Senior Director, Architecture & Innovation - CBS

Salesforce; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 224,000 - 299,000; Full time

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking a Senior Director of Architecture & Innovation to lead a multi-layered architecture organization across CBS. You will translate emerging technology into clear customer guidance, govern AI responsibly, and ensure platform readiness for production.

The role demands executive-level communication, strategic POVs, and a track record of building high-performing teams. You will lead conversations with CIOs/CTOs and partner across Sales, Solutions, Builders, and Product to align

Qualifications

• Transform leadership at scale with senior technical talent.
• Deep understanding of enterprise architecture and modern technology landscapes.
• Ability to present complex topics to C-suite and translate strategy into action.
• Connect technical choices to business value, risk, and speed.
• Develop clear perspectives on evolving technology and customer needs.
• Move with urgency, mobilize teams, and make progress in ambiguity.
• Collaborate across Sales, Solutions, Builders, Success, Product, and Engineering.
• Communicate with credibility to executives and customers.
• Mentor and develop leaders to build a strong architecture organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale an exceptional architecture organization.
• Develop a multi-layered team of frontline leaders and senior architects across disciplines.
• Set a high bar for technical excellence, customer impact, and executive presence.
• Create environments that encourage questioning assumptions and experimentation.
• Build leaders who can run independently while aligning as one organization.
• Attract and retain top architecture talent with clear career paths.
• Articulate the Architectural Point of View and patterns for customers.
• Lead strategic customer conversations and executive-level engagements.
• Partner with Sales, Solutions, Builders, Success, Product, and Engineering.

Skills

Transformational Leadership

Architecture & Tech Depth

Executive Presence

Customer & Business Acumen

Strong Point of View

Bias for Action

Organizational Influence

Executive Communication

Talent Leadership

Job description

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts. Job Category Sales Job Details About Salesforce Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all. Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The next era of enterprise technology will not be won by simply knowing the platform. It will be won by helping customers make the right architectural choices as AI reshapes how data, applications, experiences, security, and work come together. We are looking for a Senior Director of Architecture & Innovation to lead a multi-layered organization of Core Technical and Enterprise Architecture leaders and highly experienced talent across CBS. This is not a traditional architecture leadership role. We need a leader who can see around corners, create a point of view, mobilize teams quickly, and translate emerging technology into clear choices for customers and our field, someone who can move comfortably between an executive customer conversation, a deep architectural debate, a strategy session with Sales and Solutions leadership, and an executive update on what we are learning across the business. You will lead teams responsible for helping customers understand how to govern AI responsibly, activate the full Salesforce platform, prepare data and architecture for production, and reimagine experiences as new technologies emerge. Just as importantly, you will create leverage. The best work of the organization should not remain inside a single account or team. You will turn what we learn into strong points of view, architectural patterns, field guidance, and repeatable approaches that make the entire CBS organization better.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead and Scale an Exceptional Architecture Organization
• Lead and develop a multi-layered organization of frontline leaders and senior architects across a diverse set of architecture and innovation disciplines
• Create a high bar for technical excellence, customer impact, pace, accountability, and executive presence
• Build an environment where teams are encouraged to challenge assumptions, experiment thoughtfully, and bring forward new ideas before they are asked
• Develop strong leaders who can independently run their businesses while operating as one integrated architecture organization
• Attract, grow, and retain exceptional architecture talent while creating clear opportunities for career development and succession
• Create the Architectural Point of View
• Establish clear, proactive perspectives on the architectural questions our customers are facing across AI, data, security, governance, integration, platform strategy, emerging technology, and digital experiences
• Anticipate where customer architecture is heading and ensure CBS is prepared to lead those conversations, not react to them
• Move quickly from signal to insight to action, without waiting for perfect information when the field needs direction
• Translate complex technical shifts into simple frameworks, reference architectures, patterns, and recommendations that customers and account teams can act on
• Ensure the organization consistently connects architectural decisions to business outcomes, platform strategy, and the customer's path to production
• Lead the Most Important Customer Conversations
• Serve as a trusted architecture executive for strategic customers navigating complex transformation decisions
• Lead conversations that help CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, CISOs, and other technology leaders understand choices, tradeoffs, risks, and opportunities
• Elevate conversations beyond products and features to how the customer's technology landscape must evolve for an agentic enterprise
• Create confidence when the answer is complex, multiple technologies are involved, or the path forward is not yet obvious
• Step into critical opportunities and escalations with urgency, clarity, and strong executive judgment
• Lead and participate in key customer on-sites, SICs, and workshops, as well as conferences (TDX, DF, etc.)
• Make Customers Builder-Ready
• Ensure architecture teams create the clarity required before hands-on building begins: business outcome, use case and scope, target architecture, data and grounding, actions and integrations, trust guardrails, dependencies, and path to production
• Partner closely with Builder leadership so Builder teams enter engagements understanding the architecture, key decisions, dependencies, and definition of done
• Maintain a clear distinction between architectural leadership and hands-on implementation while ensuring the two motions operate seamlessly together
• Identify architectural blockers early and mobilize the right teams to resolve them before they slow execution
• Help create repeatable patterns that move customers faster from strategy and experimentation to production
• Be an Exceptional Cross-Functional Partner
• Operate as a deeply trusted partner to Sales, Solutions, Builders, Success, Product, Engineering, and other specialist organizations
• Bring teams together around the customer problem rather than organizational boundaries
• Create clear roles and handoffs while maintaining shared accountability for the customer outcome
• Partner with peers generously. The goal is not for Architecture to own every technical conversation, but to make every team around it stronger
• Surface patterns from the field to Product and Engineering, and help translate product direction back into actionable guidance for customer-facing teams
• Amplify the Work of the Team
• Make exceptional work visible and reusable across CBS and Salesforce
• Identify the ideas, architectures, customer lessons, and innovations that should be elevated beyond an individual engagement
• Turn field learning into executive-ready narratives, POVs, reusable assets, and scalable enablement
• Create mechanisms for architects to share ideas, challenge one another, and continuously raise the technical bar
• Give individual architects and leaders visibility for their work, and create opportunities for the team's strongest voices to influence customers, the field, and our product strategy
• Communicate With Clarity and Influence
• Maintain strong communication with senior leadership on customer signals, architectural trends, emerging risks, team priorities, and opportunities
• Distill a complex portfolio of work into the few things executives need to understand and act on
• Bring recommendations, not just updates.
• Surface issues early, frame tradeoffs clearly, and propose a path forward
• Build trust through transparency, strong judgment, and consistent follow-through
• Represent the organization with credibility at every level, from deeply technical teams to Salesforce executives and customer C-suites

What Success Looks Like You will know this organization is succeeding when: Customers seek us out for the broader technical vision, not simply for answers to product questions Our architects shape decisions earlier, before architecture becomes a blocker to execution Builders start ready, with clearer architecture, dependencies, guardrails, and success criteria Our best thinking scales, rather than remaining trapped inside individual accounts Executive leadership has clear visibility into what the organization is learning, where customers are struggling, and where Salesforce should lean in The team moves with urgency, taking initiative and creating direction rather than waiting for requests Our leaders and architects are recognized voices with customers, internally, and in the broader technical community Sales, Solutions, Builders, Success, and Product view Architecture as one of their strongest partners.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Transformational Leadership Proven experience leading leaders and senior technical talent through change. You create clarity, raise standards, build followership, and translate strategy into action.
• Architecture & Technology Depth Deep understanding of enterprise architecture and modern technology landscapes, including cloud platforms, data, AI, integration, identity, security, governance, APIs, and modern application and experience architectures. You do not need to be the deepest expert in every domain, but you must know how to lead experts and connect the pieces.
• Executive Presence Exceptional ability to communicate complex technical topics with senior customer and internal executives. You can simplify without losing substance and are comfortable challenging assumptions when needed.
• Customer and Business Acumen You understand that architecture exists to enable a business outcome. You can connect technical choices to value, risk, speed, adoption, and long-term platform strategy.
• Strong Point of View You are intellectually curious and proactive. You develop perspectives on where technology and customer needs are heading and are comfortable putting a recommendation on the table.
• Bias for Action You operate with urgency. You identify what needs to happen, mobilize the right people, and move. You are comfortable making progress in ambiguity and adjusting as new information emerges.
• Organizational Influence You are an exceptional collaborator who builds trust across organizational boundaries. You can align strong leaders with different priorities around a common outcome without relying on hierarchy.
• Executive Communication You know how to manage a complex portfolio upward. You surface what matters, make risks visible early, amplify the work of your team, and consistently bring senior leaders clarity and recommendations.
• Talent Leadership You are passionate about developing leaders and creating an environment where exceptional technical talent can do the best work of their careers.

THE LEADERSHIP PROFILE We are looking for an operator, architect, storyteller, and multiplier: someone technical enough to earn the trust of our strongest architects, strategic enough to shape the direction of the business, customer-focused enough to command a C‑suite conversation, and collaborative enough to make the organizations around them more successful. Most importantly, we want a leader who does not wait for the future to arrive. They help define it.

Unleash Your Potential When you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love.

Posting Statement Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non‑discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education. In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com. The typical base salary range for this position is $223,860 - $299,390 annually. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations. In California and New York, and select cities in the metropolitan areas of Boston, Chicago, Seattle, and Washington DC, the base pay range for this role in those locations is $246,120 - $329,210 per year. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the job location during the hiring process. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable. We're Salesforce, the Customer Company, inspiring the future of business with AI + Data + CRM. Leading with our core values, we help companies across every industry blaze new trails and connect with customers in a whole new way. And, we empower you to be a Trailblazer, too — driving your performance and career growth, charting new paths, and improving the state of the world. If you believe in business as the greatest platform for change and in companies doing well and doing good – you've come to the right place.