Director, Enterprise Architecture

COMPANY PROFILE

Great Minds, a mission driven Public Benefit Corporation, brings teachers and scholars together to craft exemplary instructional materials that inspire joy in teaching and learning. Our English curriculum, Wit & Wisdom®, Eureka Math™ and PhD Science™, all support teachers as they take students beyond rote learning to provide a deeper, more complete understanding of the humanities, mathematics, and the sciences. Founded in 2007, Great Minds now employs more than 1,000 people.

For additional information please visit: www.greatminds.org

OUR MARKET POSITION

Great Minds’ Eureka Math is the most widely used curriculum in the history of American education. It enjoys an unrivaled 40+ net promoter score. Eureka and its sister products, Wit & Wisdom English and PhD Science, embrace much higher expectations for all students and all teachers. In a market dominated by scripted, procedural materials that drive expectations down, Great Minds produces curricula that celebrate knowledge, respect the craft of teaching, and acknowledge the true capabilities of students.

Job Purpose

The Director of Enterprise Architecture is responsible for helping to maximize Great Minds' current and future technology investments as strategic enablers of company goals and objectives. The individual will report to the Chief Information Officer and strategically design and support the IT portfolio, data models, and product lifecycles. The Enterprise Architect implements best practices for enterprise-level capabilities, applications, information, and other supporting technologies. This position will ensure that Great Minds’ IT systems utilize consistent and integrated architectural and information management techniques that satisfy our governance, policies, standards, security, and business needs.

This role guides high-impact projects to assure that these projects are well architected and aligned with the defined Enterprise Architecture. ERP and Salesforce expertise are critical to this role, in addition to other technologies. The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal skills, be a team player, and desire to support Great Minds in achieving our mission.

Responsibilities

Planning:

• Establish and maintain Enterprise Architecture

• Translate business strategy into actionable enterprise-wide technology architecture vision

• Ensure that Great Minds’ IT systems utilize consistent, integrated architectural and information management practices that satisfy our governance, policies, standards, security, and business needs

• Create and manage the enterprise data architecture of the organization; support strategic initiatives to ensure adherence to data standards and data management best practices, and to optimize the use of data for enterprise analysis and reporting

• Define, design and interpret technical architecture artifacts taken from user requirements/specifications or in direct discussions with the business, to create an appropriate Solutions Architecture

• Ensure the most effective use of technology and digital services across Great Minds while delivering the required business outcomes

• Partner with IT leaders and business owners to develop projects that support the Solutions Architecture

• Research emerging technologies; cross-examine Great Minds business needs with new technology capabilities, conduct cost/benefit analysis to determine organizational fit and make appropriate recommendations

Execution:

• Provide architecture consultation on complex programs/projects and be considered a top contributor and approver

• Support the Great Minds Transformation (GMT) initiative:

• Drive connectivity with Enterprise Architecture Review Board to inform technical decision-making

• Oversee development of interim and target state architectural blueprints across transformation efforts

• Conduct architecture analysis during ongoing intake and roadmap management, supporting upfront planning and driving key architecture decisions to establish runway needed across GMT efforts

• Develop EA artifacts such as business capability blueprints, business and technical capability roadmaps, EA governance, and technology asset evaluation

• Act as design authority and provide an assurance role, ensuring that all architecture activities and deliverables (in-house and externally sourced) are produced to a high quality and are consistent with existing standards, policies and strategies

• Influence and refine project deliverables into reusable architecture collateral

Governance:

• Establish an architecture review process for key projects; manage the appropriate governance forums to ensure the agreement and maintenance of the overall Enterprise Architecture of Great Minds and ensure that the process delivers strategic imperatives

• Implement and support Enterprise Architecture methodology, IT portfolio and project design review gates

• Participate in key project design reviews as part of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) process to ensure project designs adhere to Enterprise Architecture principles and standards based on enterprise strategies, reference architectures, and best design patterns

• Establish oversight of a projects’ internal and external providers (e.g. vendors) to ensure the project aligns with the enterprise architecture

Lead and Develop EA Team:

• Lead a team of architects responsible for contributing to the development of enterprise architecture, governance, related processes, IT standards at Great Minds

• Facilitate the evolution of the EA program through hiring and development that aims to inspire, build, lead, retain, develop and grow an effective team (technical, leadership, business, and functional skill sets)

• Clearly and consistently communicate and guide the team’s efforts to achieve both the IT and Great Minds EA goals

• Set direction, priorities, and expectations for the team 

• Work with team members to identify professional opportunities for growth and provide necessary mentoring coaching, and training

• Maintain, evaluate, and improve team performance metrics