Lead Microsoft Architect

Jambalaya Group; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Jambalaya Group seeks a versatile Enterprise Architect to unify the Microsoft investment across security, low-code development, AI, data, collaboration, and endpoint management. The role demands strategic vision, hands-on engineering, and the ability to treat the Microsoft stack as a single platform rather than a collection of tools.

You will define standards, lead architecture programs, and mentor engineers and architects while collaborating with security, governance, and business leaders to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (4-year) in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
• 7+ years of relevant work experience required.
• Broad, hands-on expertise across the Microsoft ecosystem, with demonstrated depth.

Responsibilities

• Develop reference architectures, standards, and roadmaps that treat Microsoft as one connected platform.
• Lead technology assessments, proofs-of-concept, and vendor evaluations.
• Mentor engineers and architects and present strategy to senior leadership.
• Direct governance of Power Platform, with emphasis on Power Apps and process automation.
• Define Copilot adoption strategy across Microsoft 365 and broader platform.
• Partner with security and governance to manage data access, risk and compliance for AI tools.
• Provide architecture leadership for collaboration stack (Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive).
• Drive Unified Endpoint Management and modern device management (Intune).

Job description

About Our Company

We’re a diversified financial services leader with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management, administration and advisement as of year-end 2024. Our team of 22,000 people across 19 countries, serves more than 3.5 million individual, small business and institutional clients. We are a longstanding leader in financial planning and advice, a global asset manager and an insurer. Our unwavering focus on our clients and strong financial foundation connects each of our unique businesses – Ameriprise Financial, Columbia Threadneedle Investments and RiverSource Insurance and Annuities. Here, we foster meaningful careers, invest in the future, and make a difference for clients, institutions and communities around the world.

Job Description

This role requires a versatile technologist with a comprehensive command of the Microsoft ecosystem across security, low-code development, artificial intelligence, data, collaboration, and endpoint management. The position is not a single-platform specialization; it demands an architect capable of treating the enterprise Microsoft investment as one integrated platform rather than a collection of discrete tools.

Key Responsibilities

The successful candidate will possess broad, hands‑on expertise with demonstrated depth in several priority domains: Microsoft, Power Platform (Power Apps), Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Fabric, collaboration technologies, Security, and modern workplace platforms. The architect will define strategy, establish standards, and direct teams toward secure, scalable, and modern solutions.

Architecture, Strategy & Leadership

• Develop reference architectures, standards, and roadmaps that treat Microsoft as one connected platform.
• Lead technology assessments, proofs‑of‑concept, and vendor evaluations.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to business and technology leaders and mentor engineers and architects.
• Present strategy and recommendations to senior leadership.

Power Platform & Low-Code Development

• Direct the strategy, governance, and adoption of the Power Platform, with emphasis on Power Apps and process automation (Power Automate).
• Establish standards, guardrails, and an operating model that enables safe business‑led development without sprawl or risk.
• Identify opportunities for low-code solutions to replace manual processes or costly custom development.

Microsoft Copilot & AI

• Define and lead the Copilot adoption strategy across Microsoft 365 and the broader platform.
• Evaluate emerging AI capabilities, identify business use cases, and govern responsible rollout.
• Partner with security and governance functions to manage data access, risk, and compliance for AI tools.

Microsoft Fabric & Data

• Establish the enterprise approach to Microsoft Fabric, including data integration, analytics, and reporting.
• Partner with data and analytics teams to align Fabric capabilities with the broader Microsoft platform strategy.
• Mature this capability over time as adoption expands.

Microsoft Security & Compliance

• Apply a security‑conscious lens across the Microsoft stack, with working knowledge of Microsoft Defender, Entra ID, and Purview.
• Partner with the cybersecurity function to embed security and data protection into platform decisions and support Zero Trust principles, including secure collaboration and endpoint solutions.
• Support compliance and information protection initiatives, leveraging Microsoft Purview Information Protection and Insider Risk Management.
• Ensure solutions meet regulatory, operational, and security requirements.

Collaboration & Modern Work

• Provide architecture leadership for the collaboration stack — Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive.
• Advance communication, knowledge sharing, and productivity, with attention to user experience.
• Maintain core productivity and messaging services (including Exchange Online) as a stable foundation, secondary to the scope of this role.

Modern Workplace Platforms

• Provide architecture leadership for Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) and device platforms, including Microsoft Intune.
• Advance a modern management strategy that improves endpoint security, reliability, and the end‑user experience.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (4‑year) in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field; or related work experience.
• 7+ years of relevant work experience required.
• Broad, hands‑on expertise across the Microsoft ecosystem, with demonstrated depth