AI Enterprise Architect (Hybrid)

Securian Financial Group’s internal position title for this role is Architecture Consulting Director.

Position Summary:

The AI Enterprise Architect is a senior technical leader within Securian Financial’s Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence (AI CoE), responsible for shaping enterprise AI architecture strategy and driving the adoption of scalable, secure, and reusable AI solutions. In this role, you will establish and lead enterprise AI architecture patterns, standards, and governance practices, ensuring alignment with long-term technology strategy and evolving business needs. You will guide architectural decisions, evaluate emerging AI technologies, and help teams maximize existing platforms and capabilities while promoting consistency, innovation, and responsible AI adoption. As a trusted architectural advisor, you will partner closely with Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Data and Analytics (eDNA), technology leaders, and delivery teams to provide consultation, directly influence strategic decisions, and accelerate AI adoption across the organization. Success in this role requires deep technical expertise, strong collaboration and communication skills, lead through influence, and the ability to bring clarity and direction to a rapidly evolving AI landscape. We are seeking a highly curious, collaborative, and self-organized senior architect who thrives in ambiguity, is passionate about emerging technologies, and enjoys driving clarity and reuse in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Responsibilities include but not limited to:

• •Establish, evolve, and drive the enterprise target-state AI platform architecture and design, providing the senior architectural direction that patterns and reference architectures build upon to keep pace with the market and Securian’s AI ambitions.
• •Define, document, and own a library of reusable AI solution and architecture patterns and assets, establishing a repeatable process to author, review, approve, publish, version, and retire them for enterprise-wide reuse.
• •Serve as the enterprise approval authority for AI patterns — reviewing proposed patterns, adjudicating deviations, and declaring when a design aligns to the target-state AI architecture.
• •Ensure approved patterns are consistently applied and enforced during architecture reviews, coaching delivery teams to cite applicable patterns, call out deviations, and focus review discussions on those deviations.
• •Define, maintain, and champion AI development and deployment standards, guardrails, and blueprint patterns for scalable and adaptable AI solutions across the enterprise.
• •Lead ongoing solution design and validation consultation, providing architectural leadership to AI delivery teams as they design, integrate, and deploy AI use cases using approved patterns and platforms.
• •Partner closely with Enterprise Architecture to co-own AI platform architecture and design, ensuring AI patterns align to enterprise architecture principles, templates, and long-term technology strategy.
• •Work with Enterprise Architecture to embed AI patterns into established architecture review venues and to keep AI architecture aligned with the enterprise’s purpose, vision, and guiding principles (e.g., favoring reuse of existing tools).
• •Advise on AI platform and tool evaluation, supporting Enterprise Architecture and technology teams in assessing platform fit, scalability, and architectural impact.
• •Contribute architectural perspective to buy-versus-build decisions, helping the enterprise weigh reuse and extensibility against new development or third-party procurement.
• •Embed responsible, ethical, and well-governed AI practices into patterns and standards, promoting a culture of trustworthy AI development and usage across the organization.
• •Define architecture and metadata standards for the AI solution inventory, ensuring patterns connect to a clear registry of enterprise AI assets.
• •Rapidly research and assess emerging AI technologies to determine maturity, enterprise applicability, and architectural fit, translating promising capabilities into candidate patterns.
• •Support intake and prioritization of AI opportunities from an architectural lens, helping shape which use cases and capabilities are pursued and how they map to reusable patterns.
• •Provide architectural leadership across AI delivery and scaling, ensuring solutions move from experimentation to production on sound, reusable foundations.
• •Contribute to the AI platform and pattern roadmap, sequencing the evolution of shared capabilities to reduce redundancy and accelerate delivery.

Qualifications:

• •Extensive, progressive experience architecting and designing enterprise solutions leveraging AI, ML, or advanced analytics technologies, with a track record of operating at a principal or lead-architect level.
• •Demonstrated experience establishing or running an architecture pattern, standards, or governance practice — including authoring, reviewing, approving, and publishing reusable patterns or reference architectures.
• •Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with experience mentoring and coaching solution architects, delivery teams, and leadership roles across the enterprise leading through influence and driving architectural strategy.
• •Proven ability to lead architecture reviews and drive adoption of standards and patterns across multiple teams, balancing enterprise consistency with pragmatic, negotiated deviations.
• •Deep understanding of common architecture and integration patterns and their application within modern AI and data ecosystems.
• •Experience with cloud services (AWS preferred) and AI-related cloud capabilities (e.g., model hosting, vector databases, event streaming, agentic and GenAI platforms).
• •Strong experience evaluating technical capabilities, assessing platform fit, and recommending solution and buy-versus-build approaches that align with enterprise strategy.
• •Broad knowledge across the architectural domains of business, application, data, technology, and security, with the ability to partner effectively with Enterprise Architecture.
• •Ability to translate ambiguous business needs into clear architectural options, patterns, and decisions, and to guide senior technical and business partners to alignment.
• •High degree of curiosity, adaptability, and willingness to continuously research and learn emerging AI technologies.
• •Experience working in agile environments and on cross-functional product teams.
• •Background in financial services or other regulated industries.

#LI-Hybrid **This position will have a hybrid working arrangement, working in-office for a minimum of 3 days a week.**

Securian Financial believes in hybrid work as an integral part of our culture. Associates get the benefit of working both virtually and in our offices. If you’re in a commutable distance (90 minutes) you’ll join us 3 days each week in our offices to collaborate and build relationships. Our policy allows flexibility for the reality of business and personal schedules.

Preferred Skills:

AI Architecture, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Architecture Development, Coaching, Communication, Mentorship, Results Delivery, Results-Oriented

The estimated base pay range for this job is:

$138,900.00 - $257,600.00

Pay may vary depending on job-related factors and individual experience, skills, knowledge, etc. More information on base pay and incentive pay (if applicable) can be discussed with a member of the Securian Financial Talent Acquisition team.

Be you. With us. At Securian Financial, we understand that attracting top talent means offering more than just a job – it means providing a rewarding and fulfilling career. As a valued member of our high-performing team, we want you to connect with your work, your relationships and your community. Enjoy our comprehensive range of benefits designed to enhance your professional growth, well-being and work-life balance, including the advantages listed h