Managing Director, Enterprise Architecture & Technology Strategy

BDO USA, LLP; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 195,000 - 295,000; Full time

Job summary

BDO USA, LLP in Chicago, IL seeks a Managing Director to lead the enterprise architecture function across applications, data, integration, cloud, and security. The role owns the target-state blueprint enabling a federated operating model and supports growth from $3B to $6B.

This leader chairs the architecture review board, establishes governance guardrails, and collaborates with the CISO to embed security into solution design.

Qualifications

• Fifteen (15) or more years of IT experience spanning enterprise architecture, cloud, data, and integration.
• Ten (10) or more years of leadership experience with direct responsibility for enterprise architecture in large federated or regulated environments.
• Five (5) or more years of people leadership, coaching, and performance management.
• Proven success in portfolio rationalization reducing software spend and technical debt.
• Experience leading enterprise architecture governance, ARB chairing, and strategic vendor/investment decisions.
• Experience in large federated, regulated, or professional services environments with $5B+ revenue (preferred).
• Exposure to AI/ML reference architectures, model management, and enterprise AI governance (preferred).

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for BDO's enterprise architecture across applications, data, integration, cloud, and security.
• Establish enterprise reference architectures, patterns, and standards for federated teams.
• Chair the Enterprise Architecture Review Board and document decisions and rationale.
• Review major technology investments and vendor selections to minimize duplication and debt.
• Own enterprise application portfolio strategy including retain, modernize, retire, and replace decisions.
• Define enterprise integration, API, data, AI, and cloud standards with partners across teams.
• Embed security and zero-trust principles into solution design with CISO collaboration.
• Lead M&A technology due diligence and integration architecture planning.
• Establish developer platform and CI/CD standards; govern technical debt and reporting.
• Foster an architecture community of practice and advise CIO and leaders on trade-offs.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Executive communication

Enterprise architecture

Azure architecture

Governance

M&A due diligence

Vendor evaluation

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Engineering

Master's degree in CS/IS/Tech Mgmt

Tools

Azure

MuleSoft

ServiceNow

Power BI

Visio

Lucidchart

Microsoft 365

Job description

Job Summary:

The Managing Director is responsible for leading BDO's enterprise architecture function across applications, data, integration, cloud, and security. The Enterprise Architect bridges the needs of our business stakeholders with a comprehensive technical plan to reduce redundancy and establish a future forward roadmap. This role owns the target-state technology blueprint that enables the firm's governed federated operating model and supports BDO's growth from $3B to $6B.

This role establishes enterprise standards, reference architectures, and governance guardrails that empower federated technology teams to operate with agility while minimizing technical debt and redundant investment. This leader chairs the architecture review board, evaluates major technology initiatives and vendor selections, and works closely with the CISO to embed security into solution design from the outset.

Job Duties:

• Provides strategic leadership and direction for BDO's enterprise architecture function, including ownership of the target-state blueprint across applications, data, integration, cloud, and security
• Establishes and maintains enterprise reference architectures, design patterns, and standards that govern federated business technology teams while enabling speed, scalability, and disciplined execution
• Chairs the Enterprise Architecture Review Board and ensures architecture decisions, exceptions, and rationale are documented, communicated, and consistently applied across National IT and federated teams
• Reviews major technology investments, vendor selections, and platform decisions to reduce duplication, control technical debt, and ensure alignment with the firm's target-state architecture and business priorities
• Owns enterprise application portfolio strategy, including retain, modernize, retire, and replace decisions, in partnership with Enterprise Platforms, Data & AI, and business stakeholders
• Defines and establishes enterprise integration, API, data, AI, and cloud architecture standards in partnership with Data & AI and Infrastructure & Cloud Operations, including event-driven patterns, master data strategy, Azure standards, landing zones, and platform guardrails
• Partners with many of our executive leaders across the firm to ensure embed security and identity architecture are built into solution design, ensuring zero-trust principles, secure-by-default patterns, and appropriate control coverage across the technology estate
• Leads M&A technology due diligence and integration architecture planning for acquisitions, including target-state integration blueprints, application rationalization, and cutover planning
• Establishes developer platform and CI/CD standards; maintains architecture standards, decision records, and documentation; and implements technical debt governance and reporting to support secure delivery, transparency, and remediation prioritization
• Builds and leads an architecture community of practice, evaluates emerging technologies, and advises not only the CIO and IT senior leadership team but also business line leaders on architecture trade-offs, investment decisions, adoption priorities, and enterprise technology strategy
• Other duties as required

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Directly manages enterprise architects, application architects, data architects, integration architects, and security architecture liaisons; provides coaching, performance management, and career development
• Leads architecture team capacity planning, hiring, onboarding, and capability development; builds a team of senior architecture talent aligned to the firm's growth strategy
• The role also has direct people management responsibility for leading enterprise, application, data, integration, and security architects, including coaching, performance management, workforce planning, recruitment, and capability building

Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or IT, required
• Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or Technology Management, preferred

Experience

• Fifteen (15) or more years of progressive IT experience spanning enterprise architecture, application development, cloud, integration, and/or data platforms, required
• Ten (10) or more years of leadership experience with direct responsibility for enterprise architecture within a large, federated, or regulated organization, required
• Five (5) or more years of people leadership experience, including team oversight, coaching, and performance management, required
• Proven success leading application portfolio rationalization efforts that delivered measurable reductions in software spend and technical debt, required
• Experience leading enterprise architecture governance, including chairing architecture review boards, influencing large-scale technology investment decisions, and defining integration and API strategies across event-driven architecture and enterprise integration platforms, required
• Experience working within a large, complex federated, regulated, or professional services environment with $5B+ in revenue or comparable scale, preferred
• Experience leading M&A technical due diligence and integration architecture, and partnering with data leadership to establish enterprise data architecture and master data standards; exposure to AI/ML reference architectures, model management, and enterprise AI governance, preferred

License(s)/Certification(s)

• TOGAF, Zachman, or equivalent enterprise architecture certification, preferred
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (or AWS/GCP equivalent), preferred

Software

• Hands-on experience designing and governing enterprise Azure architecture, including landing zones and platform engineering standards, while proficient with all of Microsoft Azure at an enterprise scale, required
• Experience with any integration platforms (Ex: Azure API Management, MuleSoft, Boomi, or comparable), preferred
• Experience with any enterprise collaboration and productivity tools including ServiceNow, Microsoft 365, Power BI, Visio, or Lucidchart, preferred

Language(s)

• N/A

Other Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Strong strategic mindset with the ability to connect enterprise architecture decisions to firm strategy, growth objectives, and measurable business outcomes
• Ability to translate business priorities into architecture roadmaps, standards, and execution plans that can be adopted effectively across federated teams
• Strong executive presence, influence, and communication skills, with the ability to align diverse stakeholders around a common target state
• Ability to apply governance in a balanced and pragmatic way, establishing standards while preserving appropriate autonomy for federated teams
• Comfort working through ambiguity and bringing structure and clarity through frameworks, decision processes, and architecture documentation
• Strong analytical and systems-thinking capabilities, with the ability to identify patterns, interdependencies, and systemic issues across a complex enterprise portfolio
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to develop executive-ready architecture briefings and board-level materials

Individual salaries that are offered to a candidate are determined after consideration of numerous factors including but not limited to the candidate's qualifications, experience, skills, and geography.

National Range: $195,000 - $295,000
Maryland Range: $195,000 - $295,000
NYC/Long Island/Westchester Range: $195,000 - $295,000