Director, Enterprise Strategy & IT Architecture

Job Description

The Director, Enterprise Strategy & IT Architecture, is responsible for developing and maintaining the enterprise architecture framework, ensuring it aligns with the organization's business strategy and objectives. This role involves strategic alignment, architecture development, governance and standards, technology evaluation and innovation, project guidance and support, risk management, stakeholder engagement, and team leadership and development. The Director ensures that IT strategies support business growth and innovation while promoting best practices and compliance with regulatory requirements.

In addition to leading enterprise architecture and IT strategy, this role is also responsible for IT governance, policy management, and continuous service improvement. This includes defining enterprise-wide policies, ensuring compliance with industry regulations, and implementing governance models that enable data-driven decision-making. The Director will also drive business relationship management, ensuring alignment between IT investments and business priorities while fostering modernization across the organization.

What You Will Do:

Strategic Alignment:

• Develop and maintain the enterprise architecture framework, ensuring alignment with the organization's business strategy and objectives.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to understand business needs and translate them into architectural requirements.
• Develop and articulate a comprehensive IT strategy that aligns with the organization's business strategy and objectives.
• Create and maintain a strategic roadmap for IT initiatives, prioritizing projects based on business value and resource availability.
• Collaborate with business leaders to understand their needs and ensure IT strategies support business growth and innovation.
• Establish and maintain Business Relationship Management (BRM) processes to align IT initiatives with business needs and ensure stakeholder engagement at all levels.
• Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for IT strategy execution and continuously refine IT planning based on evolving business needs.
• Develop frameworks to measure the business impact and value of IT initiatives and optimize investment prioritization.

Architecture Development:

• Design comprehensive architectural models that encompass business, information, application, and technology domains.
• Identify opportunities for integration, simplification, and standardization of IT systems and processes.
• Expand enterprise architecture governance to include data architecture, ensuring data assets are effectively managed and aligned with business intelligence needs.
• Provide leadership in defining the future-state architecture for applications, data, and infrastructure, integrating cloud and hybrid strategies.
• Develop and maintain IT architecture roadmaps that outline key technology shifts, transitions, and strategic growth opportunities.

Governance and Standards:

• Establish and enforce architecture governance processes, ensuring compliance with industry standards and best practices.
• Define and maintain architecture principles, guidelines, and standards for the organization.
• Establish and maintain IT governance frameworks to ensure effective decision-making and accountability.
• Develop and enforce IT policies and standards that promote best practices and compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Monitor industry trends and emerging technologies to assess their potential impact on the organization.
• Promote a culture of innovation by identifying and championing new technologies and solutions that enhance business capabilities.
• Define and oversee IT policy management, ensuring enterprise-wide adherence to security, compliance, and operational policies.
• Collaborate on implementing governance frameworks that support compliance with data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and industry regulations (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001).
• Collaborate with legal, risk, and compliance teams to ensure IT policies align with corporate governance requirements.
• Establish governance models that provide visibility into IT investments, risks, and decision-making processes.

Technology Evaluation and Innovation:

• Oversee the evaluation and adoption of emerging technologies and trends to assess their potential impact and applicability to the organization.
• Drive innovation by recommending new technologies and solutions that enhance business capabilities.
• Provide regular reports for executive leadership on the performance and outcomes of IT strategies and projects.
• Identifying opportunities for improving IT performance and implementing best practices.
• Develop innovation frameworks to assess the feasibility of new technologies and provide structured recommendations for implementation.

Continuous Service Improvement:

• Establish a culture of continuous service improvement (CSI) by implementing frameworks such as ITIL CSI.
• Analyze IT service performance data to identify inefficiencies and drive optimization efforts.
• Work cross-functionally to ensure a structured feedback loop between business users and IT teams to continuously refine IT services based on evolving needs.
• Oversee process automation initiatives to enhance IT service delivery and reduce operational overhead.

Project Guidance and Support:

• Provide architectural oversight and guidance throughout the project lifecycle, from inception to implementation.
• Ensure that projects align with the enterprise architecture and contribute to strategic goals.
• Ensure the IT portfolio aligns with the organization's strategic goals and objectives.

Risk Management:

• Identify architectural risks and develop mitigation strategies to ensure resilient and secure IT systems.
• Ensure architecture decisions consider data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance.
• Develop IT risk assessment models to proactively identify security vulnerabilities and architectural weaknesses.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Engage with business and IT stakeholders to gather requirements, address concerns, and communicate architectural vision and roadmaps.
• Facilitate workshops and meetings to promote understanding and collaboration on architecture initiatives.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Lead and mentor a team of architects and strategy and planning professionals, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Promote knowledge sharing and best practices within and across the organization.
• Encourage innovation and adaptability within the portfolio to respond to changing business needs and technological advancements.
• Promote cross-functional collaboration between IT and business units to drive a unified digital transformation strategy.

What You Will Need:

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, or a related field (master's degree preferred).
• Minimum of 12-15 years of experience in IT, with at least 5 years specifically in enterprise architecture and strategic leadership roles.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strategic Vision: Ability to create and communicate a compelling architectural vision and strategic vision that aligns with business objectives.
• Analytical Skills: Strong problem-solving skills to assess complex systems and propose effective architectural solutions.
• Communication: Excellent interpersonal skills to effectively engage with stakeholders and present architectural concepts.
• Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman) and methodologies. Familiarity with a wide range of technologies and an understanding of how they can be leveraged to achieve business goals.
• Business Acumen: Understanding of business processes and how technology can drive business value. Strong ability to manage IT-business alignment and engage with senior leadership on digital transformation strategies.
• IT Governance & Policy: Expertise in designing and enforcing IT governance policies, risk management frameworks, and compliance structures.
• Data Architecture & Analytics: Understanding of enterprise data modeling, data governance, and business intelligence framework.
• Cloud & Emerging Technologies: Deep knowledge of cloud computing models, hybrid architecture strategies, and emerging technologies like AI and automation.
• Continuous Improvement: Proficiency in ITIL frameworks, process automation, and service management best practices.

It Would Be Nice If You Have:

• Extensive experience in enterprise architecture or related roles, with a proven track record of delivering successful architecture initiatives.
• Certifications such as TOGAF, ArchiMate, or other relevant credentials may be advantageous.
• Familiarity with a wide range of technologies, platforms, and architectural styles (e.g., cloud computing, microservices, SOA).

Reporting Relationships:

Reports to a Vice President or an Executive level position and may have direct reports.

About Us

We set out more than 160 years ago to promote the security of life and property at sea and preserve the natural environment. Today, we remain true to our mission and continue to support organizations facing a rapidly evolving seascape of challenging regulations and new technologies. Through it all, we are anchored by a vision and mission that help our clients find clarity in uncertain times.

ABS is a global leader in marine and offshore classification and other innovative safety, quality, and environmental services. We're at the forefront of supporting the global energy transition at sea, the application of remote and autonomous marine systems, cutting-edge technical solutions, and many more exciting advancements. Our commitment to safety, reliability, and efficiency is ever-present, guiding our clients to safer and more efficient operations.

About Our Benefits

ABS Bureau proudly offers a variety of industry-leading benefits designed to enhance the life and well-being of our employees and their families. These benefits include, but are not limited to, medical insurance (PPO and HD), dental and vision insurance, Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Savings Account (FSA), life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, disability leave programs, parental leave program, paid holidays, and paid vacation time. The Company provides an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) that offers support in personal wellness, including work-life services. ABS Bureau also offers a 401K plan with a generous company match, subject to plan requirements.

Equal Opportunity

ABS Bureau is committed to the equal employment opportunity of its employees and prohibits discrimination against any employee or qualified applicant based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status or veteran status, or other non-work-related characteristics that may be protected under the law of the Federal Government or specific state employment laws.

Notice

ABS and Affiliated Companies (ABS) will not pay a fee to any third-party agency without a valid ABS Master Service Agreement (MSA) authorized and signed by Human Resources. Any resume, CV, application, or other forms of candidate submission provided to any employee of ABS without a valid MSA on file will be considered property of ABS, and no fee will be paid.

Other

This job description is not intended, and should not be construed, to be an all-inclusive list of responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions associated with the job of the incumbent. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the principal job elements essential for making a fair decision regarding the pay structure of the job. #ogjs