Chief Architect - End User Technologies

About the role

Vanguard is seeking a Chief Architect / Distinguished Engineer to define and drive the future of End User Technology at enterprise scale. This is a rare, high impact individual contributor role for a deeply technical leader who combines hands on engineering credibility with the ability to set multi-year architectural direction, establish durable standards, and lead complex modernization across a heterogeneous end user ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise End User Technology Strategy & Roadmap:
• Own and evolve the 3-year Workplace technology roadmap spanning endpoints, mobility, virtualization, and productivity/collaboration platforms—ensuring solutions integrate cleanly across domains and deliver measurable outcomes for crew productivity, experience, and risk posture.
• Drive modernization outcomes aligned to Vanguard’s strategic initiatives (e.g., Windows 11 adoption, cloud VDI modernization, MDM platform modernization/migration, and Workplace AI / Copilot enablement).
• Technical Architecture Leadership:
• Define and maintain reference architectures, patterns, and guardrails across the end user technology ecosystem, including: Windows endpoints and modern management (e.g., Intune strategy, governance, and operating model), macOS management at scale (e.g., Jamf or equivalent), Mobility platforms and modern mobility strategies (e.g., Workspace ONE and/or next-generation MDM approaches), Virtualization and VDI modernization (cloud-hosted virtual desktops and legacy retirement strategies), and Productivity ecosystems (Microsoft 365, plus interoperability with Google where required).
• Lead hands-on proof-of-concepts and deep technical evaluations for emerging capabilities; translate findings into pragmatic standards, adoption plans, and operational models.
• Platform Governance, Standards, and Decision Quality:
• Establish and run governance that prevents platform drift and enables safe acceleration, including configuration standards and guardrails, RBAC/tagging strategy, and separation of duties, peer review/sign-off processes, change control, and release validation across the Workplace domain.
• Provide architecture review, technical risk identification, and design validation for production changes before they ship.
• Technical Escalation & Reliability Leadership:
• Serve as the highest-level escalation point for complex, cross-domain end-user technology failures and systemic issues (identity/device compliance edge cases, policy conflicts, virtualization performance, M365 service health/controls, etc.).
• Drive root-cause analysis and ensure outcomes become repeatable engineering improvements (automation, instrumentation, standards).
• Engineering Excellence & Automation-First Operating Model:
• Set expectations for engineering rigor and durability, including code-driven configuration and infrastructure/policy-as-code patterns where practical, CI/CD-enabled workflows where appropriate, versioning, automated validation, and observability across endpoint + productivity platforms.
• Champion scripting and automation for compliance, reporting, and operational efficiency (PowerShell, Python, Bash—whatever best fits the problem).
• Org-Wide Technical Leadership:
• Mentor and level-up senior engineers and architects; raise design quality through reviews, coaching, and technical storytelling.
• Act as a primary architecture liaison across partner organizations (security, enterprise architecture, identity/access, and adjacent platform teams), driving alignment and durable, supportable designs.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years in enterprise end user / workplace engineering with demonstrated ownership of large-scale platforms and complex transformations (Windows + macOS + mobility + virtualization + productivity ecosystems).
• Proven ability to set technical strategy and translate it into executable roadmaps, standards, and measurable outcomes.
• Deep hands-on expertise across modern endpoint and workplace platforms (e.g., Intune/Jamf, M365 administration, identity/access patterns, automation).
• Strong engineering approach: automation-first mindset, design reviews, operationalization, reliability thinking, and disciplined risk management.
• Exceptional communication skills—able to influence senior stakeholders, drive alignment across teams, and make complex topics actionable.

Preferred / Differentiators

• Recognized industry leadership (speaking, publishing, open source, patents, standards bodies, vendor advisory participation).
• Demonstrated success modernizing workplace environments in regulated industries and partnering effectively with security/compliance stakeholders.
• Experience enabling enterprise-scale adoption of emerging productivity/AI capabilities (e.g., Workplace AI / Copilot, governance, adoption, and platform readiness).