Chief Architect

RBC; Toronto; On-site; CAD 125,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services organization in Toronto is seeking a Chief Application & Integration Architect to define architecture standards and oversee the Developer Platform. This role involves managing a hands-on team and collaborating across various departments to enhance operational excellence. Ideal candidates should hold a degree in a relevant field with extensive experience in scalable application architecture and cloud platforms. The position offers competitive compensation and flexible work arrangements.

Benefits

Flexible work/life balance options

World-class training program in financial services

Comprehensive Total Rewards Program

Qualifications

• Minimum 12-15 years of experience in Technology including CI/CD pipelines.
• 5+ years with highly scalable application architectures.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Define technology standards & architecture patterns.
• Oversee collaboration with DevOps on architecture.
• Manage hands-on team of engineers/developers.

Skills

Applications Architecture

Application Security

Cloud Computing

Critical Thinking

Data Architecture

Decision Making

Detail-Oriented

Enterprise Application Delivery

Industry Knowledge

Multi-Level Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS

Azure

Job description

Job Description

What Is The Opportunity?

The Chief Application & Integration Architect, Architecture Standards & Enforcement, defines the architecture standards within the Application and Integration domain, in partnership with DevOps and AppDev leaders. The Senior Director will also establish automated solutions to enforce architecture standards & requirements across domains (Security, Data Analytics & AI, etc.), leveraging preventative scanning in our Helios Developer Platform, as well as post‑deployment scanning to detect standards drift. The Senior Director will be responsible for maintaining Enterprise Architecture tooling and modernizing the tooling stack (as well as underlying processes) to drive new features and enhancements that will allow for streamlined management of our enterprise application portfolio, solution & platform architectures, and technology landscape. The engineering team will also be consolidated underneath the Senior Director to ensure Enterprise Architecture tooling knowledge & expertise is shared, as well as leading the development of code patterns. The Senior Director will also play a key leadership role in the Intelligent Operations initiative, on the architecture & engineering, to deliver end‑to‑end visibility, insights, and automated actions to improve the operational excellence, availability, and resiliency across our critical business processes.

What Will You Do?

• Define technology standards & architecture patterns within the Application & Integration domain, such as standard programming languages, tooling, etc. (including the governance of technology & patterns that are specialized and not permitted)
• Oversee and collaborate with DevOps on a target state architecture for the Developer Platform and a delivery roadmap to iteratively mature the platform towards that target state
• Spearhead critical decision points in our Developer Platform, such as “build vs buy” for capabilities, exit strategies, etc., and regularly re‑evaluate decisions based on the changing RBC and external technology landscape
• Contribute & review significant changes to the Developer Platform in order to ensure continual alignment with our architecture standards
• Establish architectural patterns, reference architecture, and opinionated, reusable code patterns that demonstrate adherence to standards & requirements, in an easily accessible and consumable Innersource repository for our technology community (developers, data scientists, etc.)
• Translate architecture standards & requirements into enforceable tests/scans that can be applied at the development and operation stages
• Integrate the continuous testing/scanning of applications & platforms against architecture standards (requirements) within our Developer Platform (“Helios”) and other control points (e.g., configuration management tools, OPA, etc.)
• Partner with AppDev, Data + AI, and DevOps leaders on architecture & engineering of the Intelligent Operations engine, including the data instrumentation of various data sources to provide real‑time insights, recommendations, and automated actions
• Apply a consumer‑driven lens to deliver against prioritized business processes and capabilities, set by our AppDev leaders that will drive improvements to operational excellence across multiple dimensions (mean time to recovery, number of incidents, availability, etc.)
• Support and modernize Enterprise Architecture tooling (currently IIPM, Athena, and techScape) to streamline governance processes, with accurate & reliable data pulled from upstream source systems and live pipelines/source code/container repositories
• Expand technology governance process to include both technology & business capabilities for holistic technology portfolio management across business units and functions
• Manage a hands‑on team of engineers/developers that are able to build & support modernized Enterprise Architecture tooling and implement testing/scanning against architecture standards in multiple platforms and layers of our technology stack
• Collaborate with Product Management groups to prioritize and deliver against a roadmap of features & bug fixes for customers across the enterprise

What Do You Need To Succeed?

Must have:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum 12‑15 years of experience in Technology including enterprise CI/CD pipelines, application security, and quality engineering/testing
• 5+ years of experience with highly scalable application architectures
• Proven track record of successfully leading and managing teams in a large, complex organization, preferably in the financial services industry.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to effectively interact with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Experienced with either modern programming languages e.g., Java, Python, and/or similar languages
• Knowledge of cloud (AWS, Azure) and on‑premises infrastructure platforms (OCP)
• Leading a team of developers/engineers with a delivery‑focused, agile mindset
• Strong understanding of open systems architecture including integrations with vendor packages, relational databases, message queues, web services, and SaaS technologies

Nice‑to‑have

• Experience in a matrix environment
• Ability to facilitate between and influence key decision‑makers
• Strategic thinker with excellent interpersonal skills to work across functions and businesses

What’s in it for you?

We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference in our communities, and achieving mutual success.

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation, commissions, and stock where applicable
• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities
• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact
• Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high‑performing team
• A world‑class training program in financial services
• Flexible work/life balance options
• Opportunities to do challenging work

Job Skills

Applications Architecture, Application Security, Cloud Computing, Critical Thinking, Data Architecture, Decision Making, Detail‑Oriented, Enterprise Application Delivery, Industry Knowledge, Multi‑Level Communication

Additional Job Details

Address: RBC WATERPARK PLACE, 88 QUEENS QUAY W:TORONTO

City: Toronto

Country: Canada

Work hours/week: 37.5

Employment Type: Full time

Platform: TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONS

Job Type: Regular

Pay Type: Salaried

Posted Date: 2025-04-09

Application Deadline: 2026-02-26

Note

Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

Inclusion and Equal Opportunity Employment

At RBC, we believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.

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