Cloud Architecture & Innovation Lead

Wellmark-Blue-Cross-and-Blue-Shiel; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is seeking an experienced Architecture leader to drive incubation of data center capabilities and translate emerging technologies into scalable, production‑ready solutions. You will lead architects through discovery, proof‑of‑concept, and transition, partnering across engineering, security, operations, product, and governance teams.

The role emphasizes disciplined innovation, measurable outcomes, and collaboration with enterprise strategy to shape the future of

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or related field, or direct and applicable work experience.
• Minimum 10 years experience in an IT environment with a minimum of 7 years of architecture experience, including advanced knowledge of infrastructure and platform architecture, development methodologies, and solution design.
• Strong relationship management skills and demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships across architecture, data center engineering, infrastructure, security, operations, product, and vendor teams.
• Proven experience leading architecture teams and advancing enterprise-scale capabilities from concept through validation and transition.
• Experience with hybrid cloud and on-premises platforms, automation, security, resilience, and data center operations.
• Experience operating in a SAFe environment, supporting Agile Release Trains.
• Willingness to travel up to 5%.

Responsibilities

• Lead incubation of new architecture capabilities at the data center level from discovery to production.
• Guide teams through discovery, proof-of-concept, validation, and transition to production‑ready services.
• Establish guardrails, reference patterns, and adoption pathways for scalable capabilities.
• Partner with engineering, infrastructure, security, operations, product, and enterprise architecture to align experiments with business outcomes.
• Build an environment that encourages disciplined innovation, rapid learning, and responsible handoffs.

Skills

TOGAF

AWS Architect Pro

Azure Architect Expert

Leadership

SAFe

10+ years IT

Architecture experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Job description

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is seeking an experienced Architecture leader to drive incubation of data center capabilities and translate emerging technologies into scalable, production‑ready solutions. You will lead architects through discovery, proof‑of‑concept, and transition, partnering across engineering, security, operations, product, and governance teams.

The role emphasizes disciplined innovation, measurable outcomes, and collaboration with enterprise strategy to shape the future of