Lead Enterprise Architect | Wellington | Permanent

Ministry of Social Development; Wellington; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A New Zealand government agency seeks a Lead Enterprise Architect to drive strategic architecture across platforms and technology roadmaps. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership in enterprise architecture, excellent stakeholder engagement skills, and a deep understanding of technology strategies. This role requires the ability to balance the complexity of governance while enabling teams to achieve their goals effectively.

Qualifications

• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills.
• Ability to balance cost, quality, and time.
• Excellent communication skills across audiences.
• Governance expertise with steering committees.
• Significant experience in enterprise architecture.
• Proven ability to deliver technology strategies.
• Understanding of enterprise architecture domains.
• Expertise in emerging technology monitoring.
• Experience in coaching and mentoring.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of architecture and systems capabilities.
• Shape technology roadmaps aligned with business goals.
• Monitor emerging technologies to improve outcomes.
• Build strategic stakeholder relationships.
• Provide expert advice across architecture domains.
• Champion quality management and continuous improvement.
• Drive alignment across platform and delivery teams.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Relationship management

Pragmatic thinking

Communication skills

Governance expertise

Enterprise architecture leadership

Technology strategy development

Emerging technology expertise

Job description

Lead strategic architecture across platforms, security, and identity and drive progress technology roadmaps at MSD. These roles will help bridge our departments strategies with our organisational Transformation Programme MSD -services for the Future.

Every week, around 1.4 million New Zealanders count on MSD for income support and services to connect with work, housing and better lives for their families.

Information Systems & Technology (IST) provides the technologies, innovation and expertise that enable MSD staff and partners to deliver these essential services, today and into the future.

We’re driving a once in a lifetime transformation of services for New Zealanders. IST is a key enabler of this change bringing together strategic thinkers, technology specialists and delivery leaders to design solutions and deliver change while keeping vital services running reliably every day.

About the role

Reporting to the General Manager Technology Strategy and Architecture, you’ll shape future-state architectures within IST, align technology roadmaps, ensuring architectural coherence across platform and delivery teams.

You’ll sit on the Architecture Review Board (TAC) and hold significant technical decision-making delegation, which you’ll use to ensure our work aligns with both our strategies and our business goals.

As a Lead Enterprise Architect, you’ll provide strategic and pragmatic architecture leadership across key domains such as Platforms, Shared Services, Technology Security, or Identity.

This role goes beyond traditional enterprise architecture—it is deeply embedded in the delivery space, geared toward generating action and enabling teams to achieve their goals while aligning with broader technology strategies.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of relevant architectures and systems capability strategies
• Shape and deliver technology roadmaps aligned with business goals
• Monitor and apply emerging technologies to improve outcomes
• Build and manage strategic stakeholder relationships
• Provide expert advice and direction across architecture domains
• Champion quality management and continuous improvement
• Support the uplift of architectural capability and practice maturity
• Drive delivery alignment across platform and delivery teams
• Exercise delegated technical decision-making authority through TAC participation

What you bring

• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills with the ability to proactively enable groups to have the right conversions and come to the right decisions.
• Pragmatic thinking and the ability to balance cost, quality, time and quantify trade-offs
• Excellent communication and influencing skills across technical and non-technical audiences
• Governance expertise working with Programme steering committees and ARBs
• Significant experience in enterprise architecture leadership in complex environments
• Proven ability to develop and deliver technology strategies and roadmaps
• A deep understanding of the core enterprise architecture and solution architecture domains.
• Expertise in emerging technology monitoring and adoption
• Proven experience in coaching, mentoring, and growing architectural capability

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is a people-centred organisation. We’re in communities across the motu, working with partners to help New Zealanders be safe, strong and independent.

We provide social policy and advice to government and assistance, including income, employment and housing support to people of all ages, families, whānau and communities.

MSD is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from disabled people and those who have lived experience with whānau, or the disability community.