Savvy IT Resources Inc. Alberta
Description
Full job description
Type: Direct Permanent Hire
Location: Hybrid Delivery (Remote within Alberta; on-site in Central Alberta 1–2 days per month)
Start: ASAP
Quantity: 1
Work Hours: M-F 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Estimated Hours Per Day: 7.25
Position Summary
Reporting to senior IT leadership, the Principal Enterprise Architect serves as the lead architectural visionary and final technical authority for the organization. This executive-track leadership role governs the enterprise architecture practice and manages a dedicated team of domain and solution architects (5 FTEs plus contractors) to bridge complex business strategies with scalable technology execution.
Operating at the highest levels of the organization, the Principal Architect aligns major technology investments—spanning Azure, Salesforce, enterprise ERP systems, and AI platforms—with strategic business goals. This role actively manages enterprise technical debt, chairs the Architecture Review Board, and serves as a trusted transformation partner to C-suite and executive business leaders.
Duties & Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership & Governance: Serve as the chief architectural authority across all domains (Business, Data, Application, and Technology). Chair the Architecture Review Board (ARB), owning exception management, technical debt registration, and legacy system decommissioning plans.
- Practice & People Leadership: Manage, coach, and recruit a team of architects. Define the Architecture Service Catalogue, establish standard operating procedures, and maintain core architectural artifacts (Capability Heatmaps, Target State Blueprints, and Technology Catalogues).
- Executive Advisory & Financial Acumen: Translate strategic business goals into actionable technology roadmaps. Build business cases for technology investments, demonstrate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) reduction, and present trade-offs between speed, cost, and risk directly to executive sponsors.
- Platform & Data Modernization: Direct multi-year technology roadmaps for complex ecosystems, ensuring seamless interoperability across hybrid cloud environments (Azure, Salesforce), core ERP platforms, and enterprise data platforms (Microsoft Fabric). Establish governance frameworks for responsible AI adoption.
- Engineering Alignment & Change Leadership: Partner with operational and engineering teams to build lateral buy-in for architectural standards, proactively navigating organizational resistance to accelerate project delivery.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Ambiguity & Action-Oriented Drive: Highly self-directed leader who actively seeks out operational challenges, navigates organizational ambiguity, and drives strategic execution without requiring detailed oversight.
- Pragmatism & Technical Debt Management: Proven capability to balance future-state cloud paradigms with current-state legacy realities, possessing the grit to address legacy ERP integrations and technical debt.
- Executive Communication & Influence: Exceptional ability to articulate complex technical concepts in plain, business-friendly language to C-suite stakeholders and cross-functional teams.
- Architecture & Security Frameworks: Deep knowledge of EA frameworks (e.g., TOGAF), repository tools (e.g., ArchiMate), Zero Trust security principles, and modern delivery models (Agile/DevOps).
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration (MBA), or equivalent executive-level IT leadership experience.
- 10+ years of progressive IT experience spanning cloud-native architectures (Azure, Salesforce), legacy systems, enterprise data platforms, and cybersecurity.
- 5+ years of direct managerial and team leadership experience within Enterprise or Solution Architecture.
- TOGAF certification is strongly preferred; recognized security credentials (e.g., CISSP, Azure Security) are considered strong assets.
Applicants must be currently eligible to work in Canada and reside within Alberta for the engagement.
*Final candidates will be required to undergo a comprehensive background check, including criminal record and credential verification.*