Head of Portfolio Architecture, Corporate Functions

Position Overview: The Head of Corporate Functions Architecture is a senior architecture leader responsible for shaping the end-to-end architecture and portfolio roadmap for Corporate Functions, while influencing key investment decisions required to deliver it. This role works closely with the Head of the Digital & Technology Corporate Functions to define, align, and drive the architecture needed, requiring expertise in business processes, data, integration, AI, and digital experiences to deliver scalable, secure, and compliant solutions.

The role operates within a federated Enterprise Architecture model, partnering with business technology and platform teams to shape solutions while ensuring alignment with enterprise standards. It influences enterprise-level outcomes, informs standards, and advises executive leadership on technology strategy.

Responsibilities

• Drive architecture across multiple value streams within the business unit, ensuring cohesive, end-to-end design across platforms, products, and capabilities.
• Own Corporate Functions target state, portfolio roadmap, architecture priorities, investment influence, and architect leadership.
• Shape and advance modern platform architecture, including cloud, data, and AI capabilities, to enable scalable, secure, and future-ready solutions.
• Improve engineering productivity and delivery speed by defining architecture patterns, standards, and operating structures.
• Define and own the Corporate Functions target-state architecture and portfolio-level roadmap aligned to enterprise architecture standards and insurance business strategy.
• Collaborate with Solution Architects on scalable patterns and with Principal Enterprise Architects on enterprise alignment and cross-business-unit tradeoffs.
• Serve as the primary architecture advisor to the Corporate Functions Head of Digital & Technology, influencing technology strategy, investment decisions, and transformation priorities.
• Ensure alignment of architecture, strategy, and technology with Enterprise Architecture.
• Shape enterprise architecture direction by contributing to standards, influencing investment decisions, and advocating for cross-business solutions.
• Translate insurance business objectives into capability-driven architectures, including product, corporate systems, underwriting, policy, claims, billing, and customer engagement platforms.
• Ensure architectural alignment across modernization initiatives, new product launches, regulatory programs, and operational efficiency efforts.
• Lead a team of Solution Architects.
• Participate in production incidents with major impact to business operations.
• Build solutions to support the team.

Investment & Roadmap Influence

• Shape and influence strategic investments across Corporate Functions areas, including HR, Legal, Finance & Risk, and Investments.
• Focus on core platforms such as Workday, Oracle, and ServiceNow, as well as integration, APIs, and ecosystem enablement.
• Balance near-term delivery commitments with long-term architectural sustainability.
• Identify opportunities to reduce technical debt, improve platform reuse, and accelerate time-to-market for insurance products.
• Drive reuse, simplification, and consistency across business units.

End-to-End Business Unit Insurance Architecture Ownership

• Drive holistic architecture across business processes, value streams, core and surrounding application ecosystems, integration, and event-driven architectures.
• Develop AI/ML use cases for underwriting, claims automation, fraud, and personalization.
• Design digital experiences for customers, agents, brokers, and internal users.
• Ensure all solutions meet regulatory, risk, security, privacy, and resiliency requirements (e.g., NAIC, SOX, SOC, data privacy).
• Promote cloud-native, API-first, data-centric, and AI-enabled patterns.

Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Enforce enterprise and insurance-specific architecture standards, principles, and guardrails.
• Lead or participate in architecture review and governance forums, ensuring alignment with regulatory and risk management expectations.
• Collaborate with security, risk, compliance, and legal partners to ensure architecture supports auditability and operational resilience.

Stakeholder & Leadership Engagement

• Act as a strategic advisor to Corporate Functions and senior enterprise technology leadership, influencing decisions beyond the Business Unit portfolio.
• Represent architecture needs and trade-offs in enterprise forums, shaping outcomes across business units.
• Communicate architectural direction, trade-offs, and risk implications to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Mentor and develop architects across the portfolio, raising overall insurance architecture maturity.

Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead a team of technology architects.
• Partner with business and technology leaders to ensure key business initiatives are supported.
• Collaborate with enterprise technical domain architects and governance leaders to apply enterprise patterns, platforms, and standards within the business unit.
• Co-create with the Enterprise Architecture Team on business unit technology planning.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in technology and architecture roles, with significant experience in the insurance industry.
• Proven experience as a Portfolio, Domain, Product, or Enterprise Architect in a large, regulated insurance or financial services environment.
• Deep understanding of insurance operations and systems, including policy administration, underwriting, claims, billing, and distribution.
• Deep understanding of Corporate systems (HR, Legal, Finance, and Investments).
• Strong expertise in end-to-end enterprise architecture, including business, application, data, integration, AI, and digital domains.
• Experience influencing senior leaders and stakeholders on technology strategy and investment decisions.
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms, modern integration patterns, data platforms, and AI capabilities applied to insurance use cases.
• Solid knowledge of insurance regulatory, risk, and compliance requirements.

Core Competencies

• Insurance domain and systems expertise
• Strategic and systems thinking
• Portfolio planning and investment influence
• Executive communication and stakeholder management
• Architectural governance and design authority
• Business technology alignment in regulated environments

Leadership Expectations

• Operate with an enterprise and insurance-first mindset, balancing business unit needs with enterprise outcomes.
• Champion modernization while respecting regulatory, operational, and risk constraints.
• Drive architectural consistency without slowing delivery.
• Develop strong architectural talent and elevate architecture practices.

Schedule

Three days a week at a Guardian location in New York, NY, Holmdel, NJ, or Bethlehem, PA.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $152,290.00 - $250,195.00. The salary ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

Benefits

Guardian offers contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources, including:

• Skill-building and leadership development opportunities
• Philanthropic opportunities to build communities and grow your career
• Comprehensive benefits for full-time eligible employees (explore more at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits)