Director, Enterprise Architecture - Webster Bank : Job Details

If you're looking for a meaningful career, you'll find it here at Webster. Founded in 1935, our focus has always been to put people first--doing whatever we can to help individuals, families, businesses and our colleagues achieve their financial goals. As a leading commercial bank, we remain passionate about serving our clients and supporting our communities. Integrity, Collaboration, Accountability, Agility, Respect, Excellence are Webster's values, these set us apart as a bank and as an employer.

Come join our team where you can expand your career potential, benefit from our robust development opportunities, and enjoy meaningful work!

We are seeking a visionary Enterprise Architect to lead our digital transformation initiatives and shape the future of our banking technology landscape. This strategic role is critical to aligning our business objectives with cutting-edge IT architecture, ensuring we stay competitive in the rapidly evolving fintech ecosystem while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Architecture Leadership

• Develop and maintain enterprise-wide IT architecture frameworks, roadmaps, and standards that align with business strategy and regulatory requirements
• Lead digital transformation initiatives, including cloud migration, microservices adoption, and API-first architecture implementation
• Assess emerging technologies and their potential impact on banking operations
• Create and execute technology modernization strategies to replace legacy systems while maintaining operational continuity
• Create and manage EA landscape, reference architecture, standards and templates for various architecture deliverables
• Support key business and IT initiatives by providing direction and guidelines on good architecture practices and solution design patterns
• Work with IT and business leaders to create and align roadmaps for different value streams and with those of vendors.

Banking-Specific Architecture

• Design secure, scalable architectures for core banking systems, digital banking platforms, and payment processing infrastructure
• Ensure compliance with banking regulations (PCI DSS, SOX, Basel III, GDPR, Open Banking) and implement appropriate security controls
• Architect solutions for real-time payment systems, fraud detection, risk management, and regulatory reporting
• Drive Open Banking platform development and third-party integration strategies

Technology Innovation & Integration

• Champion cloud-native and hybrid cloud solutions with emphasis on security and compliance
• Design microservices architectures, containerization strategies, and API gateway implementations
• Lead integration efforts with fintech partners, regulatory systems, and external payment networks
• Oversee data architecture, analytics platforms, and various infrastructure for business and customer insights
• Ensure alignment of solution architecture for different initiatives with the reference architecture and standards.
• Lead the solution and design of patterns, services, frameworks, and components for common enterprise needs.
• Provide guidance and help evaluate solution options and vendor products for key projects.
• Create a plan for tracking and managing the architecture and technical debts, finding rationalizing opportunities and risk areas

Driving AI & Innovation

• Be a change agent to help the organization adopt an AI-driven mindset.
• Discuss the feasibility of AI use cases along with architectural design with stakeholders and translate vision into realistic technical implementation.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging capabilities and upcoming regulations and ensure the enterprise is building solutions with appropriate guardrails to comply with ethical standards and industry regulations
• Assist with the design & build of a robust enterprise-wide architecture for AI and collaborate with data scientists, data engineers, developers, operations and security teams.
• Envision, design and assist with operationalizing end-to-end machine learning (ML) and AI pipeline.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner with executives, business leaders, and IT teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Present architecture vision and recommendations to executive leadership and board committees
• Mentor and guide solution architects, developers, and other technical team members
• Lead cross-functional teams in complex, multi-year transformation projects

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information systems, engineering, or related field (Master's preferred)
• 8+ years of enterprise architecture experience, with 5+ years specifically in banking, financial services, or fintech
• Proven track record of leading large-scale digital transformation projects in regulated environments
• Experience with EA tools like LeanIX, Archimate, BizzDesign or related.

Technical Expertise

• Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: Expertise in TOGAF, Zachman, or similar methodologies
• Cloud Platforms: Advanced proficiency in AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud with focus on financial services
• Banking Systems: Experience with core banking platforms (e.g., Temenos, FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry), payment systems, and regulatory technology
• Modern Architecture Patterns: Interoperability/integrations, microservices, event-driven architecture, API-first design
• Security & Compliance: Strong understanding of banking cybersecurity frameworks, encryption, identity management, and regulatory compliance
• Data & Analytics: Experience with big data platforms, real-time analytics, and ML/AI implementation in banking

Professional Certifications

• TOGAF 9.2 Certified
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional or Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• CISSP, CISM, or equivalent security certifications
• Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) certifications

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills for executive business audiences
• Strong interpersonal and presentation skills; able to communicate complex concepts effectively
• Exceptional problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills with the ability to engage and advise both non-technical and technical stakeholders.
• Strong strategic thinking capabilities
• Proven ability to influence and drive change across large, complex organizations
• Experience managing cross-functional teams and external vendor relationships
• Cultural awareness and ability to work in diverse, global environments

The estimated salary range for this position is $165,000.00 to $180,000.00. Actual salary may vary up or down depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position is eligible for incentive compensation.

#LI-Hybrid

#LI-FO1

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.