[Hiring] Principal Architect @Mariner

Role Description

We are looking for a Principal Architect to join the Mariner team — a senior technical leader with the business acumen, strategic vision, and hands-on expertise to strengthen and grow our Architecture Practice. The right person will lead our architectural strategy, elevate our team of architects, serve as a trusted advisor to client executives, contribute to business growth, and be a recognizable voice in the technology community. This is a role for someone who wants to shape how we do architecture at Mariner — and who is energized by the opportunity to grow alongside the practice.

What You’ll Be Doing in the Role:

• Architecture Strategy & Practice Leadership:
  • Define and drive Mariner’s overall architecture strategy and roadmap, translating business goals into scalable, forward-looking architectural plans that span application, data, infrastructure, security, and AI domains.
  • Lead and continuously evolve the Architecture Practice: setting standards, building the community of practice, driving knowledge sharing, and establishing governance processes that scale.
  • Identify and recruit strong architectural talent; actively shape team composition and mentor architects at all levels to build a high-performing, cohesive practice.
  • Align technology initiatives with enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF), ensuring consistency and integration across all architectural domains.
  • Identify architectural risks, assess trade-offs, and define mitigation strategies to ensure robust, resilient solution design at enterprise scale.
  • Champion innovation by staying ahead of industry trends — particularly in Data, AI/ML, cloud, and cybersecurity — and translating emerging capabilities into strategic advantage for clients.
• Executive Advisory & Client Engagement:
  • Serve as a trusted executive advisor to C-suite and senior leadership stakeholders at client organizations, communicating complex architectural concepts with clarity, authority, and business relevance.
  • Lead executive-level architecture reviews, workshops, and strategy sessions — building lasting client relationships and reinforcing Mariner’s value as a strategic partner.
  • Translate technical architecture into business value narratives that resonate with non-technical decision makers, including boards, executives, and procurement leaders.
  • Support and influence major technology investment decisions at client organizations, ensuring architectural alignment and strategic coherence across large-scale programs.
• Business Development & Growth:
  • Play an active role in pre-sales and business development — engaging with prospective clients, contributing to solution design during the sales cycle, and helping shape proposals and pitches that win.
  • Bring architectural credibility and executive presence to client discovery sessions, RFP responses, and competitive pursuits, particularly for complex, high-value engagements.
  • Identify and develop new business opportunities within existing client accounts, leveraging deep relationships and architectural insight to surface unmet needs.
  • Collaborate with account teams, practice leads, and executives to develop go-to-market positioning for Mariner’s architecture and Data/AI offerings.
  • Contribute to thought leadership — white papers, conference presentations, industry forums — that strengthen Mariner’s brand and competitive differentiation.
• Delivery & Technical Oversight:
  • Provide technical leadership and architectural oversight across large-scale, multi-stream programs — contributing to planning, budgeting, resource allocation, and quality assurance.
  • Evaluate and select technology vendors and products in collaboration with procurement and client teams, ensuring alignment with architectural standards and organizational goals.
  • Ensure that all architectural decisions deliver measurable business value and are grounded in a clear understanding of organizational objectives and constraints.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in IT architecture, with at least 5 years in a senior, principal, or director-level architecture role in a consulting or professional services environment.
• Demonstrated experience building or leading an architecture practice, including establishing governance, developing talent, and setting standards at an organizational level.
• Deep cross-domain expertise spanning application, data, cloud infrastructure, security, and AI/ML architecture — with the ability to engage credibly across all domains at a senior level.
• Proficiency in enterprise architecture frameworks, particularly TOGAF (certification preferred); familiarity with other frameworks such as Zachman, FEAF, or industry-specific equivalents.
• Proven track record of executive-level stakeholder engagement — navigating complex organizations, building trusted advisor relationships, and influencing major technology decisions.
• Experience with public sector clients is a strong asset; familiarity with government procurement processes and compliance frameworks is an advantage.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field; advanced degrees, certifications (TOGAF, AWS/Azure/GCP architect certifications, CISSP, etc.) are assets.

Requirements

• Exceptional executive communication skills — able to move seamlessly between technical depth and board-level business conversation, adapting style and substance for any audience.
• Experienced facilitator and presenter: comfortable leading high-stakes workshops, architecture reviews, and strategic sessions with senior client leadership.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to produce compelling proposals, strategy documents, and thought leadership content.
• Commercial instinct and business development fluency — understanding how to identify opportunity, structure an engagement, and articulate value in ways that close business.
• Comfortable holding a position in complex stakeholder environments — able to navigate competing priorities and organizational dynamics while keeping things moving and relationships intact.

Leadership & Character

• A natural leader who brings people along — building teams that are collaborative, high-performing, and focused on shared goals.
• Self-directed and comfortable with autonomy — able to build structure and drive progress without needing a lot of hand-holding.
• Genuinely curious and committed to continuous learning — someone who stays current with technology and architecture trends because they find it interesting, not just because it’s expected.
• Comfortable with complexity and pressure; approaches difficult problems with clear, structured thinking.
• Aligned with Mariner’s values and motivated by the kind of work that creates real impact for clients, teams, and communities.

Benefits

• A values-driven workplace where people really matter.
• Flexible work location.
• Support for remote work/work from home.
• Competitive salary, retirement savings program, and rewards program.
• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance plans and access to e-health care.
• Paid vacation, maternity/parental leave, paid sick leave, and paid Mariner MyLife days.
• Unlimited Training.