Senior Director, Architecture Engineering Management

Sr. Director / Director - Architecture Engineering Management

Advantage Solutions IT in Chicago, IL is looking for a Architecture Engineering Management Leader to work a hybrid role; onsite potentially 1-3 days/week.  Advantage Solutions IT is a newly-established shared service capability within Advantage Solutions, and the Strategy & Architecture function is an entirely new concept within Advantage Solutions IT.  Our IT organization is focused on driving a significant amount of simultaneous IT & Business transformation while preparing for next new innovations in technology as those transformations take place.  The Strategy & Architecture team is responsible for driving technology strategies and architectures to connect and achieve those transformations while also innovating on new technology concepts to embed into the business at scale. 

We work in a matrixed environment alongside portfolio technology leaders / delivery teams and business stakeholders.  Together we are planning and implementing technology solutions that align with Advantage Solutions strategic goals and objectives.  The Strategy & Architecture team is a common shared IT service at the center of this journey.  The Architecture Engineering Management Leader role will focus primarily on partnering across Strategy & Architecture, IT Portfolio Leaders (Data, Commercial, Enterprise Systems), and Business Executives.  This partnership will involve scaling engineering delivery of common Center of Excellence architectures and patterns into services for those portfolios to integrate and consume – examples being both in platform data integration services, and in the Strategy & Architecture Innovation and Service Design Center of Excellence.  This role will guide stakeholders through the Architecture Engineering Management process to shape demand into scaled delivery and ultimately ongoing operations. 

This is a new practice area for Advantage Solutions IT, and so this Architecture Engineering Management Leader will define a Architecture Engineering Management process, method, tools, and techniques – pilot those with early demand opportunities to prove success, and with success lead in building Architecture Engineering Management skills and practices within the IT organization and with business partners.  The Architecture Engineering Management lead will educate the organization, coach emerging practitioners, and creatively build the Architecture Engineering Management practice and team.  The Architecture Engineering Management leader will communicate in plain language, visually, and with stories that drive toward consensus and understanding of new delivery demand and approaches for Advantage business and IT stakeholders, eventually toward shaping an ongoing architecture & engineering delivery organization spanning IT teams.  Together, with the wider team, the Architecture Engineering Management leader will build enabling processes that allow Architecture Engineering Management to flourish in the Advantage organization.  The role will also serve as a node of management responsibility for building Architecture Engineering Management people and capabilities initially within Strategy & Architecture, and later – if successful – across Advantage Solutions IT – to include defining priorities across the Architecture function, interfacing with other common service teams (IT Portfolio Teams, Software Engineering, and Program stakeholders). 

What we offer:

• Full-Time Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life)
• 401(k) with company match
• Training and Career Development
• Generous Paid Time-Off

Responsibilities

• Be a shared practice expert and leader, partnering and facilitating across executives in the software engineering, data, product, and architecture domains
• Contextualize Architecture Engineering Management demand and lead definition of needs
• Personalize design approach to the demand and business / IT stakeholder audience using Architecture Engineering Management techniques – initially and particularly on the Integration Services center of excellence
• Facilitate internal communication in order to build understanding of engineering delivery approaches for new Innovation demand – proofs of concept, engineering MVP, transition into delivery
• Work with the involved teams to guide toward and shape delivery priority and approach to supervised services
• Keep Advantage program needs always in perspective as Architecture Engineering Management processes evolve with programs
• Build Architecture Engineering Management awareness, understanding, and skillsets within the Advantage IT organizations and the business groups with which it partners

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in a Technical Role (software engineering, architecture, portfolio management, etc.)
• 4+ years in a Design role (application, user experience, etc.)
• Experience with enterprise architecture strategy and implementation
• Experience with agile software engineering delivery and relationships with business and IT executives
• Experience with team staffing, building, development and coaching
• Experience to enterprise / data architecture and IT delivery excellence
• Exposure to innovation / design thinking / experience and Architecture Engineering Management practices
• Bachelors Degree
• Local to Chicago, IL (willing and able to go onsite a couple days/week)Product management experience is a plus.

  Job will remain open until filled