Director Architecture Operations

Sherwin-Williams; Cleveland (OH); Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Sherwin-Williams is seeking a Director of Architecture Operations to run the operating backbone of the architecture function, including processes, data, tooling, reporting and budget. The role ensures requests are routed to the right owners, decisions are recorded, and the function operates as a cohesive practice rather than a collection of individuals.

The position leads governance, portfolio data, application rationalization, technology lifecycle, and the innovation intake, while owning

Qualifications

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Experience in IT architecture governance and program office.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in IT or equivalent 12 years IT experience.
• 9+ years in technology; 3+ years hands-on engineering/delivery; 5+ years in operations/governance.

Responsibilities

• Governance Operations: run the architecture review board, ensure requests are routed, decided on time and recorded.
• Portfolio Data & Tooling: own the architecture management platform and data, set data model, quality rules and refresh cadence.
• Application Rationalization: run the rationalization program, manage baseline, retire, consolidate and invest roadmap.
• Technology Acquisition & Lifecycle: govern new technology requests, overlap checks, risk reviews, renewal calendars.
• Innovation Intake: manage front door for emerging tech, pilot tracking and hand-off to standard adoption.
• Operating Cadence & Reporting: own annual planning, budget cycle, scorecard, and decision packages.
• Budget & Capacity: oversee budget, tooling contracts, demand view and capacity across portfolios.
• People: lead analysts and architects, development and hiring.

Skills

Technology leadership

Budget & financial fluency

Vendor management

Governance & process

Data management & reporting

Stakeholder communication

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology

12+ years IT experience in lieu of degree

Tools

Architecture management platform

Job description

Job Description

The Director, Architecture Operations runs the operating backbone of the architecture function: the processes, data, tooling, reporting and budget that turn architecture decisions into portfolio action. Portfolio and Practice Architects own the architecture itself: standards, patterns, reference architectures, future-state designs and the content of the business capability model. This role owns how that work is requested, routed, decided, recorded, published, measured and funded. It does not set technical direction. It makes sure the direction that is set gets executed, on time and on the record, and that the function operates as a practice rather than a collection of individuals.

Responsibilities

• Governance Operations: Run the architecture review board as a process: intake and triage, agenda and scheduling, the decision log, and action and exception tracking through closure. Standards and the decisions themselves belong to the architects; this role makes sure every request reaches the right owner, is decided on time and is recorded
• Portfolio Data & Tooling: Own the architecture management platform and the data in it: application and technology inventories, ownership and lifecycle data, and the mapping of business capabilities to applications and technologies. Set the data model, quality rules and refresh cadence so planning, rationalization and acquisition decisions run on one trusted dataset. Own the publishing workflow for standards and patterns (templates, review dates, retirement of stale content); authors own the content
• Application Rationalization: Run the rationalization program: the inventory baseline, the retire, consolidate and invest roadmap, business cases and decommission plans, and tracking of realized savings and risk reduction against plan
• Technology Acquisition & Lifecycle: Own intake and governance for new technology and vendor requests: overlap checks against the inventory, routing to the owning architect for standards fit, coordination of third-party risk review with Information Security and Procurement, and the renewal and end-of-life calendar that keeps the inventory current
• Innovation Intake: Run the front door for emerging technology: intake and triage, proof-of-concept funding gates and exit criteria, pilot tracking, and the hand-off from a successful pilot to the owning Practice Architect for adoption as a standard. Technical evaluation sits with the architects
• Operating Cadence & Reporting: Own the function's operating rhythm: the annual planning calendar and its tie-in to the capital and budget cycle, the operating review, offsite preparation, and the architecture scorecard (decision cycle time, exception rate, portfolio health, rationalization savings, acquisition throughput). Produce decision packages leadership can act on
• Budget & Capacity: Own the function's budget, tooling contracts and research and advisory subscriptions, and the view of architecture demand and capacity across portfolios: who is assigned where, utilization, and where the function is short
• People: Manage and develop the analysts and architects assigned to each area: direction, performance, career development and hiring. Build the analyst-to-architect pipeline

This is a remote position.

This position is not eligible for sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, including conversion to H1-B visa.

Job duties include contact with other employees and access confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s staff, employees, and business relationships.

Must be eighteen years or older

This position is also eligible for bonus based on performance and subject to the terms of the Company’s applicable plans.

Qualifications

• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employmentwithout now or in the future requiring sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., OPT, CPT, H1B, EB-1, etc.)
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in the information technology (IT) field. In lieu of a degree, at least 12 years of experience in IT architecture.
• 9+ years in technology
• 3+ years of hands‑on engineering or delivery work
• 5+ years in technology operations, IT governance, application portfolio management, vendor management or a program office
• 5+ years leading analysts or program staff, including hiring and performance management
• Experience running an enterprise intake or governance process end to end: triage, decision records, follow-through to closure, and the metrics that show it works
• Hands‑on administration of an application portfolio or architecture management platform: data model, data quality, integrations and reporting
• Experience with technology acquisition: vendor evaluation, contract and renewal management, and third‑party risk review alongside Security and Procurement
• Financial fluency: total cost of ownership, business cases, savings tracking and management of a departmental budget

Travel

20%

About Us

At Sherwin‑Williams, our purpose is to inspire and improve the world by coloring and protecting what matters. Our paints, coatings and innovative solutions make the places and spaces in our world brighter and stronger. Your skills, talent and passion make it possible to live this purpose, and for customers and our business to achieve great results. Sherwin‑Williams is a place that takes its stability, growth and momentum and translates it to possibility for our people. Our people are behind the strength of our success, and we invest and support you in:

Life … with rewards, benefits and the flexibility to enhance your health and well‑being

Career … with opportunities to learn, develop new skills and grow your contribution

Connection … with an inclusive team and commitment to our own and broader communities

It's all here for you... let’s Create Your Possible

At Sherwin‑Williams, part of our mission is to help our employees and their families live healthier, save smarter and feel better. This starts with a wide range of world‑class benefits designed for you. From retirement to health care, from total well‑being to your daily commute—it matters to us. A general description of benefits offered can be found at http://www.myswbenefits.com/ . Click on “Candidates” to view benefit offerings that you may be eligible for if you are hired as a Sherwin‑Williams employee.

Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case and will impact where actual compensation may fall within the stated wage range. The wage range listed for this role takes into account the wide range of factors considered in making compensation decisions including skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. The wage range, other compensation, and benefits information listed is accurate as of the date of this posting. The Company reserves the right to modify this information at any time, with or without notice, subject to applicable law.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws including with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act where applicable.

Sherwin‑Williams is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, age, pregnancy, genetic information, creed, marital status or any other consideration prohibited by law or by contract.

As a VEVRAA Federal Contractor, Sherwin‑Williams requests state and local employment services delivery systems to provide priority referral of Protected Veterans.

Please be aware, Sherwin‑Williams recruiting team members will never request a candidate to provide a payment, ask for financial information, or sensitive personal information like national identification numbers, date of birth, or bank account numbers during the application process.