[Remote] Principal Enterprise Architect - Digital Architecture (Remote NC, AZ)

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. First Citizens Bank is seeking an accomplished Enterprise Architect to drive enterprise-wide architectural initiatives. This role involves defining and evolving architecture strategies, aligning them with business objectives, and leading complex technical initiatives while collaborating with both business and technology teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve enterprise architecture strategies that align with business objectives and market dynamics across banking operations including Payments, Digital Banking, Lending, and Core Banking platforms
• Establish and maintain enterprise patterns, reference architectures, and architectural principles that guide technology investments and solution design
• Lead the development of target state architectures and multi-year transformation roadmaps that balance innovation with risk management
• Partner with business leaders to understand market trends, competitive pressures, and strategic priorities, translating these into actionable architecture blueprints
• Design and maintain business capability models that connect strategic objectives to technology enablement across the enterprise
• Drive architecture decisions that optimize cost, agility, and time-to-market while managing technical debt and regulatory compliance
• Lead the architecture and design of complex, mission-critical initiatives from conception through implementation
• Provide technical guidance on application architecture, integration patterns, data architecture, and cloud platforms
• Conduct architecture reviews and governance activities, ensuring solutions adhere to enterprise standards while meeting business requirements
• Serve as the bridge between business stakeholders and technology teams, effectively communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences and business requirements to engineering teams
• Facilitate architecture decision-making processes, building consensus across diverse stakeholder groups
• Mentor solution architects and engineering teams, elevating architecture maturity across the organization

Skills

• Bachelor's Degree and 10 years of experience in Application Development, Systems Engineering, or Information Technology management OR High School Diploma or GED and 14 years of experience in Application Development, Systems Engineering, or Information Technology management
• Strong engineering background with hands-on experience in application development, system design, and solution delivery
• Deep knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks (TOGAF, Zachman) and modern architecture patterns (microservices, event-driven, API-first)
• Expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), modern integration approaches, and data architecture
• Ability to understand and articulate business capabilities, value streams, and operating models in financial services context
• Experience translating market trends and competitive intelligence into technology strategy
• Proven capability to build business cases and ROI models for technology investments
• Exceptional communication skills with ability to influence senior executives and technical teams alike
• Track record of driving decision-making in ambiguous, complex situations with multiple stakeholders
• Experience leading through influence in matrixed organizations without direct reporting authority
• 15+ years in technology roles with at least 8 years in enterprise architecture positions
• Proven track record in financial services, with deep understanding of banking operations, regulatory requirements, and market dynamics
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale transformation initiatives ($10M+) from architecture definition through production deployment
• Experience working in complex, federated architecture operating models across multiple business domains
• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field; MBA a plus
• TOGAF, AWS/Azure/GCP certifications
• Experience with post-merger integration and application rationalization
• Background in Agile/DevOps transformation and platform engineering

Company Overview

• First Citizens Bank provides banking services, essential business and professional services, wealth management capabilities, and more. It was founded in 1898, and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, with a workforce of 10001+ employees. Its website is http://www.firstcitizens.com.

Company H1B Sponsorship

• First Citizens Bank has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships, with 126 in 2025, 115 in 2024, 249 in 2023, 53 in 2022, 12 in 2021, 9 in 2020. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role.

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