Job Details

Overview

The Director, Enterprise Architecture at SPP is a senior leadership role responsible for shaping the organization's technology landscape and ensuring IT practices align with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and industry best standards. The position serves as the strategic bridge between technology and business, driving enterprise architecture initiatives while establishing robust governance frameworks to manage risk, compliance, and performance.

The director leads the development and maintenance of enterprise architecture standards across infrastructure, applications, data, and security domains, ensuring scalability, interoperability, and alignment with organizational goals. In parallel, they oversee IT governance programs, including policy creation, risk management, and compliance monitoring, to maintain transparency and accountability in all technology operations.

As a key advisor to executive leadership, the Director, Enterprise Architecture evaluates emerging technologies, guides digital transformation efforts, and fosters collaboration among stakeholders to deliver secure, efficient, and innovative solutions. This role demands a visionary leader with deep technical expertise, strong governance acumen, and the ability to influence strategic decisions that shape the future of the enterprise.

Essential Functions

IT Architecture Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise architecture standards
• Develop frameworks for infrastructure, applications, data, and security architecture to ensure consistency and scalability across the organization
• Align technology with business strategy
• Work with business leaders to create conceptual and target‑state architectures that support organizational goals
• Oversee solution design and integration
• Participate in solution lifecycle activities, including planning, analysis, testing, and integration of platforms and systems
• Assess new tools and platforms for potential adoption to improve efficiency and innovation
• Evaluate emerging technologies

IT Governance Responsibilities

• Develop and implement governance frameworks
• Establish policies, standards, and controls to ensure IT processes align with business objectives and regulatory requirements
• Risk management and compliance
• Oversee IT risk assessments, compliance audits, and ensure adherence to frameworks like COBIT, ISO/IEC 38500, and ITIL
• Policy creation and enforcement
• Define IT policies for data management and operational processes and ensure they are consistently applied
• Performance monitoring and reporting
• Track IT performance metrics, governance KPIs, and report to executive leadership on compliance and risk posture

Leadership and Strategic Influence

• Guide architecture and governance teams
• Provide leadership, mentoring, and direction to architects and governance specialists
• Drive digital transformation initiatives
• Ensure architectural and governance practices support modernization efforts like AI and cloud adoption, automation, and cybersecurity
• Provide executive management for enterprise architecture design, development and support
• Represent SPP on project review and prioritization committees
• Establish and maintain a data lifecycle and data governance program
• Facilitate the creation of the technical vision and associated roadmaps needed for ensuring the future of SPP's technology needs can be met in a reliable, secure, efficient and cost‑effective manner
• Establish strategic and tactical goals for achieving the shared architectural vision
• Establish strategic relationships with IT, SPP business stakeholders, vendors, and peer RTOs to meet business needs and develop a forward‑looking technology vision for SPP
• Foster a culture of innovation and automation across the IT department
• Facilitate the implementation, monitoring, and documentation of robust processes for the evaluation of technologies by providing leadership and technical consulting as appropriate
• Possess high‑level knowledge of network infrastructure, server platforms, storage, file systems, databases, architectural styles, software development, and client platforms
• Ensure new technologies are continuously assessed for improving the functional, financial, and reliable performance of SPP and its members, and lead efforts to introduce new technologies consistent with stakeholder needs
• Perform assignments with guidance from the Senior Vice President, IT on overall objectives, critical issues, new concepts, industry developments and policy matters
• Provide technical consulting and expertise to SPP staff, committees and working groups
• Represent SPP at industry committees and working group meetings, particularly the ISO/RTO IT Committee's Technology Working Group
• Mentor, encourage and develop technology leadership within IT
• Demonstrate SPP culture drivers of efficiency, collaboration and continuous improvement
• Ensure unwavering compliance with all applicable standards and controls

Education Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, IT Engineering, or a related field.

Experience Requirements

• Twelve (12) years technical experience, including at least five (5) years in an architecture leadership role.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Demonstrable leadership skills aligned with SPP's core values
• Demonstrated experience building and leading architecture functions or teams
• Proven success in designing and implementing enterprise‑wide technology strategies
• Strong understanding of enterprise, application, data, and infrastructure architecture disciplines
• Experience with modern architectures including AI, cloud, microservices, API‑driven design, and data platforms
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization
• Ability to balance strategic vision with practical execution
  • Knowledge and experience with Enterprise Architecture methodologies and frameworks
  • Effective communication with engineers, management, and senior management, including officers of other companies, for requests, analysis, guidance and presentations
  • Understanding of business requirements and the process of translating them into well‑engineered technical solutions
  • Ability to apply business case development and project justification techniques to varying IT questions or recommendations
  • Exceptional critical thinking skills, ability to accurately analyze information and recommend sound decisions
  • Excellent organizational skills
  • Understanding and maintaining compliance with SPP Policies and Procedures

Preferred

• Previous knowledge of the energy and/or utilities industry
• Advanced degrees in Information Technology‑related fields or engineering are desirable

Equal Opportunity Statement

SPP is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and is committed to excellence. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact HR@spp.org and let us know the nature of your request. SPP will accommodate the needs of any qualified candidate who requests a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

At SPP we believe in a culture of belonging. Learn more here: Culture of Belonging - Southwest Power Pool.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Protected Veterans / Individuals with Disabilities. This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.