Enterprise Architect SME
Ignite IT · Washington
We are seeking a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Enterprise Architect to join our team supporting a large-scale federal modernization program. This role owns enterprise architecture direction across business, data, application, security, and technology domains. You will be setting target-state architecture and modernization priorities, to running architecture governance and review processes, to ensuring the architecture repository and modeling practice stay current and adopted across the organization.
This is a hands-on architecture role. You'll be expected to work in real architecture artifacts and drive real decisions, not just set direction from a distance.
This is a hybrid role based out of Washington, DC. Candidates must be U.S. citizens.
Key Responsibilities
1. Architecture Vision & Strategy
- Assess and continuously improve the enterprise architecture framework to support the organization's mission, business, and IT objectives.
- Define target-state architecture direction and cross-domain integration priorities across business, data, application, security, and technology.
- Set modernization priorities and connect strategic architecture direction to practical, implementable designs.
2. As-Is, To-Be & Transition Architecture
- Develop and maintain current-state (As-Is), target-state (To-Be), and transition architectures across business, data, application, security, and technology domains at appropriate physical, logical, solution, and technical levels.
- Maintain architecture principles, standards, reference architectures, technology standards, inventories, and roadmaps.
3. Governance & Review Leadership
- Operate or support the Architecture Review Board, investment reviews, engineering reviews, design reviews, working groups, and phase-gate reviews with clear intake, criteria, decisions, and records.
- Evaluate proposed architectural deviations, document risks and impacts, and provide recommendations for approval.
- Serve as a senior architecture voice in governance forums, working directly with leadership stakeholders.
4. Architecture Assessment & Modernization
- Perform architecture assessments to identify gaps, redundancy, technical debt, and opportunities for modernization, standardization, optimization, and rationalization.
- Provide recommendations for technology modernization, application rationalization, cloud adoption, and process improvement based on architecture analysis.
5. Repository & Modeling Practice
- Administer and improve the enterprise architecture modeling suite (repository, models, metamodel guidance, quality rules, permissions, and workflows).
- Drive artifact inventory, remediation, migration, quality validation, training, and adoption across the organization.
6. Stakeholder Coordination & Reporting
- Coordinate architecture activities with cybersecurity, data management, cloud, infrastructure, application development, and portfolio management stakeholders.
- Prepare and deliver periodic reports summarizing architecture activities, compliance status, risks, modernization initiatives, and progress toward the target architecture.
Requirements
- 12+ years of experience in enterprise or solution architecture, including significant responsibility for architecture governance, standards, and cross-domain design decisions.
- Demonstrated experience developing or governing As-Is, To-Be, transition, domain, solution, and technical architectures.
- Hands-on experience with architecture review boards, compliance reviews, deviations/waivers, standards, roadmaps, and decision records.
- Proven ability to connect strategic architecture direction to practical designs, implementation gates, technical debt remediation, and modernization actions.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting to both technical teams and leadership.
- U.S. Citizenship Required.
Nice to Have
- Direct federal, government, or large regulated-enterprise architecture experience.
- Hands-on experience with enterprise architecture modeling and repository tools (e.g., Sparx Enterprise Architect, Prolaborate) — administration, modeling, migration, or adoption.
- TOGAF, FEAF, DoDAF, Zachman, ArchiMate, UML, BPMN, SysML, or comparable framework/modeling credentials.
- Experience establishing measurable architecture governance that accelerates decisions rather than producing ceremonial reviews.
- Experience with repository remediation, metamodels, taxonomy, reference architectures, or application rationalization.
Benefits
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Referral program
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance