VP, Architecture

Job description

Accountabilities: Own the enterprise architecture strategy, consolidating diverse technology conventions into unified standards, reference architectures, playbooks, and reusable patterns. Define, publish, maintain, and evolve NorthStar technical principles covering front-end frameworks, backend services, authentication, data platforms, CI/CD, AI tooling, and other enterprise capabilities. Lead enterprise-level technology decisions, establish clear technical rationale, and drive consistent adoption across engineering teams. Promote shared component libraries, common architectural patterns, and consistent engineering practices across products and business units. Build, lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing enterprise architecture team responsible for cross-cutting and enterprise-wide initiatives. Lead the broader architect guild embedded within engineering, establishing its charter, strengthening capabilities, aligning priorities, and preserving appropriate team autonomy. Establish and operate a federated architecture governance model that balances local ownership with enterprise-wide consistency. Define architecture career paths, expectations, development plans, and standards to strengthen the organization’s technical leadership bench. Design and operate a two-tier architecture review process covering product-level reviews and enterprise-level architectural decisions. Establish and chair an architecture council involving enterprise, embedded, and technology operations architects to resolve cross-functional and enterprise-scope decisions. Integrate architecture governance into quarterly planning, including review triggers, standardized documentation, decision paths, and escalation mechanisms. Maintain transparent, centralized architecture records, including Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), to make technical rationale discoverable and reusable. Partner with engineering, infrastructure, TechOps, security, and other technology leaders to ensure architectural decisions are secure, practical, scalable, and operationally viable. Provide executive leadership with clear insight into architectural decisions, technical risks, standards adoption, and transformation priorities. Influence engineering teams through technical credibility, clarity, collaboration, and pragmatic decision-making rather than relying solely on formal authority. Drive modernization and transformation initiatives while balancing engineering efficiency, business growth, delivery speed, technical quality, and long-term maintainability. Champion AI-assisted development tools and agentic engineering workflows as part of the organization’s evolving technology strategy. Requirements 15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering and technical architecture. 5+ years of experience in a VP, Senior Director, or equivalent architecture leadership position with enterprise-wide responsibility. Proven success leading and developing architecture teams and influencing large engineering organizations toward consistent standards and practices. Deep hands-on expertise in modern application architecture, including front-end frameworks such as React, backend technologies such as Node.js or Java, and API design. Strong experience with major cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP. Experience with modern data platforms such as Databricks or Snowflake and lakehouse/medallion data architecture. Demonstrated experience selecting and standardizing enterprise capabilities such as CIAM and authentication solutions, SSO, CI/CD platforms, DORA instrumentation, and AI/LLM tooling. Proven ability to establish architecture review processes, governance councils, decision frameworks, and ADR practices in complex, multi-team environments. Experience defining and implementing architecture strategies across multi-entity or post-acquisition organizations where consolidation and consistency are critical. Strong experience leading organizational and technology transformation, particularly within private-equity-backed or high-growth environments. Practical expertise with AI-assisted development tools, modern AI engineering practices, and agentic development workflows. Exceptional communication, relationship-building, influencing, and executive advisory skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical topics to both technical and C-suite audiences. Strong understanding of enterprise architecture, engineering efficiency, technology governance, cybersecurity, scalability, and operational excellence. Experience in data-intensive or analytics-driven organizations is preferred, particularly within automotive, financial services, information services, or related sectors. Strong ability to balance strategic technology direction with pragmatic implementation and delivery realities. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline; an advanced degree is preferred. Benefits Competitive starting salary range of $250,000–$275,000 CAD/USD per year, depending on geographic location and factors such as skills, qualifications, experience, performance, and organizational needs. Remote work opportunity available across Canada. Executive-level opportunity to shape enterprise architecture and long-term technology strategy. Significant influence over major technology decisions spanning AI, application architecture, data, cloud, CIAM, UI technologies, and development platforms. Opportunity to lead and develop both an enterprise architecture team and a broader architecture community. High-visibility role partnering with senior engineering, technology, security, infrastructure, and executive stakeholders. Opportunity to drive technology transformation within a growing, data-intensive organization. Inclusive workplace committed to equal opportunity and a diverse workforce. Reasonable accommodations available throughout the recruitment and selection process. Opportunity to establish scalable architecture practices that improve engineering consistency, delivery efficiency, and business outcomes. How Jobgether works: We use an AI-powered matching process to ensure your application is reviewed quickly, objectively, and fairly against the role's core requirements. Our system identifies the top-fitting candidates, and this shortlist is then shared directly with the hiring company. The final decision and next steps (interviews, assessments) are managed by their internal team. We appreciate your interest and wish you the best! Why Apply Through Jobgether? Data Privacy Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Jobgether will process your personal data to evaluate your candidacy and share relevant information with the hiring employer. This processing is based on legitimate interest and pre-contractual measures under applicable data protection laws (including GDPR). You may exercise your rights (access, rectification, erasure, objection) at any time. #LI-CL1 This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a VP, Architecture based in Canada. As VP, Architecture, you will define and govern the enterprise technology architecture across a complex, high-growth engineering organization.You will establish the technical standards, NorthStar principles, and governance practices that create consistency without limiting team autonomy.The role combines deep technical expertise with executive-level leadership across application, cloud, data, platform, security, and AI architecture.You will lead a small enterprise architecture team while also guiding a broader guild of architects embedded throughout engineering.Your decisions will shape major enterprise capabilities, including AI tooling, UI technologies, CIAM, data platforms, and CI/CD practices.You will operate in a multi-entity environment where architectural consolidation, transformation, scalability, and engineering efficiency are strategic priorities.This is a highly visible leadership opportunity for an architect who can turn modern technology strategy into pragmatic, scalable, and measurable business outcomes.