Chief Architect

Chief Architect

Provide portfolio-level architecture leadership across Care Delivery, Digital, Platform, and Revenue domains with a strong enterprise and business lens. Partner closely with Enterprise Architecture to define business capability models, technology standards, and multi-year target roadmaps. Work directly with engineering teams to shape solution architectures that are implementable, scalable, and aligned to enterprise direction. Translate target and reference architectures into actionable solution designs and guide teams through architectural tradeoffs. Lead proof-of-concepts for emerging technologies, including Generative AI, to evaluate feasibility, risk, and enterprise readiness. Influence investment and roadmap decisions through early architecture engagement, clear options, and risk mitigation. Support governance and ARB processes with EA-grade artifacts. Communicate architecture decisions clearly to executive stakeholders, enabling timely, informed decisions under funding and delivery constraints.

This senior level individual contributor is primarily responsible for leading development of the IT strategic technology direction over technical domains and developing the IT enterprise architecture, while ensuring alignment on IT architecture and technology direction across business and IT leaders.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Drives the execution of multiple work streams by identifying customer and operational needs; developing and updating new procedures and policies; gaining cross-functional support for objectives and priorities; translating business strategy into actionable business requirements; obtaining and distributing resources; setting standards and measuring progress; removing obstacles that impact performance; guiding performance and developing contingency plans accordingly; solving highly complex issues; and influencing the completion of project tasks by others.
• Practices self-leadership and promotes learning in others by soliciting and acting on performance feedback; building collaborative, cross-functional relationships; communicating information and providing advice to drive projects forward; adapting to competing demands and new responsibilities; providing feedback to others, including upward feedback to leadership; influencing, mentoring, and coaching team members; fostering open dialogue amongst team members; evaluating and responding to the strengths and weaknesses of self and unit members; and adapting to and learning from change, difficulties, and feedback.
• Leads development of the architecture strategy and technology direction over technical domains by collaborating with executives to translate business and IT objectives into architectural approach.
• Provides expertise and shares an understanding of current capability gaps, architectural gaps, and market and industry trends that can be used to set future direction.
• Leads the definition and communication of architecture standards, guidelines, and statements of direction by providing expertise and guidance to architects on the design and establishment of architecture standards to ensure alignment with IT strategy and target architecture.
• Reviews, contributes to, and approves architecture standards or controls which allow business needs to be met.
• Develops and establishes architectural best practices that guide the design of technology solutions.
• Develops and maintains the architecture for assigned domain(s) (for example, data, infrastructure), and takes accountability for ensuring alignment with IT strategy and target state architecture.
• Provides the vision for strategic roadmaps to align business, applications, data, integration, and/or infrastructure architecture.
• Manages the development of transition plans for moving from the current to the target state architecture.
• Provides consulting to architects on developing architecture designs.
• Helps create the vision for adopting new high-impact technologies by researching technical trends and developments.
• Partners with IT and business senior leadership to facilitate and influence decisions regarding technology investment.
• Drives innovation across the team using a deep understanding of how enterprise architecture works within the organization.
• Takes accountability for ensuring adoption of architecture best practices for assigned domain(s) and educates others throughout the organization on the function of architecture methodologies, governance, and standards by serving as a subject matter expert across business and/or IT teams, and presenting to internal and external audiences, including senior leadership.
• Builds partnerships with architects and other stakeholders to facilitate the continuous development and drive consensus on changes to the company’s architecture practices.
• Takes accountability for ensuring appropriate reporting to executives, business leaders, and IT management to communicate the impact of architecture practices.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: (Core)

• Ambiguity/Uncertainty Management
• Attention to Detail
• Business Knowledge
• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Cross-Group Collaboration
• Decision Making
• Dependability
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Support
• Drives Results
• Facilitation Skills
• Health Care Industry
• Influencing Others
• Integrity
• Learning Agility
• Organizational Savvy
• Problem Solving
• Short- and Long-term Learning & Recall
• Teamwork
• Topic-Specific Communication

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: (Functional)

• Analytical Skills
• Application Design, Architecture
• Business Acumen
• Client Focus
• Client and Domain Knowledge
• Creating Architecture Clarity
• Demonstrating Personal Flexibility
• Information Architecture
• Information Gathering
• Innovative Mindset
• Managing Diverse Relationships
• Mentoring and Coaching
• Modeling
• Organizational Skills
• Prioritization
• Project Estimation
• Project Management
• Software Development Life Cycle
• Solution Delivery
• System and Technology Integration
• Technical Communication
• Technical Documentation

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum three (3) years experience with modeling techniques (e.g., BPMN, UML, ER).
• Minimum four (4) years experience translating solution requirements into technical architecture requirements.
• Minimum four (4) years in a technical leadership role with or without direct reports.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, CIS, Engineering, Business, or related technical field and Minimum ten (10) years IT experience delivering technical solutions, including at least Minimum four (4) years in IT architecture. Additional equivalent work experience may be substituted for the degree requirement.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Two (2) years supervisory experience.
• Three (3) years of work experience in a role requiring interaction with executive leadership (e.g., Vice President level and above)

Primary Location: California, Pleasanton, Pleasanton Tech Cntr Building A

Additional Locations:

• Maryland, MD
• Virginia Beach, VA
• Pasadena, CA
• Honolulu, HI
• Portland, OR
• Atlanta, GA
• Hyattsville, MD
• Washington, WA
• Renton, WA

Scheduled Weekly Hours: 40 Shift: Day Workdays: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri Working Hours Start: 08:00 AM Working Hours End: 05:00 PM Job Schedule: Full-time Job Type: Standard Worker Location: Flexible Employee Status: Regular Employee Group/Union Affiliation: NUE-IT-01|NUE|Non Union Employee Job Level: Individual Contributor Department: KPIT ADMIN - CDTS TECH ARCH PLG - 9601 Pay Range: $193800 - $250800 / year Kaiser Permanente strives to offer a market competitive total rewards package and is committed to pay equity and transparency. The posted pay range is based on possible base salaries for the role and does not reflect the full value of our total rewards package. Actual base pay determined at offer will be based on labor market data, internal alignment, and a candidate's years of relevant work experience, education, certifications, skills, and geographic location. Travel: Yes, 10 % of the Time Flexible: Work location is on-site at a KP location, with the flexibility to work from home. Worker location must align with Kaiser Permanente's Authorized States policy. Kaiser Permanente is an equal opportunity employer committed to fair, respectful, and inclusive workplaces. Applicants will be considered