AVP – Senior Principal Enterprise Architect

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Job Summary

The AVP, Senior Principal Enterprise Architect - Data is CNA’s most senior individual contributor, providing architectural leadership across complex portfolios or domain disciplines. This role connects enterprise strategy with execution, drives cross-portfolio integration, and ensures architectural alignment and reuse. The AVP, Senior Principal Enterprise Architect - Data shapes domain-level strategy, leads complex architectural initiatives, and mentor other architects to elevate architectural maturity and enterprise-wide impact. This specific role will be aligned to the Data Portfolio with a focus on aligning across our delivery value streams and driving a “Build with a Data Mindset” upstream. This connectivity between data and our upstream portfolios will be the primary responsibilities, in addition to participating in the extended leadership team that drives the portfolio. This person will lead with their proven experience across P&C Insurance domains in a delivery and Enterprise Architecture capacity.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Performs a combination of duties in accordance with departmental guidelines:

• Domain Discipline Strategy & Leadership: Define and drive a unified architectural strategy across portfolios/products within a complex domain discipline, translating enterprise goals into actionable architectural roadmaps and modernization initiatives.

• Enterprise-Level Strategic Influence: Serve as a strategic advisor to senior business and technology leaders, shaping investment decisions and transformation efforts that align with enterprise architecture principles and business value.

• Cross-Portfolio Integration & Reuse: Lead the identification and development of shared capabilities, architectural patterns, and platform solutions across portfolios, ensuring consistency, reuse, and alignment with enterprise strategy.

• Portfolio/Product Architecture: Act as the Senior EA for one or more portfolios, with full accountability for end-to-end architectural design and execution, collaborating with ARTs, product managers, and engineering teams to realize solution intent.

• Architectural Oversight Across Domain: Provide architectural coordination and oversight across all portfolios/products within the domain, ensuring alignment of solution intent, architectural decomposition, and application strategy with domain goals.

• Reference Architecture & Capability Strategy: Own and evolve reference architectures and capability strategies for the domain, offering clear guidance for adoption, implementation, and enterprise alignment.

• Governance, Standards & Risk Oversight: Lead the definition and enforcement of architectural standards and guardrails across the domain, while maintaining visibility into the application landscape and associated risk posture.

• Technology Innovation & Evaluation: Evaluate emerging technologies and trends, proposing domain-level adoption strategies that enhance business capabilities and support future readiness.

• Mentorship & Architectural Enablement: Mentor portfolio triads and architecture peers, fostering a culture of collaboration, systems thinking, and architectural excellence across the domain.

• Architectural Practice Advancement: Continuously improve architectural methodologies, processes, and maturity across the domain, promoting innovation and alignment with enterprise architecture frameworks.

• May perform additional duties as assigned.

Reporting Relationship

Typically VP or above

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

• Insurance Domain Expertise: Deep expertise driving delivery across multiple domains within Commercial P&C in an Enterprise Architecture role

• Enterprise & Domain Strategy Leadership: Expert in translating enterprise goals into domain-level architectural strategies and roadmaps that span portfolios, platforms, and business units.

• Advanced Enterprise Architecture & Agile Expertise: Deep proficiency in enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF) and SAFe Agile, with the ability to guide architectural practices across multiple portfolios and teams.

• Cross-Portfolio Architecture Design & Integration: Skilled in designing and integrating scalable, decoupled, event-based, and API-enabled architectures across portfolios, ensuring reuse, consistency, and alignment with enterprise principles.

• Technology Innovation & Strategic Adoption: Strong awareness of emerging technologies and industry trends, with the ability to evaluate, recommend, and guide strategic adoption across the domain.

• Architectural Governance & Risk Oversight: Experienced in establishing and enforcing architectural standards, managing application landscape strategy, and assessing risk posture across portfolios.

• Reference Architecture & Capability Modeling: Proficient in developing and evolving reference architectures and capability maps to guide strategic alignment, solution intent, and enterprise reuse.

• Stakeholder Influence & Strategic Advisory: Exceptional communication and leadership skills to influence senior business and technology leaders, shape investment decisions, and align architectural outcomes with enterprise value.

• Architectural Mentorship & Practice Advancement: Demonstrated ability to mentor architects and triads, elevate architectural maturity, and drive continuous improvement of architectural methodologies and practices across the domain.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field; equivalent experience considered.

• Advanced degree preferred.

• Typically, a minimum of ten years of diverse experience in technology, including enterprise architecture, solution design, business analysis, and development across multiple portfolios or domains.

• Demonstrated experience leading architectural strategy and execution across complex portfolios or domain disciplines in a corporate environment.

• Proven ability to drive cross-portfolio integration, shared capability development, and alignment with enterprise architecture principles.

• Experience mentoring architects and influencing architectural maturity across teams, portfolios, and business units.

• Track record of providing strategic architectural guidance to senior leadership, shaping investment decisions and transformation initiatives.

• Experience managing application landscape strategy and risk posture across portfolios or domains.

• Experience in the commercial insurance industry and relevant certifications (e.g., TOGAF, SAFe Architect, GCP) strongly preferred.

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In certain jurisdictions, CNA is legally required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. In District of Columbia,California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Washington, the national base pay range for this job level is $152,000 to $242,000 annually. Salary determinations are based on various factors, including but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location. CNA offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package to help our employees – and their family members – achieve their physical, financial, emotional and social wellbeing goals.  For a detailed look at CNA’s benefits, please visit cnabenefits.com.

CNA utilizes AI-enabled technology during the recruiting process. For more information, please visit our careers page.

CNA is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the recruitment process. To request an accommodation, please contact [email protected]