Enterprise Architecture Practice Lead

Unitywater; Maroochydore; Hybrid; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexibility: Hybrid working

Wellbeing benefits

Learning and development opportunities

Diversity and inclusion

Job summary

Unitywater is seeking an Enterprise Architecture Practice Lead to translate strategic intent into practical architecture direction. This player-coach role balances architecture production (40%) with people leadership, governance, stakeholder engagement and practice improvement (60%).

You will lead architects across enterprise, data and security domains and mentor staff while delivering clear architecture decisions.

Qualifications

• Substantial senior experience in enterprise or solution architecture.
• Ability to translate strategy into architecture direction and transition plans.
• Strong systems thinking across OT and IT, including cyber security.
• TOGAF or equivalent certification.
• Willingness to travel between Unitywater sites with a current C Class Driver’s Licence.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Enterprise Architecture Practice, improving capability and governance.
• Translate strategic intent into practical architecture direction and roadmaps.
• Direct architecture work across enterprise, data and security domains.
• Collaborate with governance boards and stakeholders to ensure timely decisions.
• Build trust and activate the Technology and Digital Plan through architecture decisions.
• Mentor senior technical staff and manage performance within the team.

Skills

Enterprise architecture

Stakeholder engagement

People leadership

TOGAF certified

Cloud & security

AI architecture awareness

Governance

Education

Bachelor's degree in technology/engineering/IT

Tools

Architecture modelling tools

Security modelling practices

AI governance tools

Job description

About the role

Due to an internal promotion we are now looking for an Enterprise Architecture Practice Lead. You will translate strategic intent into practical architecture direction. This is a player-coach role, with an expected balance of approximately 40 per cent architecture production and 60 per cent people leadership, governance, stakeholder engagement and practice improvement.

You will lead a team of architects across enterprise, data and security domains and coordinate specialist support where required. You will personally develop material conceptual, target-state and reference architectures, improve the quality and timeliness of architecture decisions, and help create better outcomes for customers, team members and the organisation.

You will set clear direction, connect perspectives from across stakeholder groups, constructively challenge weak decisions and remain accountable for architecture quality and practice outcomes. You will join a developing practice with capable people and established governance foundations, while leading targeted uplift in capability, methods, stakeholder engagement and documentation practices. Your early priority will be to build trust, then use that trust to activate the Technology and Digital Plan through clear, timely and practical architecture decisions.

About the team

The Strategy and Architecture team connects Unitywater’s business strategies and Technology and Digital Plan with the architecture choices needed to deliver them. The team shapes how business capabilities, information, applications, integration, infrastructure, cyber security, operational technology and emerging technologies work together as Unitywater matures as a digital utility.

What you will do

• Collaborate on the activation of the Technology and Digital Plan by developing and facilitating priority architecture decisions, target states and transition roadmaps.
• Personally lead material or cross-domain enterprise architecture work while directing and assuring work produced by the practice and specialist contractors.
• Shape initiatives early by clarifying outcomes, capabilities, dependencies, constraints, viable options and whole-of-life implications before material commitments are made.
• Connect business capabilities, information, applications, integration, infrastructure, cloud, cyber security and operational technology into coherent enterprise-level architectures.
• Provide architecture leadership across operational technology and integration, bringing information technology and operational technology together securely and reliably. Shape the foundations and practical adoption pathways needed for emerging artificial intelligence capabilities.
• Act as a key stakeholder in the Architecture Review Board, which reviews high-level architecture designs and decisions, and support effective design assurance and conformance.
• Develop practical principles, standards, guardrails, reusable patterns, reference architectures and traceable decision records.
• Lead and develop the Enterprise Architecture Practice, improving capability, methods, stakeholder engagement, documentation quality, work allocation and accountability.
• Clearly communicate options, risks, costs, benefits, operability, sequencing and lifecycle implications to leaders and governance forums.
• Identify opportunities to reuse capabilities, simplify the technology environment, reduce duplication and address technical debt and lifecycle risk.

About you

Our One Unitywater behaviours - Create the Future, Care Together, and Own It – define how we work together at Unitywater. To contribute to this, you will demonstrate the following skills and qualities for the role.

What you will need

• Substantial senior experience in enterprise or solution architecture within a complex technology environment, including personally developing conceptual, target-state and reference architectures.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business strategy and outcomes into coherent architecture direction, investment choices and practical transition pathways.
• Strong systems thinking and technical judgement, with demonstrated technical depth in operational technology and integration architecture, including connecting operational and enterprise environments securely and reliably.
• Experience across information technology and operational technology boundaries, including SCADA or comparable control environments, operational data flows, cyber security, resilience, safety and critical-infrastructure considerations.
• Applied understanding of artificial intelligence and its architecture implications, including data readiness, integration, security, privacy, governance, operational risk and human oversight. You do not need to be an artificial intelligence engineer, but must be able to assess use cases, shape safe adoption pathways and challenge specialist advice.
• Proven people leadership experience, including coaching senior technical professionals, setting quality expectations, allocating work and managing performance.
• Strong influence and communication skills, including facilitating difficult trade-offs and preparing clear recommendations for senior and non-technical audiences.
• Experience applying architecture principles, standards, patterns and governance proportionately.
• TOGAF or similar certification, or demonstrated equivalent framework experience.
• A current C Class Driver’s Licence and ability to travel between Unitywater sites when required.

What will set you apart

• A relevant tertiary qualification in technology, engineering, information systems or a related discipline.
• Experience in water, energy, utilities, regulated critical infrastructure or another asset-intensive environment.
• Experience using Architecture Review Boards, design authorities, repositories, modelling tools and traceable decision records.
• Experience presenting architecture strategies, investment recommendations or business cases to executive or Board-level audiences.
• Relevant professional certification in architecture, operational technology, artificial intelligence, integration, cyber security, cloud, data or technology governance.

Working at Unitywater

• Flexibility: We value flexibility and support work-life balance with hybrid and flexible working, purchased annual leave and access to floating public holidays. Tell us what this looks like for you!
• Wellbeing: We offer several initiatives to support your wellbeing, such as discounted private health insurance, salary packaging, employee assistance program, and access to retailer discounts and benefits.
• Learning and Development: We offer a range of opportunities to feed your curiosity such as: Walk on Country experience, study assistance, and access to a dedicated learning program and professional memberships.
• Diversity: We celebrate, value and include people of all backgrounds, gender and expressions, sexualities, cultures, bodies and abilities. We invite you to join our dedicated employee networks focused on First Nations Reconciliation, LGBTQIA+, CALD, Gender, Life Stage, Disability and Accessibility.

About us

Unitywater operates in one of Australia’s most exceptional environments in terms of natural beauty, geographical and demographic breadth. We operate on Kabi Kabi, Jinibara and Turrbal Country, proudly providing safe and reliable water to customers in Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Noosa. We are a water utility serving one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

We think a pretty good job starts here.

Unitywater respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waterways in which we live, work and operate, the Kabi Kabi, Jinibara and Turrbal peoples. We honour their enduring connection to these places and their deep cultural, spiritual and environmental knowledge and stewardship over the waterways that sustain us all. We pay our deepest respects to Elders past and present, who hold the wisdom, traditions and stories of their people.

For further information please contact the Talent Acquisition team at *******@unitywater.com

If you would like to speak to a team member about our commitment to diversity and inclusion, please contact our Inclusion Specialist **********@unitywater.com