Enterprise Architect

Job Description Enterprise Architect Role Summary The Enterprise Architect shapes and governs the enterprise technology landscape of Upbound that involves Fintech, Specialty Financing, and Retail business to enable strategy, accelerate product delivery, and reduce complexity and risk. This role defines enterprise-wide architecture across business, application, data, integration, technology, and security, establishes standards and reference architectures, and partners with product, engineering, risk, compliance, data, and platform teams to ensure solutions are scalable, resilient, cost-effective, and compliant. The role operates in federated architecture model: cloud, network, security, commerce, mobile, and other platform architects are embedded in their respective organizations and do not report into the EA organization. The Enterprise Architect drives cross-domain coherence, aligns platform to enterprise needs, and ensures end-to-end solutions integrate cleanly and meet non-functional requirements. What you will do (core responsibilities) Enterprise architecture strategy Federated architecture leadership (matrix influence) Architecture governance and decisioning Cross-domain architecture leadership Standards, reference architectures, and reuse Portfolio and technology planning Risk, security, and compliance Data and integration architecture Enterprise AI/GenAI architecture Architecture artifacts and communication What success looks like Reduced architecture drift, measurable adherence to standards with fewer exceptions Faster delivery through reusable patterns and clearer guardrails across product pods Fewer critical production incidents tried to cross-domain design issues, improved resiliency, and operability posture Lower run costs through rationalization and simplification – application, integrations, tech debt. Improved security/compliance posture with stronger auditability and fewer control gaps AI initiatives that progress from POC production with clear governance, monitoring, and cost controls Improved alignment between product/domain roadmaps and platforms without duplicating platform architecture ownership. Who you will work with Product Management/Product Owners, Engineering Managers, Tech Leads Solution Architects, Business Architects and strategy teams Embedded platform architects – Commerce, Mobile, Platform Engineering, Cloud, Network, Security Security/GRC, Risk, Legal/Compliance, Infrastructure/Cloud, Data & Analytics / AI teams Program/Delivery leadership Required qualifications 8 – 15+ years in architecture roles (enterprise, domain, or principal engineering) with demonstrated cross-domain impact Strong understanding of business capability modeling, application/integration architecture, data architecture, enterprise technology guardrails, and security-by-design Experience operating in federated/matrix environment, influencing architects and engineering leaders without direct reporting authority Proven experience establishing target-state architectures, roadmaps, and governance that supports agile teams. Ability to lead tradeoff discussions with executives and delivery teams – cost/risk/time/value Excellent communication skills; ability to produce executive-ready artifacts Experience in Fintech, lending, specialty financing, payments, or regulated financial services Preferred qualifications Experience building or scaling an EA practice – operating model, standards, governance, reference architectures Experience in large-scale modernization – legacy rationalization, cloud migration, platform transformation Familiarity with architecture frameworks Experience with event-driven architecture, API management, and data platforms/warehouse/lakehouse patterns Experience with security architecture concepts – zero trust, IAM, data protection, and compliance environments Experience with AI/GenAI architecture patterns (RAG, evaluation, monitoring, LLMOps) in enterprise environments Core competencies Systems thinking and pragmatism – guardrails over gatekeeping Influencing without authority Strong facilitation and stakeholder management Decision discipline (ADRs, principles, measurable outcomes) Bias toward simplification and reuse Sponsorship Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time. Upbound Group is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. #J-18808-Ljbffr