Enterprise Architect, Principal

Choice Hotels International; Scottsdale (AZ); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Paid time off and holidays

Retirement benefits

Employee recognition programs

Hotel discounts

Job summary

Choice Hotels International is seeking a Principal Enterprise Architect to guide architecture strategy across platforms and technology domains, aligning with business priorities and modernization objectives. You will lead cloud modernization, platform engineering, and AI adoption while partnering with stakeholders to ensure governance and security.

This is a hybrid role with a strong strategic impact. You will engage across enterprise teams to establish guardrails, reference architectures, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or related field; master’s preferred.
• At least 10 years of experience in software development, enterprise architecture, or related technical environment.
• Experience designing enterprise-class systems including cloud platforms, API-based architectures, and non-functional requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own enterprise architecture strategy across platforms, business capabilities, and technology domains.
• Define and govern architecture standards, reference architectures, integration patterns, and cloud service patterns.
• Lead modernization initiatives including cloud modernization, platform engineering, data, and AI adoption.
• Partner with stakeholders to align investments with business objectives and governance requirements.
• Establish architecture guardrails for AI-enabled systems and enterprise AI platforms.
• Assess current and future-state architectures and define roadmaps for modernization and platform growth.
• Drive proofs-of-concept and architectural prototypes to guide investment decisions.
• Serve as trusted advisor for strategic initiatives and EA practice maturity.

Skills

Enterprise architecture

Cloud platforms

AI/Generative AI

OpenAPI/Swagger

Kafka

Security/compliance

Agile/Scrum

Stakeholder influence

Roadmapping

Solution architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Eng

Master's degree preferred

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

OpenAI/Bedrock

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Job description

** This role is not eligible for sponsorship AND is four days onsite hybrid at our N. Scottsdale office **

Who are we looking for?

Choice Hotels, one of the world’s largest lodging franchisors, has an exciting new opportunity as our Principal Enterprise Architect in the Enterprise Architecture team. The Enterprise Architecture team connects business strategy with technology execution by defining architecture direction, standards, roadmaps, and guardrails for enterprise platforms, business capabilities, cloud services, data platforms, integrations, and AI-enabled solutions. As a key member of this team, you will shape enterprise technology strategy, guide modernization, and help Choice adopt scalable, secure, resilient, and future-ready technology capabilities.

Are you a strategic technology leader who can translate business priorities into architecture direction, influence stakeholders, and guide modern platforms, cloud-native solutions, and AI-enabled capabilities?

Your Responsibilities

• Own enterprise architecture strategy across platforms, business capabilities, and technology domains, ensuring alignment with business priorities, modernization objectives, and long-term technology strategy.
• Define and govern architecture standards, reference architectures, integration patterns, API strategies, cloud service patterns, and enterprise solution guardrails.
• Lead architecture strategy and adoption planning for cloud modernization, platform engineering, developer enablement, data-driven decision making, generative AI, intelligent agents, and automation capabilities.
• Partner with Business Relationship Management, Product, Technology, Security, Privacy, Risk, Data, Engineering, and operational stakeholders to align technology investments with business objectives and governance requirements.
• Establish architecture patterns and guardrails for AI-enabled systems, enterprise AI platforms, intelligent automation, orchestration capabilities, and emerging AI technologies.
• Assess current-state and future-state architectures, identify practical transition states, and define short- and long-term roadmaps for modernization, platform growth, AI adoption, and enterprise capability maturity.
• Drive proof-of-concepts, architectural prototypes, technology assessments, and tradeoff analysis to validate future-state capabilities and inform enterprise investment decisions.
• Serve as a trusted advisor and technical leader for strategic initiatives, architecture reviews, solution direction, stakeholder decision-making, and Enterprise Architecture practice maturity.

Your Experience, Skills & Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or a related field required; equivalent experience may be considered. Master’s degree preferred.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience in software development, information systems, enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or a related technical environment.
• Experience designing and implementing enterprise-class systems, including distributed systems, cloud platforms, API-based architectures, messaging patterns, application boundaries, and non-functional requirements such as scalability, availability, security, resilience, observability, and supportability.
• Experience defining architecture strategy, standards, roadmaps, governance frameworks, and reference architectures across cloud, data, integration, application, platform engineering, modernization, and AI domains.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, or Microsoft Azure; familiarity with enterprise AI platforms such as AWS Bedrock, OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure AI, Google AI, or similar technologies preferred.
• Strong knowledge of architecture modeling, alternative analysis, tradeoff analysis, portfolio analysis, Agile/Scrum delivery, security and compliance considerations, and modern software delivery practices.
• Technical depth across service APIs,OpenAPI/Swagger, messaging technologies such as Kafka or Java Message Service, relational and non-relational databases, CI/CD pipelines, version control, performance tuning, and cloud deployment patterns.
• Demonstrates strategic thinking, executive communication, collaboration, influence without authority, sound judgment, problem solving, and the ability to lead through ambiguity.

Your Team

This is an individual contributor role that will report to theDirector ofEnterprise Architecture. You will collaborate with Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects, Product teams, Engineering, Security, Data, Privacy, Risk, operational stakeholders, and technology leaders on a regular basis.

**This role is not eligible for sponsorship**

Choice prioritizes our associate wellbeing by offering a comprehensive benefits program that is both competitive and flexible to help you achieve your wellbeing goals - here are just a few:

• Competitive compensation and benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Leave and paid time-off for holidays, vacation, personal, family, volunteer, sick, jury duty, bereavement, military, and religious observance
• Financial benefits for retirement and health savings
• Employee recognition programs
• Discounts at Choice hotels worldwide

About Choice

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With 7,500 hotels in 45+ countries and territories, we offer a range of high-quality lodging options in the upper upscale, upper midscale, midscale, extended stay, and economy segments. We’re the hotel company for those who choose to bet on themselves — the striver, the dreamer, the entrepreneur — because that’s who we are, too.

At Choice, we are united by the simple belief that tomorrow will even better than today — for associates, our company, and our franchisees. At our worldwide corporate headquarters in North Bethesda, Maryland, at our technology center in Scottsdale, Arizona, and through our associates around the globe, every voice is heard and every idea is listened to, no matter what area of the company they come from. We are united in supporting the entrepreneurial dreams of our thousands of franchise owners, which propels us forward — giving our work at Choice a purpose larger than our business.

Our corporate office locations:

North Bethesda, MD — Located at Pike & Rose, our worldwide headquarters is less than 15 miles from Washington, D.C., one block away from the North Bethesda Metro station, with easy access to I-495, complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.

Scottsdale, AZ — Located at the northwest corner of Loop 101, the Scottsdale office is home to our technology, eCommerce and customer service organizations, with easy access to complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.

Minneapolis, MN — Select roles are based in our Minneapolis office on Highway 394, near the intersection with Highway 100, only five minutes from downtown.

Field/Remote — Select roles designated as field/remote will require associates to work from a home office, connecting virtually with Choice team members and leadership on Zoom, with possible required travel depending on the role.

Choice’s Cultural Values

Welcome and Respect Everyone | Be Bold | Be Quick | Listen | Be Curious | Show Integrity

Choice’s Leadership Principles

Act with Intention | Lead with Authenticity | Grow & Deliver