Director, Enterprise Architecture

Countryway Insurance Co.; Richmond (VA); Hybrid; USD 194,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Ongoing job development & training

Medical and dental insurance from day

401K retirement plan

Paid Time Off

Job summary

Countryway Insurance Co. in Richmond, VA is seeking a Director of Enterprise Architecture to strategically design, govern, and evolve the company’s technology ecosystem in alignment with business goals and regulatory requirements.

The role defines standards, guides major technology decisions, and leads governance to prevent fragmentation while maximizing enterprise value across SaaS and on-prem systems. Mentorship and cross-team collaboration are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 10+ years of progressive experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or senior technical leadership roles.
• Experience defining enterprise-wide architecture standards and guiding platform or modernization initiatives in complex environments.
• Strong understanding of SaaS ecosystems, enterprise integration, data architectures, and identity and security considerations.
• Experience in regulated environments (insurance/financial services) with awareness of compliance and audit considerations.
• Proven ability to influence decisions across teams and leaders without relying solely on formal authority.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise architecture principles, standards, and reference patterns across domains (application, data, integration, identity, infrastructure).
• Establish and evolve target-state architecture to support business strategy and platform modernization.
• Evaluate proposed technologies, platforms, and vendors for architectural fit, scalability, and sustainability.
• Lead platform rationalization to reduce tool sprawl and improve ecosystem coherence.

Skills

Enterprise architecture

Solution architecture

Leadership

Influence decisions

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS/Engineering

Tools

TOGAF or equivalent

Job description

STATUS: Exempt

COMPENSATION RANGE: $194,000 - $205,000 Annually with up to 15% annual bonus potential.

LOCATION: Based out of our beautiful West Creek Office, located at 12580 West Creek Pkwy, Richmond, VA 23238.

Position Summary

The Director, Enterprise Architecture is responsible for intentionally designing, governing, and evolving Virginia Farm Bureau’s enterprise technology ecosystem to ensure alignment with business strategy, regulatory requirements, and long-term sustainability.

This role defines and enforces enterprise architecture principles, standards, and target-state direction across applications, data, integration, identity, and infrastructure. The Director serves as a strategic advisor to business and technology leadership and acts as a control point for major technology decisions to prevent fragmentation, reduce long-term risk, and maximize enterprise value.

While architecture artifacts are important, this role is fundamentally accountable for decision-making, stewardship, and governance, ensuring that technology investments strengthen the overall ecosystem rather than optimize individual solutions in isolation.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise architecture principles, standards, and reference patterns across application, data, integration, identity, and infrastructure domains.
• Establish and evolve target-state architecture to support business strategy, platform modernization, and long-term operational resilience.
• Evaluate proposed technologies, platforms, and vendors for architectural fit, overlap, scalability, and sustainability prior to acquisition or implementation.
• Lead platform rationalization efforts to reduce tool sprawl and improve ecosystem coherence over time.

Strategic Advisory & Enterprise Alignment

• Act as a trusted advisor to executive, business, and technology leaders on technology strategy, tradeoffs, and investment decisions.
• Provide architectural input to enterprise initiatives, major programs, and portfolio planning activities.
• Ensure architectural decisions balance near-term business needs with long-term flexibility, cost control, and risk reduction.

Integration, Data, and Platform Alignment

• Define enterprise integration and interoperability patterns, including APIs, workflows, and automation, to enable secure and reliable data and process flows across SaaS and on-premise systems.
• Partner with Data Governance, Data Engineering, and Cybersecurity teams to ensure architectural alignment with data protection, privacy, and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure architectural consistency supports reliable service delivery across a geographically distributed organization.

Governance, Risk, and Compliance Enablement

• Establish architecture governance processes that provide clear guardrails while enabling timely delivery.
• Partner with Audit, Cybersecurity, and Compliance teams to ensure architecture standards align with internal policies and external regulatory obligations.
• Document architectural decisions, standards, and approved exceptions in a manner suitable for executive and audit review.

Leadership & Team Development

• Provide leadership, coaching, and architectural direction to enterprise architects or related platform resources, as applicable.
• Mentor teams and individuals on enterprise thinking, architectural standards, and ecosystem-first decision making.
• Collaborate across delivery teams to ensure architectural intent is understood and applied during solution design and implementation.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or senior technical leadership roles.
• Demonstrated experience defining enterprise-wide architecture standards and guiding platform or modernization initiatives in complex environments.
• Strong understanding of SaaS ecosystems, enterprise integration, data architectures, and identity and security considerations.
• Experience working in regulated environments (e.g., insurance, financial services, or similar), with awareness of compliance and audit considerations.
• Proven ability to influence decisions across teams and leaders without relying solely on formal authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience leading or mentoring a small team of architects, engineers, or platform professionals in a formal or matrixed environment.
• Experience building or scaling small, high-leverage teams supporting enterprise standards, governance, or platform strategy.
• Familiarity with enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF or equivalent), applied pragmatically rather than dogmatically.
• Experience partnering closely with cybersecurity, data governance, and infrastructure leaders on enterprise-wide standards.
• Enterprise and systems-level thinking
• Strategic judgment and decision making
• Strong executive communication and influence skills
• Pragmatic governance mindset (guardrails, not roadblocks)
• Ability to translate complexity into clear, actionable guidance

Success Measures

• Reduced technology fragmentation and redundant platforms
• Adoption of clear, practical enterprise architecture standards
• Improved consistency in integration and data flows across systems
• Faster, more confident technology investment decisions
• Architecture that enables scalability, resilience, and compliance over time

BENEFITS OVERVIEW

At VA Farm Bureau, we provide an exceptional benefits package, including ongoing job development and support in all roles, paid training and continuing education reimbursement, medical and dental insurance available on your first day, generous employee 401K contribution, excellent Paid Time off (PTO) plan and more!

Virginia Farm Bureau Companies provide equal employment opportunity in all aspects of employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, gender, pregnancy, age, disability, orientation or veteran status.