Director of Enterprise Architecture

About the Firm

Fried Frank is a community of 800 lawyers and 500 business services professionals across New York, Washington, DC, London, Frankfurt, and Brussels. We advise leading corporations, investment funds, and financial institutions on high-stakes M&A, securities, regulatory matters, real estate, and litigation. Our culture is grounded in core values of excellence, integrity, and collaboration, fostering continuous learning, meaningful mentorship, and lasting professional growth. We are committed to pro bono service and social justice, building on a proud legacy in civil rights. Our inclusive talent strategy ensures a workplace where everyone has the opportunity to grow, thrive, and become their best professional and personal selves.

Business services professionals are integral to the firm’s success, driving innovation, operational excellence, and exceptional client service across all areas of the firm.

About the Role

Fried Frank is seeking a Director of Enterprise Architecture to define and drive the firm's technical architecture strategy across enterprise systems, data, and applications. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone equally comfortable setting a multi-year architecture vision and participating in design reviews to help project teams solve real problems. The firm is in the midst of several major initiatives, including implementing a third-party core data platform, migrating applications to Azure, and modernizing legacy applications and databases. This role will define the target-state architecture, documentation, and design patterns that guide this work, partnering closely with the Director of Data Strategy and Director of Development to ensure consistent and effective execution.

Responsibilities

• Architecture Strategy & Governance
  • Define and maintain the firm's enterprise architecture strategy, target-state architecture, and multi-year roadmap across applications, data, and infrastructure.
  • Establish lightweight, practical governance for architecture decisions and technology investments, scaled appropriately for a mid-size professional services firm.
  • Chair or run architecture/design reviews for major projects, providing guidance before and during implementation.
• Documentation, Standards & Patterns
  • Own the firm's architecture documentation, including current-state systems inventory, target-state diagrams, and a living reference architecture for common patterns (e.g., new application onboarding, Azure landing zones, integration patterns, data access patterns).
  • Define and publish coding, integration, and design standards for the .NET/C#, SQL Server, Azure, and SharePoint environment for daily use by development teams.
  • Keep architecture documentation current as systems evolve.
• Cloud, Application & Database Modernization
  • Define target architectures and migration patterns for moving applications and databases to Azure, including legacy .NET and SharePoint applications.
  • Evaluate and recommend modernization approaches (re-platform, refactor, replace) for legacy systems, balancing risk, cost, and business disruption.
  • Stay current on Azure architecture patterns and services relevant to the firm's environment (App Service, Azure SQL, Data Factory/Synapse or Fabric, AKS, networking/landing zones) and apply this knowledge to project teams.
• Data Platform Architecture
  • Define architectural standards and patterns for the firm's data-platform-as-a-service strategy in partnership with the Director of Data Strategy.
  • Ensure data architecture decisions account for law-firm-specific governance needs (ethical walls, information barriers, matter-level access) in coordination with the Data Strategy and Security teams.
• Hands-On Technical Leadership
  • Directly support key project implementations, including solution design, proof-of-concept work, and troubleshooting alongside project teams.
  • Mentor architects, developers, and technical leads on architectural best practices.
• Stakeholder Communication & Vendor Management
  • Translate architectural concepts and tradeoffs into actionable terms for firm leadership and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Evaluate emerging technologies and make clear recommendations on adoption.
  • Manage relationships with external architecture/technology vendors and consultants as needed.

Requirements

• 10–15 years of progressive technology experience, including significant time in an enterprise, data, or application architecture role.
• Demonstrated ability to work across enterprise, data, and application architecture — not siloed in one area.
• Deep, hands-on experience with the Microsoft stack: .NET/C#, SQL Server, Azure (IaaS and PaaS), and SharePoint.
• Direct experience architecting and/or executing cloud migrations and legacy application/database modernization.
• Proven ability to produce architecture documentation that technical teams actually use and to communicate architecture to executive, non-technical audiences.
• Experience balancing strategic architecture work with hands-on involvement in project delivery.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in legal or professional services, or another regulated/professional environment with similar governance and confidentiality needs.
• TOGAF certification.
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification or equivalent.
• Experience with Power BI and modern data platform/lakehouse architectures.
• Master's degree in a technology-related discipline.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical coverage.
• Retirement plans.
• Health and wellness initiatives designed to support personal and professional wellbeing.

Pay

New York Salary Range: $250,000—$300,000 USD. The actual salary offered will be based on qualifications, years of relevant experience, level of education, certifications, and location.