Information Technology Group - Section Head (Digital Architecture)

BDO Unibank; Metro Manila; On-site; PHP 1,800,000 - 3,200,000; Full time

Job summary

BDO Unibank is seeking a senior leader to define, govern and assure end-to-end solution architecture for retail digital front-end applications. You will align solutions with business goals, enterprise standards and security requirements while guiding multi-disciplinary teams.

The role focuses on architecture governance, transition roadmaps, and value-driven decisions across digital banking channels, with onsite work in Ortigas. Strong leadership and stakeholder skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in technology delivery and architecture or related field.
• 15+ years in technology delivery/enterprise architecture, preferably in financial services.
• 10+ years leading complex digital, online transactions, payments, or customer-channel initiatives.
• 5+ years managing architects, leads, vendors, and partners.
• Willing to work onsite in Ortigas, Philippines.

Responsibilities

• Define, govern, and assure end-to-end solution architecture across retail digital front-end applications.
• Own governance and design assurance for digital initiatives from service definition to transition.
• Define transition roadmaps, patterns, and guardrails for digital banking channels.
• Provide executive-grade tech consulting, options, risk assessment, and architecture decisions.
• Manage architecture escalations, dependencies, and vendor deliverables.
• Build internal architecture capability through coaching and standardization.

Skills

Solution architecture

Enterprise delivery

Digital modernization

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science/IT/engineering/IS

Postgraduate degree or executive tech/management education

Job description

Job Summary

• Lead the Digital Architecture section responsible for defining, governing, and assuring end-to-end solution architecture across assigned retail digital front-end applications. The role ensures solutions are business-aligned, enterprise-architecture compliant, secure, scalable, resilient, operable, and cost-effective.
• Own solution architecture governance and design assurance for initiatives related to digital under Retail Channel Applications department from service definition through service build and service transition.
• Define transition roadmaps, reusable patterns, and architecture guardrails for digital banking, mobile/web channels and related front-end applications
• Provide executive-grade technology consulting, solution options, economic framing, risk assessment, and architecture decision support for senior IT and business stakeholders.
• Manage architecture escalations, design risks, technical dependencies, and vendor architecture deliverables
• Build internal architecture capability by coaching solution architects, standardizing methods and artifacts, and reducing avoidable dependency on vendor architects.

Key Responsibilities

Accountability to ITG

• Take accountability for complete, reviewable, traceable solution architecture deliverables and work with ITG units to support seamless delivery from service definition through implementation decisioning.
• Ensure solutions comply with IT SDLC, governance, security, data, infrastructure, DevSecOps, production readiness, integration, resiliency, operational, and transition standards in partnership with relevant ITG teams.
• Lead architecture reviews, solution optioning, ARB submissions, decision reviews, and escalation of architecture issues with clear options, recommendations, risks, and decision points.
• Maintain reusable standards, patterns, templates, guardrails, documented architecture decisions, and decision records for the Retail Digital portfolio.
• Identify technical debt, duplicate capabilities, resiliency gaps, and non-standard implementations, then define remediation plans.

Accountability to Business

• Translate business strategy/scope/requirements into feasible, secure, scalable solutions while ensuring it aligns with BDO next-gen architecture and business outcomes.
• Assign the right architecture resources to support scope validation, requirements development, and delivery ownership.
• Manage business and PIP escalations, including unresolved design conflicts, cross-platform dependencies, and vendor solution gaps.
• Present solution options with trade-offs, costs, risks, controls, dependencies, and recommended decision paths.
• Support approval forums and executive discussions with architecture papers, decision decks, vendor assessments, and delivery-risk summaries

Accountability to Unit

• Own the quality of architecture delivery across the Retail Digital Banking portfolio.
• Support the planning and capacity management, staffing, allocation, and resource leverage across delivery teams and projects.
• Build team capability through competency standards, onboarding, training, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and performance reviews.
• Assign architecture leads based on domain complexity, risk, criticality, and required technology expertise.
• Act as escalation point for delivery leads and team members, ensuring timely issue resolution and risk management support.
• Oversee vendors and Sis to ensure architecture deliverables align with BDO target-state architecture, controls, standards, and operational requirements.
• Support production incident reviews where architecture intervention is needed for root cause, recurrence prevention, resiliency, security, or integration design

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Engineering, Information Systems, or other discipline relevant to technology delivery and architecture. Postgraduate degree or executive technology / management education is an advantage
• 15 or more years of technology delivery, solution architecture, enterprise application, or systems integration experience, preferably in financial services.
• 10 or more years leading complex digital, online transaction, payments, lending, integration, or customer-channel initiatives.
• 5 or more years managing architects, senior technical leads, delivery leads, vendors, and system integration partners.
• Must be willing to work onsite and be assigned in Ortigas