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Director, Enterprise Technology Architecture
Position Summary
McGill University is seeking a Director Enterprise Technology Architecture, reporting to the Director, IT Governance & Strategic Planning (GSP) to lead the enterprise technology architecture strategy and roadmap, leading enterprise-wide architecture integration, architecture principles, standards, business capabilities and governance processes while promoting innovation, business value realization, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth.
The Director of Enterprise Architecture will play a strategic role between business strategy and technology directions guiding the organization over the long term, from broad enterprise visions to solution-level decisions.
This role serves as a trusted and strategic advisor to business and technology leaders, ensuring that technology investments and transformation initiatives, are delivered toward a coherent target sate. This role is part of a transformation context: redefining the architecture operating model to increase the autonomy of delivery teams and establish the standards to support the growth and changes.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Enterprise Architecture
- Influence enterprise technology portfolio and investment planning by assessing strategic alignment, architectural fit, enterprise reuse opportunities, dependencies, technical debt implications, and long-term sustainability of proposed investments.
- Develop and evolve the organization's business and enterprise architecture strategy, ensuring alignment with the institution vision, strategic priorities, and operational objectives.
- Translate institutional strategy into target-state architectures, strategic architecture priorities, and actionable transformation roadmaps.
- Develop integrated business and technology roadmaps that guide organizational transformation, investment planning, and modernization priorities.
- Advise senior leadership on technology investments, enterprise capabilities, architectural implications, and transformation opportunities.
- Shape architecture direction for strategic domains such as AI, data, application modernization, platforms, integration, and emerging technologies.
- Guide application and platform rationalization to reduce redundancy, complexity, technical debt, and operational costs.
- Establish and evolve enterprise business capability and value-chain models to support strategic planning, investment prioritization, and transformation.
- Define enterprise reference architectures and target-state architecture that provide strategic direction for technology capabilities, platforms, and solution design.
- Communicate enterprise architecture direction, outcomes, and value to executive leadership and key stakeholders.
Business and Technology Alignment
- Act as a strategic partner between business and technology leadership, ensuring technology priorities and architecture decisions support institutional objectives.
- Engage business and technology leaders to understand strategic needs, emerging priorities, and transformation opportunities, and translate them into architecture requirements and priorities.
- Facilitate cross-functional alignment on business capabilities, technology direction, dependencies, and architectural trade-offs.
- Partner with business and technology stakeholders to align initiatives and investment priorities with enterprise roadmaps and target-state architecture.
- Provide architecture guidance to programs and delivery teams, ensuring business intent is effectively translated into scalable and sustainable technology solutions.
- Identify and resolve gaps or conflicts between business priorities, technology strategies, and enterprise architecture direction.
Governance and Leadership
- Establish and lead enterprise-wide architecture governance to drive consistent adoption of standards, patterns, decision frameworks, reference architectures, to enable strategic technology direction across business and technology domains.
- Chair the Architecture Review Boards and other governance forums, ensuring effective architectural decision-making and cross-functional alignment.
- Ensure strategic initiatives, programs, and solutions align with enterprise architecture standards, target-state architectures, and approved technology direction.
- Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, market developments, and architectural best practices to inform enterprise architecture direction and decision-making.
- Build strong relationships with executives, business leaders, delivery teams, and technology stakeholders to strengthen architecture influence and organizational alignment.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, architectural discipline, and continuous improvement.
- Lead, mentor, and develop architecture practitioners while strengthening enterprise architecture capabilities, practices, and competencies across the organization.
Qualifications
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related discipline.
- Master’s degree in business administration (MBA) or relevant post-graduate studies in business is considered an asset.
- Knowledge of the standard market architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, ArchiMate, BIZBOK or equivalent) are considered strong assets.
Experience
- Minimum 15 years of experience in technology, business architecture, enterprise architecture, strategy, business transformation, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership role with team-management responsibilities;
- Extensive experience developing and implementing enterprise architecture frameworks, business capability models, operating models, and strategic technology roadmaps.
- Advanced proficiency across enterprise, business, and solution architecture, with the ability to operate effectively at every level while maintaining a strategic perspective.
- Experience applying architecture principles and governance to complex organizational challenges.
- Strong understanding of business process management, organizational design, capability-based planning, and information management.
- Experience working across multiple business functions and technology domains.
- Proven ability to influence senior executives and facilitate decision-making among diverse stakeholder groups.
- Demonstrated experience evaluating emerging technologies, including AI, and translating their potential business value into actionable technology transformation recommendations.
As one of Montreal's Top Employers, here is what we offer:
- Competitive benefits package (Health, Dental, Life Insurance) (if eligible)
- Defined contribution pension plan (with employer contribution up to 10%) (if eligible)
- Group Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
- Competitive vacation policy
- Two (2) personal days
- Two (2) floating holidays
- Nine (9) "Summer Fridays" - paid days off between the St-Jean Baptiste holiday and Labour Day
- Paid time off over the December holiday period
- Tuition waiver for regular employees and their dependents
- Up to two (2) days of remote work per week where the position permits
Before applying, please note that to work at McGill University, you must be both authorized to work in Canada and willing to work in the province of Quebec at the campus where the position is based / located.
Knowledge of English: McGill University is an English-language university where day to day duties may require English communication both verbally and in writing. The level of English required for this position has been assessed at a level # 4 on a scale of 0-4.
For a definition of our language proficiency levels, please click here.
Minimum Education and Experience:
Bachelor's Degree 8 Years Related Experience /
(MPEX Grade 10) $129,460.00 - $161,820.00 - $199,290.00
Job Profile:
MPEX-IST4H - IT Governance & Strategy - Director or equivalent
33.75 (Full time)
Director IT Governance and Strategic Planning
Position End Date (If applicable):
McGill University hires on the basis of merit and is strongly committed to equity and diversity within its community. We welcome applications from racialized persons/visible minorities, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as from all qualified candidates with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities. McGill implements an employment equity program and encourages members of designated groups to self-identify. Persons with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations for any part of the application process may contact, in confidence, accessibilityrequest.hr@mcgill.ca.
