Principal Domain Architect- M&A

LPL Financial LLC; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 163,667 - 272,847; Full time

Job summary

LPL Financial LLC is seeking a Principal M&A Architect to lead the Enterprise Data Architecture for the Merger & Acquisition group. You will guide technology due diligence, integration strategy, target-state architecture, and business transformation across acquired entities.

You will direct cross-functional teams, define roadmaps, and ensure governance, data integration, and platform consolidation align with enterprise standards and modernization goals.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands-on design and implementation experience in enterprise architecture.
• 5+ years migrating legacy platforms to modern data platforms.
• 3+ years experience in application development, middleware, database management or operations, security, and integration.
• At least one cloud certification (AWS primary, Azure secondary).
• One industry-recognized tool/framework certification required.

Responsibilities

• Lead M&A architecture with technology due diligence, integration strategy, target-state architecture, and business transformation.
• Direct end-to-end technology assessments of applications, infrastructure, data platforms, cybersecurity, technical debt, and integration complexity.
• Define target-state architecture, integration roadmaps, and transition strategies for consolidating capabilities.
• Coordinate cross-functional architecture teams to align with enterprise standards and modernization goals.
• Lead application portfolio assessments and platform consolidation to reduce redundancies and costs.
• Design data integration strategies across acquired entities, harmonizing processes.
• Assess risks (technology, operational, cybersecurity, regulatory) and establish governance for compliance.
• Partner with C-suite and business leaders to align priorities with enterprise strategy.
• Drive post-acquisition modernization including cloud migration, API enablement, and data transformation.
• Define future operating models to support scalable growth and customer experience.
• Manage large-scale integration programs and multi-year roadmaps with measurable outcomes.

Skills

Data architecture

Cloud platforms

M&A architecture

APIs

Kafka

DevOps

Communication

SAFe / Agile

Education

AWS certification

Azure certification

Industry tool certification

Tools

SQL

NoSQL

Big Data

GraphDB

APIs

Kafka

Streaming

Job description

Where Ambition Meets Innovation Build a career that matches all your initiative with an impressive dose of innovation. From cutting‑edge resources and a collaborative environment to the freedom to make an impact and more, you’ll find the ingredients you need at LPL Financial to shape your success while helping clients pursue their financial goals.

Job Overview

The Principal M&A Architect is responsible for leading, analyzing, and designing the Enterprise Data Architecture (EDA) for the Merger and Acquisition (M&A) group, supporting the company’s growth projections and digital‑experience vision.

Responsibilities

• Strategic M&A Architecture Leader with extensive experience in technology due diligence, integration strategy, target‑state architecture, and business transformation for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic partnerships.
• Lead end‑to‑end technology assessments, evaluating application portfolios, infrastructure, data platforms, cybersecurity posture, technical debt, and integration complexity to inform investment decisions and transaction structuring.
• Define target‑state architecture, integration roadmaps, and transition strategies to enable seamless consolidation of business capabilities, applications, data, and technology platforms while accelerating synergy realization.
• Direct cross‑functional architecture teams across business, application, data, cloud, security, and infrastructure domains to ensure alignment with enterprise standards and modernization objectives.
• Lead application portfolio assessments, capability mapping, and platform consolidation efforts to eliminate redundancies, reduce operational costs, and improve technology efficiency.
• Design strategies for customer, financial, operational, and regulatory data integration while harmonizing business processes across acquired organizations.
• Evaluate technology, operational, cybersecurity, and regulatory risks during transaction lifecycles and establish governance frameworks for compliance, resiliency, and business continuity.
• Partner with C‑suite executives, business leaders, product organizations, and technology teams to align integration priorities, investment decisions, and transformation roadmaps with enterprise strategy.
• Drove post‑acquisition modernization initiatives, including cloud migration, platform standardization, API enablement, data transformation, and adoption of strategic enterprise capabilities.
• Define future‑state organizational, process, and technology operating models to enable scalable growth, improve customer experience, and support long‑term business objectives.
• Manage large‑scale integration programs and multi‑year transformation roadmaps to deliver critical milestones, manage risk, and achieve measurable outcomes.

Requirements

10+ years of hands‑on design and implementation experience in enterprise architecture; 5+ years migrating legacy platforms to modern data platforms; 5+ years designing and building SQL, No‑SQL, big data, GraphDB, APIs, Kafka, and streaming solutions; 3+ years experience in application development, middleware, database management or operations, security, and integration. At least one cloud certification (AWS primary, Azure secondary) and one industry‑recognized tool/framework certification required.

Core Competencies

• Proficiency in defining current and future state data architecture models.
• Deep knowledge of cloud data platforms (AWS and Azure).
• Experience implementing Master Data Management, Data Marketplace, Data Science Platforms, and Productizing Data initiatives.
• Familiarity with neural networks, machine learning, deep learning, and NLP tools and frameworks.
• Experience migrating monolith on‑prem applications to the cloud using refactoring, rearchitecting, and re‑platforming approaches, including 12‑factor methodology.
• Experience with DevOps tools, automated deployments, and containerization.
• Excellent communication skills that translate business problems into technical solutions.
• Consulting customers to solve business problems with current and emerging technology.
• Ability to conduct demonstrations and presentations to executive management of prototypes and proof‑of‑concepts.
• Understanding of agile methods (SAFe) and the capability to support agile product teams.

Preferences

• More than 5 years of experience designing and building SQL, No‑SQL, big data, GraphDB, APIs, Kafka, and streaming solutions.
• Previous proven M&A Enterprise Architecture experience, including technology due diligence, integration strategy, application rationalization, cloud transformation, and program governance.
• AWS certification.

Pay Range

$163,667.00 – $272,847.00 (actual base salary varies based on skill, experience, education, performance, and location).

EEO Statement

Equal Employment Opportunity / Equal Opportunity Employer.