Manager - IT Solutions Architecture

Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc.; Taylor (TX); Hybrid; USD 164,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

ERCOT in Taylor, TX seeks a Manager of IT Solutions Architecture to lead a team of architects, set technical direction, and collaborate with cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, and DevOps. The role blends hands-on design reviews with people management and capacity forecasting.

The ideal candidate will have enterprise cloud experience (Azure preferred), security governance knowledge, and a track record of growing teams while guiding architecture roadmaps and strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, MIS or related field (Required)
• Master’s Degree in Computer Science, MIS or related field (Preferred)
• Two of the following IT disciplines: solution architecture, application development, data management, or IT operations
• Hands-on experience with major public cloud workloads
• Knowledge of security architecture, networking, and governance frameworks
• Ability to review designs, arbitrate disagreements, and establish architecture standards
• Experience leading architectural standards and driving adoption
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools is a plus

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of application and solution architects.
• Build monthly capacity forecasts and provide to project teams for planning.
• Balance work across projects and operations; escalate when needed.
• Evolve IT solutions architecture processes, governance, and standards.
• Translate IT strategic plan into actionable roadmaps.
• Assess current IT environment for deficiencies and risk; propose remediation.
• Oversee roadmaps, reference architectures, and design deliverables.
• Review designs for alignment with enterprise architecture, security, and operations.
• Lead the architecture standards committee and governance practices.
• Evaluate emerging technologies including AI and cloud, with guardrails for use.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity, EA, PM, IT ops, and DevOps on security and alignment.
• Contribute to vendor strategies and budgeting input.

Skills

Leadership

Architecture

Cloud experience

Security governance

DevOps

Capacity forecasting

Communication

Reviewing designs

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in CS/MIS or related

Master’s Degree (Preferred)

Tools

Azure Cloud Platform

CI/CD

IAM

Observability tools

AI-assisted tooling

Job description

Taylor, TX

Full time

R2509

At ERCOT, our diverse and dynamic work environment provides a platform on which employees can work together to build the future of the Texas power grid and wholesale market utilizing the latest technologies and resources. We encourage you to join our talented, dedicated workforce to develop world-class solutions for today and tomorrow’s energy challenges while learning new skills and growing your career.

ERCOT is committed to fostering inclusion at all levels of our company. It is the cornerstone of our corporate values of accountability, leadership, innovation, trust, and expertise. We know that individuals with a wide variety of talents, ideas, and experiences propel the innovation that drives our success. An inclusive and diverse workforce strengthens us and allows for a collaborative environment to solve the challenges that face our industry today and in the future.

JOB SUMMARY

The Manager of IT Solutions Architecture leads the team responsible for how technology solutions are designed, integrated, and delivered. The role is hands‑on: setting technical direction, enforcing architecture standards, and staying close enough to the work to review designs and make defensible trade‑offs. It is equally a people role—hiring and developing architects, managing performance, balancing workload across project delivery, operations, training, and time off, and producing the monthly capacity forecast that project planning depends on. The manager partners daily with cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, project management, IT operations, and DevOps. The strongest candidates bring depth in several technical domains, familiarity across the rest, and a track record of growing people and leading through influence.

JOB DUTIES

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of application and solution architects—hiring, onboarding, performance management, career development, and cross‑training.
• Build the monthly capacity forecast projecting each architect’s time across projects, operations, training, and time off, and provide it to the project team for capacity planning.
• Assign and balance work across the team, resolve competing project and operational demands, and escalate when demand exceeds capacity.
• Lead the evolution of the IT solutions architecture function—its processes, deliverables, governance, and standards.
• Contribute to ERCOT’s IT strategic plan and translate it into actionable architecture roadmaps.
• Assess the current IT environment for deficiencies, technical debt, and risk, and recommend prioritized remediation.
• Oversee the technical and business roadmaps, reference architectures, and design deliverables the team produces.
• Review and approve solution designs for alignment with enterprise architecture, security, and operational supportability.
• Direct the standards‑setting process, lead the architecture standards committee, and maintain the principles governing technology investment.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, including AI and cloud, and set practical guardrails for the team’s use of AI‑assisted tooling.
• Partner with cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, the project team, IT operations, and DevOps on security requirements, enterprise alignment, resource planning, and supportable designs.
• Develop vendor strategies, contribute to build versus buy decisions, and provide input to departmental budgeting.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

Technical Expertise

• Minimum 8 years of job‑related work experience and 2 years in a leadership role in excess of degree requirements. Minimum years of job‑related experience can include time in leadership roles.
• Experience in at least two IT disciplines—such as solution architecture, application development, data management, or IT operations—supporting a 24x7 environment.
• Strong foundation in application and integration architecture, distributed systems, and API design.
• Hands‑on experience designing or operating workloads in a major public cloud.
• Working knowledge of identity and access management, DevOps, CI/CD, Infrastructure-as-Code, observability, and AI‑assisted development tools.
• Working understanding of security architecture, networking, and governance frameworks, and how compliance obligations shape design decisions.
• Depth to review designs critically and arbitrate technical disagreements, plus experience establishing architecture standards and driving adoption.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Proven experience leading a technical team, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and career development.
• Track record of building capacity forecasts and using them to set realistic commitments.
• Ability to balance competing priorities across projects and operations, and renegotiate scope with clear reasoning.
• Skill in developing people—growth plans and cross‑training so knowledge is not concentrated in one person.
• Ability to lead through influence, give direct feedback, and handle difficult conversations with candor.
• Strong communication, with proven partnership across cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, project management, IT operations, and DevOps, and credibility with IT and business leadership.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Hands‑on experience with cloud architecture and governance at enterprise scale, preferably Azure. Relevant cloud certifications are a plus.
• Experience introducing AI capabilities and AI‑assisted tooling into an engineering organization.
• Experience in grid, market, or transmission operations, at an ISO/RTO, or applying NERC CIP to solution design.
• Background in enterprise transformation, modernization, or platform engineering programs.

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s Degree: Computer Science, MIS or related field (Required)
• Master’s Degree: Computer Science, MIS or related field (Preferred)
• or a combination of education and experience that provides equivalent knowledge to a major in such fields is required

CERTIFICATION

• CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional (Preferred)
• PMP Project Management Professional (Preferred)
• TOGAF (Preferred)

WORK LOCATION

• Hybrid in Taylor, TX 2 days per week

The foregoing description reflects the minimum qualifications and the essential functions of the position that must be performed proficiently with or without reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. It is not an exhaustive list of the duties expected to be performed, and management may, at its discretion, revise or require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. This job description is not intended to create a contract of employment with ERCOT. Both ERCOT and the employee may exercise their employment‑at‑will rights at any time. #LI-DN

ERCOT is firmly committed to equal employment for all qualified persons without regard to race, sex, medical condition, religion, age, creed, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, ancestry, veteran status, genetic information or any other protected category under federal, state or local law.

Expected Salary Range:

$164,000 - $225,000

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to 27 million Texas customers - representing about 90 percent of the state's electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 54,100 miles of transmission lines and 1,250 generating units. ERCOT also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk‑power market and administers retail switching for 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. ERCOT is a membership‑based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. ERCOT's members include consumers, cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor‑owned electric utilities (transmission and distribution providers,) and municipal‑owned electric utilities.

ERCOT offers an excellent benefits package, which includes health, dental, vision, life insurance, long/short‑term disability insurance, long‑term care insurance, Section 125 Flexible Spending Account, and a Retirement Savings Plan.

The medical, dental, vision (https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2023/11/29/Benefits-Highlights-2024.pdf) , and quality‑of‑life benefits offered by ERCOT are second to none. Full‑time employees are eligible to enroll in benefits on the first of the month following the date of hire. Additionally, 401(k) plans (https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2019/09/23/ERCOT_401K_Sept_2019_FINAL.pdf) are available to help employees plan for the future.

The ERCOT Internship Program provides college students the opportunity to develop their skills in a professional work environment. Each intern will receive unique projects and assignments that aim to solve real challenges facing the electric industry. ERCOT internships provide professional learning experiences that offer meaningful, practical work related to each student's desired career path.

Eligible candidates should be enrolled in an academic bachelors or post graduate degree program maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

The ERCOT Engineer Development Program (EDP) is a 12‑to‑16‑month, self‑paced program geared toward entry‑level engineers looking to start a career in the power industry. Through the program, an EDP Engineer receives one‑on‑one mentoring, specialized training, and exposure to the work performed by each of the engineering groups at ERCOT.

The program allows engineers to develop the fundamental skills necessary to reach their full potential while gaining an understanding of the types of engineering work ERCOT has to offer. EDP management supports participants each step of the way as they progress through the program. Upon completion, graduates are placed as full‑time engineers within one of ERCOT’s engineering groups.

The GMS Development Program (GDP) is designed to provide entry‑level and early career professionals with the skills necessary to become successful Power System and Computer Engineers.

The program, which is based in ERCOT’s Grid and Market Solutions (GMS) Department, will provide experience in day‑to‑day work and instruction in the fundamentals of electric power systems engineering, grid and market applications, software programming, and IT service and operations management. The GDP offers one‑on‑one mentoring, training, field trips, and special assignments. These assignments allow GDP engineers to become knowledgeable and familiar with the various business areas at ERCOT. The GMS leadership team prepares GDP engineers for a future career at ERCOT in power systems and computer engineering.

The System Operator Development Program (ODP) is intended to combine real‑time daily operations in an exciting work setting to prepare participants with the vital skills necessary to be successful in such a critical position — providing 24x7x365 on‑demand support to manage the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers. If you are new to the industry, this program introduces you to the Bulk Electric System by combining introductory courses with the NERC Certification Exam Preparation Program in preparation to pass the NERC Certification Exam.

#LI-DN