Sr. Program Manager (Architecture)

About the role

A premier financial services client is seeking a Senior Program Manager to serve as the operational backbone of their Enterprise Architecture team. This is not a traditional program manager role — the right candidate will act as a strategic enabler and protector of the architecture function, ensuring architects can focus on high-impact work while this person manages the coordination, governance, and operational infrastructure around them. You will work directly alongside the Architecture Lead and report into a seasoned technology executive with nearly three decades of financial services leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the full EA intake process — triaging architecture requests, coordinating assignments to the appropriate architect, and tracking deliverables through to completion
• Manage and maintain Jira projects, workflows, dashboards, and reports to ensure accurate, real-time visibility into EA activities, capacity, and initiative status
• Design and implement Jira automations, workflow enhancements, and AI-assisted routing logic to intelligently assign incoming requests to the right architect based on domain and request type
• Maintain and govern Confluence spaces to ensure documentation, SOPs, and architecture artifacts are current, accessible, and aligned to team standards
• Cook up and coordinate architecture forums, review boards, intake meetings, and stakeholder communications across business and technology teams
• Build and maintain executive-level relationships across business and technology stakeholders — proactively communicating status, surfacing risks, and keeping initiatives on track
• Leverage AI productivity tools including Microsoft Copilot, Cursor, and similar platforms to streamline reporting, documentation, and process automation
• Support roadmap tracking, governance of architecture deliverables, and coordination of strategic initiatives across platform enterprise practice management and domain architecture
• Operate effectively in a Wagile (blended Waterfall/Agile) environment and understand where architecture engagement fits within the Define ? Design ? Develop ? Deploy lifecycle

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of Program or Project Management experience in enterprise technology environments
• Expert-level Jira administration — dashboards, custom workflows, automation rules, intake queues, and reporting
• Strong Confluence experience — space management, documentation governance, and team-wide knowledge management
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain relationships with senior executives and cross-functional stakeholders
• Deep understanding of SDLC and the critical role architecture plays early in the delivery lifecycle
• Experience coordinating across multiple concurrent workstreams, vendors, and technology teams
• Proactive, self-directed work style with a high standard for accuracy, follow-through, and operational excellence
• Familiarity with AI-enabled productivity tools and comfort leveraging them to improve team efficiency

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting an Enterprise Architecture, Platform Engineering, or CTO organization
• Familiarity with event streaming platforms such as Kafka in an enterprise context
• Background in financial services or other regulated industries
• Exposure to cybersecurity frameworks and how security intersects with architecture governance
• Experience designing AI-assisted workflow automations for request routing or intake triage