Vice President of Technology & Architecture

About Our Client

Our client is seeking a Vice President of Technology & Architecture to partner with a global supply chain solutions organization. This pivotal role involves shaping multi-year technical strategy and leading engineering execution.

This is a critical succession planning role, designed to prepare the incumbent for a future Chief Technology Officer position. The individual will be responsible for translating company strategy into a clear architectural vision, leading transformative technology initiatives, and positioning the organization for its next phase of growth, all while building and mentoring high-performing teams.

What it's like to work here:

The client is a technology-driven entity with a lean, high-performing technical organization. In this environment, strategic influence is significant, and your work will directly shape the company's direction over the next 3-5 years. The culture champions innovation, adaptability, and continuous learning. Engineering teams are collaborative, hungry for new challenges, and adept at embracing emerging technologies and tools.

What you will get to do:

• Translate company strategy into a clear 2-3 year architectural roadmap and align engineering, product, data, and business teams around it.
• Establish architectural principles that guide decisions across legacy modernization, new service delivery platforms, and AI-native platforms.
• Lead the engineering organization by hiring, mentoring, and developing senior engineering leaders, tech leads, and architects.
• Drive engineering execution by establishing best practices for CI/CD, observability, infrastructure, developer experience, and delivery management.
• Own and continuously improve the software development lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring operationalization, metrics tracking, reporting, and team optimization.
• Oversee the enterprise cybersecurity strategy, policies, and technical controls, ensuring security is embedded into architecture, SDLC, and operations (secure-by-design).
• Manage identity, access management, data protection, incident response, and vulnerability management as the organization scales.
• Regularly assess evolving business conditions, customer needs, and market dynamics, adapting technical direction accordingly.
• Proactively surface risks, tradeoffs, and opportunities to leadership before they become constraints.
• Present architecture, platform vision, and AI strategy to customers, partners, and prospects with executive presence and polish.
• Represent the organization at industry conferences, panels, and events, serving as a visible technical leader and brand ambassador.
• Balance system and architectural decisions across scalability, speed, security, cost, and operational maturity.
• Establish clear ownership models, accountability, and delivery standards across the engineering organization.
• Address structural challenges within the engineering team, making difficult decisions about process improvements and team composition when necessary.
• Lead a fully remote, distributed team of approximately 20 people across 3-4 direct reports (senior directors).
• Articulate the "why" behind architectural decisions to both technical and non-technical audiences with clarity and conviction.
• Travel approximately once per month for quarterly leadership meetings and strategic sessions.

What will make you successful:

• 15+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, technology strategy, SDLC, and solution design leadership roles in high-growth, global environments.
• Deep software development experience including running software engineering teams and delivering production software.
• Expert-level understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), including how to operationalize it, deliver on it, report on metrics, and optimize teams around it.
• Strong cloud architecture expertise specifically in cloud-based applications (Azure or AWS required).
• Experience driving enterprise-wide transformations including modernization, cloud migration, data strategy, and AI enablement.
• Proven success designing, implementing, and evolving integrated systems at scale.
• Practical experience integrating AI/ML systems into production software.
• Strong ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences, including customers and executives.
• Executive presence and polish, comfortable presenting at customer meetings, partner engagements, and industry speaking events.
• Strategic and visionary thinking, not just a strong executor, but someone who can envision corporate architecture and shape long-term technical direction.
• Proven ability to balance big-picture strategic thinking with hands-on involvement. Willing to roll up sleeves and understand details in a lean organization.
• Experience successfully managing fully remote, distributed teams.
• Track record of hiring, developing, and mentoring senior technical leaders.
• Demonstrated leadership through change.
• Ambitious career trajectory with genuine interest in progressing to a CTO role.
• Must have the current and continuing right to work in the United States of America without restrictions or expirations.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in high-growth technology companies or organizations undergoing digital transformation.
• Experience launching commercial software products or transitioning from internal to external product delivery.
• Familiarity with logistics, supply chain, or complex operational environments (not required).
• Track record working effectively with tight-knit, long-tenured teams.

Key skills/competency

• Enterprise Architecture
• Technology Strategy
• Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
• Cloud Architecture (Azure/AWS)
• AI/ML Integration
• Cybersecurity Strategy
• Engineering Leadership
• Digital Transformation
• Remote Team Management
• Executive Communication