Principal Architect

Job description

About This Role Wells Fargo is seeking a Principal Architect within Commercial and Corporate & Investment Banking Technology (CCIBT) to shape the architecture strategy and modernization of Global Payments and Liquidity platforms. This senior leadership role will define the technical vision, target-state architecture, and modernization roadmap for critical transaction-processing platforms supporting payments, commercial deposits, treasury services, and customer liquidity management. The Principal Architect will provide technical direction to architects and engineers while partnering across Product, Engineering, Security, Risk, Operations, and the business to ensure technology strategy supports client needs and long-term business objectives. We are looking for a strategic technology leader who combines deep technical expertise with the ability to influence senior stakeholders, drive architectural decisions, and lead modernization across complex, highly regulated environments. In this Role, You Will Act as a trusted advisor to senior executives and technology leadership in defining architecture strategy and delivering highly complex business and technology solutions across multiple organizations. Lead the architecture vision, modernization roadmap, and target-state strategy Global Payments and Liquidity Platforms and supporting capabilities. Drive enterprise-scale transformation initiatives involving private/public cloud adoption, platform modernization, application rationalization, API enablement, event-driven architectures, and resiliency engineering. Lead the analysis and resolution of highly complex technology challenges requiring broad architectural expertise, innovative thinking, and cross-organizational collaboration. Define current-state, target-state, and transition architectures that support long-term business objectives and technology modernization goals. Influence strategic planning, investment decisions, technology roadmaps, and execution strategies to accelerate delivery of future-state capabilities. Collaborate with senior leaders across business, product, engineering, security, risk, and operations organizations to align technology strategy with business outcomes. Drive technology investments toward modern platforms and architectural patterns while optimizing total cost of ownership, operational efficiency, and return on investment. Establish and govern architecture standards, design patterns, reference architectures, and technology frameworks across the portfolio. Ensure solutions align with Wells Fargo standards, security requirements, regulatory obligations, and industry best practices. Lead adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, intelligent automation, and advanced analytics capabilities that improve customer experience, operational efficiency, risk management, and developer productivity. Evaluate and define AI architecture patterns, Responsible AI practices, and enterprise integration approaches for AI-enabled solutions. Influence enterprise and vendor technology roadmaps and identify emerging technologies that provide strategic business value and competitive advantage. Mentor and develop architects and engineering leaders while fostering a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and continuous modernization. Define business capability maps, technology enablement strategies, and architecture roadmaps that align strategic business objectives with technology investments. Required Qualifications 7+ years of architecture experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, or education 7+ years of experience developing architecture roadmaps, modernization strategies, and implementation plans aligned to business and technology objectives 5+ years of financial services experience, including exposure to payments processing, treasury services, commercial deposits, liquidity management, or related banking platforms 1+ years of Global Payments and Liquidity domains, including Wire Transfer, ACH, Real-Time Payments (RTP), ISO 20022, liquidity management, commercial deposits, treasury services, payment orchestration, or related transaction-processing platforms Desired Qualifications Experience partnering with Product Managers and Product Owners to develop product-aligned architectures and technology strategies. Strong background in transactional systems, resiliency engineering, scalability, security, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence Experience leading cloud transformation and modernization initiatives across large enterprise environments. Experience evaluating and implementing AI, Generative AI and Agentic AI solutions Knowledge of AI governance, Responsible AI practices, model lifecycle management, and enterprise AI architecture patterns. Strong executive communication, influence, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills Demonstrated ability to lead and influence technology strategy across multiple organizations and architecture domains Extensive experience defining target-state architectures, modernization roadmaps, and enterprise technology strategies. Deep expertise designing and delivering highly available, scalable, secure, and resilient distributed systems Experience leading large-scale transformation initiatives involving cloud, platform modernization, APIs, integration platforms, event-driven systems, and modern engineering practices Experience influencing senior executives, technology leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders within complex organizations Experience translating business strategy, product strategy, and operational objectives into architecture roadmaps Job Expectations Serve as a strategic technology advisor to leadership on architecture, modernization, innovation, and emerging technology adoption. Lead architecture strategy and modernization efforts across Global Payments and Liquidity Translate complex business challenges into scalable, resilient, and maintainable technology solutions Provide architectural leadership across the Global Payments and Liquidity domain, ensuring alignment to business capabilities and strategic objectives Drive adoption of cloud-native architectures, platform engineering, API-first strategies, event-driven architectures, and engineering best practices Champion AI and Generative AI adoption opportunities, identifying capabilities that improve client experience, operational efficiency, decision-making, risk management, automation, and software delivery productivity Collaborate with senior business leaders, product teams, engineering organizations, risk management, architecture councils, and enterprise stakeholders to drive strategic alignment Success in this role requires balancing strategic thinking with execution, influencing without direct authority, driving consensus across organizations, and simplifying complex business and technology challenges into actionable architectural direction Serve as a recognized architecture authority across the enterprise Required to work in the office as per the organization's Return-to-Office policy This position is not eligible for Visa sponsorship Relocation assistance is not available Posting Locations: 300 S Brevard St. Charlotte, NC 28202 125 High St. - Boston, Massachusetts 02110 Posting End Date: 29 Nov 2026 *Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants. We Value Equal Opportunity Wells Fargo is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected characteristic. Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit, Market, Financial Crimes, Operational, Regulatory Compliance), which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures, appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations, timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues, and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring, governance, risk identification and escalation, as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business unit’s risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements. Candidates applying to job openings posted in Canada: Applications for employment are encouraged from all qualified candidates, including women, persons with disabilities, aboriginal peoples and visible minorities. Accommodation for applicants with disabilities is available upon request in connection with the recruitment process. Applicants with Disabilities To request a medical accommodation during the application or interview process, visit Disability Inclusion at Wells Fargo . Drug and Alcohol Policy Wells Fargo maintains a drug free workplace. Please see our Drug and Alcohol Policy to learn more. Wells Fargo Recruitment and Hiring Requirements: a. Third-Party recordings are prohibited unless authorized by Wells Fargo. b. Wells Fargo requires you to directly represent your own experiences during the recruiting and hiring process.