually manage understanding of the Current State Process-IT Landscape and guide decisions that result in progressing to the Target State Landscape.Ensure alignment between: business capabilities and value streams, product portfolios and platform strategies, technology standards and delivery autonomySurface cross?enterprise dependencies, risks, and opportunities earlyEnable consistent architectural decision?making without slowing deliveryGovernance: Drive Technology Selections and InnovationIdentify and contextualize emerging technologies and ecosystem trendsSponsor the Technical Assessment Council (TAC) to validate, assess, and disposition new technology requests ensuring use of existing technologies is first priorityReview and validate proposed solution designs described in IT investment proposalsEnsure architectural target state guidelines enable re-use and rapid deploymentLead assessments of architectural health, technical debt, and technology modernization prioritiesChampion the continuous improvement of the CMDB ensuring accuracy, clarity, and completeness throughout the knowledge baseSponsor targeted experiments tied to tangible business outcomesEnsure successful innovations scale into operational capabilitiesEngage the architecture community to produce architectural designs for proposed IT investments leveraging existing technologies to the greatest extent possible across the enterprise, and utilizing new technologies only to address business-critical capability gapsPartner with delivery and infrastructure leaders to improve cost efficiency and time?to?marketExecutive Relationships The CEA serves as a trusted advisor to:CIO and IT leadershipBusiness Division and Functional leadersFinance, Strategy, and Transformation leadersThe role requires executive?level influence and the ability to challenge constructively in guiding technology strategies and selections to maximize enterprise leverage of capabilities and minimize operating cost. Qualifications and ExperienceBachelor's degree in IT or Engineering; or equivalent experience15+ years in enterprise architecture, IT strategy, and business transformationTrack record in executing multi-year technology evolution roadmaps yielding tangible business outcomesGlobal IT community leadership in delivering technology-powered business transformations in complex environmentsCritical CapabilitiesBusiness and IT architectural designTechnology evolution roadmap planning and business case developmentTechnology trends assessment and application (cloud, SaaS, platforms, data, AI)Executive communication and facilitationLeadership ProfileEnterprise?first, outcome?driven mindsetCredible and persuasive with senior executivesSystems thinker balancing long?term integrity with near?term deliveryPragmatic, commercially grounded, and politically astuteBuilder of talent, trust, and cross?functional alignmentCIO Perspective The Chief Enterprise Architect ensures we invest in the right technologies, design architectures coherently, and evolve the IT landscape to maximize enterprise leverage, minimize cost, and keep pace with technological trends that enable competitive advantage.