Director, Architect Principal
Your Opportunity
Your opportunity
This role is designed for in-office collaboration and is based on site in Westlake, TX or Austin, TX.
At Schwab, you’re empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us challenge the status quo and transform the finance industry together.
As part of Schwab’s Enterprise Architecture community, you will join an elite group representing the pinnacle of technical expertise and architectural leadership.
This role focuses on enterprise-scale modernization, governance, and platform evolution—spanning mainframe, distributed systems, and public cloud architectures. You will influence how teams modernize legacy platforms, adopt cloud-native patterns, and scale applications in a secure, resilient, and governed manner.
In this role, you will
- Provide enterprise architecture leadership across heterogeneous platforms including mainframe, distributed, and cloud-native systems.
- Define and evangelize application modernization patterns and practices (e.g., strangler, decomposition, re-platforming).
- Establish and govern public cloud application patterns and reference architectures.
- Lead architecture governance, including standards, design reviews, and exception management.
- Define and promote scalable application patterns supporting diverse deployment models and technologies.
- Influence developer productivity through modern tooling, CI/CD pipelines, and GitHub-based workflows.
- Shape enterprise API architectures and integration strategies.
- Optimize security requirements into architecture governance processes
- Partner with business, product, and engineering leaders to define current, transitional, and target-state architectures.
Core Skill Set and Expertise
- Enterprise Architecture leadership across application, platform, and integration domains.
- Application modernization patterns and migration strategies.
- Public cloud application architectures and hybrid integration models.
- Architecture governance frameworks and operating models.
- Developer tooling, CI/CD, and automation using GitHub and modern pipelines.
- API and event-driven architectures
- AI Solution Architectures
- Familiarity with mainframe application architecture, SDLC, optimization, and modernization.
- Scaling patterns for high-volume, mission-critical applications across heterogeneous environments.
- Familiarity with Business Architecture concepts and practices
What you have
Required:
- 15+ years of experience in enterprise application and platform architecture.
- Proven leadership in large-scale modernization initiatives.
- Demonstrated depth in modern distributed/cloud architectures.
- Strong experience defining and enforcing architecture standards and governance.
- Ability to influence senior leaders and translate complex systems into clear architectural direction.
- Deep understanding of modern delivery practices including Agile, DevSecOps, and CI/CD.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
What’s in it for you
At Schwab, you’re empowered to shape your future. We champion your growth through meaningful work, continuous learning, and a culture of trust and collaboration—so you can build the skills to make a lasting impact. Our Hybrid Work and Flexibility approach balances our ongoing commitment to workplace flexibility, serving our clients, and our strong belief in the value of being together in person on a regular basis.
We offer a competitive benefits package that takes care of the whole you – both today and in the future:
- 401(k) with company match and Employee stock purchase plan
- Paid time for vacation, volunteering, and 28-day sabbatical after every 5 years of service for eligible positions
- Paid parental leave and family building benefits
- Tuition reimbursement
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
What you are good at
What you have
Required:
- 15+ years of experience in enterprise application and platform architecture.
- Proven leadership in large-scale modernization initiatives.
- Demonstrated depth in modern distributed/cloud architectures.
- Strong experience defining and enforcing architecture standards and governance.
- Ability to influence senior leaders and translate complex systems into clear architectural direction.
- Deep understanding of modern delivery practices including Agile, DevSecOps, and CI/CD.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
Why Schwab?
At Schwab, “Own Your Tomorrow” embodies everything we do! We are committed to helping our employees unleash their potential and achieve their dreams. Our employees get to play a central role in disrupting a multi-trillion-dollar industry, creating a better, more modern way to build and manage wealth. We’re a modern financial services firm that stands apart from the industry, where you can go as far as your ambition takes you.
Hear from employees: What’s it like to work at Schwab!
The benefits of working at Schwab : a package designed to empower your health, wealth, career and life. Schwab is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued.
As an equal employment opportunity employer, our policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to any status that is protected by law. (Please click here to see policy.)
Schwab is also an affirmative action employer, focused on advancing women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities in the workplace. We believe diversity and inclusion are part of our success as a company and our purpose of serving every client with passion and integrity.