EA Architect - Director

Company: SMBC Group
Location: Charlotte
Posted on: January 16, 2026

Job Description:

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges. In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC MANUBANK, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd. Role Description As an Enterprise Architect, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the technological landscape of our organization. Working closely with stakeholders across various business units, you will be responsible for designing and implementing strategic architectures that align with our business objectives and drive digital transformation in the banking industry. Architecture Design: Develop and maintain comprehensive architectural blueprints that encompass the entire IT infrastructure, applications, data, and technology platforms. Role Objectives Strategic Planning: Collaborate with senior leadership to define technology strategies and roadmaps that support business growth, innovation, and agility in the banking sector. Solution Evaluation: Assess the suitability of new technologies and solutions, conducting thorough evaluations to determine their alignment with business needs and architectural standards. Governance and Compliance: Establish and enforce architectural governance processes to ensure compliance with industry regulations, security standards, and best practices in banking. Collaboration and Communication: Act as a bridge between technical and non-technical stakeholders, facilitating communication and fostering alignment on architectural decisions and priorities within the banking domain. Technical Leadership: Provide guidance and leadership to development teams, promoting architectural best practices, and mentoring junior architects with a focus on banking-specific requirements. Risk Management: Identify potential risks and dependencies within the architecture, implementing mitigation strategies to minimize disruption to banking operations. Continuous Improvement: Stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends in banking and technology, driving innovation and continuous improvement within the organizations technology stack. Qualifications and Skills Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field. Proven experience (10 years) as an Enterprise Architect in a large-scale enterprise environment, with experience in the banking sector preferred. In-depth knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks and methodologies. Extensive working experience in workflow engineering and business process orchestration. Pega experience is preferred. ServiceNow knowledge is helpful. Strong understanding of cloud computing, microservices architecture, API management, and emerging technologies. Experience with Azure cloud services and solutions, financial services or Databricks preferred. Experience with EA tools like LeanIX, Ardoq is helpful. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders in the banking industry. Proven leadership abilities, with a track record of leading cross-functional teams and driving architectural initiatives to successful outcomes. Additional Requirements SMBC’s employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including, for example, certain FINRA-registered roles for which in-office attendance for the entire workweek is required. SMBC provides reasonable accommodations during candidacy for applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law.

Keywords: SMBC Group, Winston-Salem , EA Architect - Director, IT / Software / Systems , Charlotte, North Carolina