Senior Manager: Enterprise Architecture

Overview

Mayer Brown is an international law firm positioned to represent the world’s major corporations, funds, and financial institutions in their most important and complex transactions and disputes. We are recognized by our clients as strategic partners with deep commercial instincts and a commitment to creatively anticipating their needs and delivering excellence in everything we do.We are a collegial, collaborative firm where highly motivated individuals with an unwavering commitment to excellence receive the opportunity, support, and development they need to grow, thrive, and realize their greatest potential all while supporting the Firm’s client service principles of excellence, strategic partnership, commercial instinct, integrated strengths, innovation, and collaboration across our international firm.

If you thrive in a collaborative environment that values exceptional client service, initiative, professionalism, responsiveness, and adaptabililty, we invite you to consider joining our Information Technology department in our Chicago, New York, or London office as a Senior Manager: Enterprise Architecture.

The Senior Manager, Enterprise Architecture leads the strategic design, governance, and evolution of the firm's technology landscape to support business objectives, modernization priorities, and long-term technology sustainability. The role serves as a trusted advisor to business and technology leaders, aligning business capabilities, technology investments, vendor solutions, and AI-enabled opportunities with the firm's strategic direction.

The position is responsible for developing enterprise roadmaps, establishing architecture standards and governance processes, and providing forward-looking visibility into technology lifecycle, modernization, integration, and technical debt considerations. The role evaluates emerging technologies, guides technology and solution decisions, and helps ensure investments support both immediate business needs and long-term enterprise objectives.

In this capacity, the Senior Manager leads enterprise, solution, and integration architecture activities, collaborates with infrastructure, application, data, security, and governance teams, and drives architectural consistency, technology rationalization, and reusable design practices across the enterprise.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions:

Strategic Architecture & Alignment

• Develop and oversee future-state technology architecture and modernization strategies aligned with business objectives, capital planning and firm growth
• Design enterprise architecture frameworks, governance models, and technology standards that translate business strategy into actionable technology roadmaps
• Ensure alignment between business capabilities, technology investments, and enterprise architecture principles through stakeholder engagement and governance processes

Modernization & Transformation Leadership

• Lead IT modernization initiatives to reduce technical debt and support digital innovation
• Guide organizational responses to disruptive forces (including AI, cloud, and integration challenges) by assessing the impact of change initiatives on business outcomes
• Lead application and platform modernization initiatives to reduce technical debt and improve business agility
• Evaluate AI-enabled technologies and solution patterns to ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, governance requirements, and strategic objectives
• Advance enterprise architecture practices to address AI governance, AI-enabled operating models, and responsible adoption of emerging technologies

Integration Architecture

• Lead integration architecture and interface design across enterprise platforms, applications, and data domains
• Establish integration standards and reusable patterns that reduce implementation risk and accelerate delivery
• Maintain enterprise integration inventories, architectural dependencies, and reference architectures

IT Estate Management & Compliance

• Assess the health, sustainability, and strategic fit of the enterprise technology portfolio, recommending modernization, consolidation, and retirement plans
• Ensure architecture decisions align with cybersecurity requirements, regulatory obligations, and enterprise governance standards
• Evaluate architecture trade-offs across cost, risk, performance, security, and business value

Architecture Repository Management

• Maintain enterprise architecture repositories documenting systems, applications, technologies, integrations, processes, ownership, and dependencies
• Track technology lifecycles, including adoption, support status, upgrade requirements, end-of-support milestones, and retirement planning
• Document critical application attributes, ownership, classifications, vendor information, technical debt, service dependencies, and architectural relationships

Technology Portfolio & Lifecycle Management

• Establish technology portfolio strategies that reduce redundancy, improve standardization, and optimize technology investments across the enterprise

Key Deliverables:

• Enterprise business capabilities and technology roadmap
• Architecture governance framework and compliance dashboard
• Business-IT alignment and architecture review program
• AI-enabled reference architectures and modernization roadmap
• Technology change horizon and lifecycle dashboard
• Performs other duties as assigned or required to meet Firm goals and objectives

Qualifications, Experience and Personal Attributes

Education/Training/Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business Technology, or a related field
• Professional certifications such as TOGAF, Certified Enterprise Architect, Azure Solutions Architect, AWS Solutions Architect, or comparable architecture and cloud certifications are preferred

Strategic & Technical Expertise

• 10 years of IT and enterprise architecture experience, with 3+ years in leadership or senior individual contributor roles
• Deep expertise in enterprise architecture principles, governance frameworks, and business-technology alignment methodologies
• Demonstrated experience developing enterprise architecture artifacts, capability maps, technology roadmaps, reference architectures, and integration strategies
• Experience managing technology portfolios, technology lifecycles, and modernization strategies across complex environments
• Experience evaluating vendor technologies and conducting architectural due diligence
• Strong knowledge of enterprise applications, cloud architecture, and infrastructure
• Solid understanding of IT security, risk management, and regulatory compliance
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office products

Business & Financial Acumen

• Proven ability to translate business strategy into technology recommendations and roadmaps
• Experience evaluating technology investment trade-offs, lifecycle costs, technical debt, and modernization priorities
• Experience working with C-suite and business unit leaders to align technology decisions with enterprise objectives

AI Literacy & Modern Skill Set

• Working knowledge of AI capabilities, AI governance principles, emerging AI technologies, and responsible adoption practices
• Ability to evaluate AI solutions for feasibility, risk, and strategic fit
• Track record of adopting and applying emerging technologies

Interpersonal & Strategic Leadership

• Exceptional stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Strong communication ability, can translate complex technical concepts for business audiences and vice versa
• Demonstrated ability to influence technology strategy, investment decisions, and architectural direction across organizational boundaries

Performance Traits:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, able to communicate effectively and in a professional manner with all levels of the Firm and outside vendors
• Ability to work in a diverse team environment and effectively support the demanding needs of the Firm
• Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines with shifting priorities
• Must be a self-starter with a high level of initiative
• Strong customer service skills, able to anticipate needs and exercise independent judgment
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills and the ability to handle multiple projects
• Maintains confidentiality and exercises discretion
• Exercises solid strategic thinking and problem-solving skills

Management Accountabilities:

• Manages processes for direct reports in regards to performance appraisals, annual compensation, goal setting and performance counselling
• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience
• Operational budget analysis and recommendations
• Conducts analysis of staffing levels and participation in the recruitment process
• Able to determine and implement change processes to improve workflow efficiencies
• Process- and service-oriented with strong leadership and project management skills
• Able to set priorities and delegate in an efficient manner

General Duties

• Performs other duties as assigned or required to meet Firm goals and objectives

Physical Requirements:

• May require occasional lifting of up to 20 lbs.
• May require travel to other offices as needed

This description is not exhaustive, and the Firm may modify it at any time at its sole discretion; nothing herein creates an employment contract or alters the at-will nature of employment.

We offer competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, including medical/dental/vision/life/and AD&D insurance, 401(k) savings plan, back-up childcare and eldercare, generous paid time off (PTO), as well as opportunities for professional development and growth.

We are committed to providing equal opportunity and reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities and disabled veterans. To request an accommodation related to the application process or interview, please email [email protected]. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

Mayer Brown works with select external search firms that have been vetted against our standards. Firms without a contract or agreement with Mayer Brown are not authorized to represent that they are working with the Firm, nor are they entitled to placement fees. Mayer Brown does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruiters. Submission of an unsolicited CV to Mayer Brown or any of its Partners or employees will not establish any right of priority for the submitting agency.

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Posted Pay Range

The salary range for this role in Chicago is between $173,000 and $230,000, and in New York between $185,000 and $245,000, although the actual wage or salary could be lower or higher if the candidate's education, experience, skills and internal pay alignment are different from those specified.