Chief Architect

ING Group

Brussels, Belgium

A day in the life of a Chief Architect

You are the Chief Architect for the ING Tech organization in Belgium. You are directly managing a team of enterprise architects and chapter leads. Your organization consists of multi-disciplinary architects, who are responsible for guiding the change projects in Belgium and for contributing to the overall global architecture of ING. You are a full member of the MT TECH BE (management Team) reporting to the CIO BE.

As country chief you are also a member of the MT EA of the Group Chief Architect, who you report to functionally.

As the Country Chief Architect you are responsible for

Setting a clear architectural direction for transforming towards the highly digital, extreme customer focused and very cost efficient bank we are transforming towards;
Creating a high performing culture to help reduce the technical debt and accelerate the simplification of the landscape;
Developing the craftmanship of your team via the chapter structure;
Defining roadmaps at different horizons (2 and 3) by making explicit what the key dependencies are;
Creating synergy among stakeholders to actively steer to the target architecture;
Defining target architecture for Belgium; implement and sustain the initiatives in the BE Tech strategy;
Stimulating global interaction and collaboration across architects in the different locations and countries; creating synergy among team members to increase the efficiency and productivity;
Support definition of short-term activities and dependencies in the quarterly business review for the tribes of the country;
Guiding and supporting the changes to the IT landscape.

How to succeed

A credible leader with some experience in the IT delivery and excellent architecture knowledge and experience. You are an inspirational figure to your employees. You have the ability to make key changes in small steps. As a manager, you are the figurehead. This means you have to exude vitality, strength and enthusiasm, also for prolonged periods of time (stamina);
Candidates that are passionate about IT and related business processes, the team and ING;
An inspiring communicator who can support his team in the management and business context, who’s able to explain to C-level and engineers;
A consistent manager, providing structure and planning to his surroundings and one who is able to work in a volatile, regulated and innovative environment;
A collaborative person that achieves results together with others, making personal interests subordinate to those of the organization or team;
A leader with a talent for taking it on and making it happen, enthusiasm for helping others to be successful and a knack for always being a step ahead.

Proven track record

Master Degree in Information Technology or related field is required (or equivalent professional examinations/experience);
5-10 years’ professional experience as a lead architect is a must;
A few years of management experience;
Knowledge of IT banking systems in an overall integrated Universal Banking context;
Making impact by means of architecture methods and techniques;
Experience with the Agile Way of Working, continuous delivery;
Experience with matrix organisations;
Experience in building strategic roadmaps;
Driving and steering multidisciplinary teams;
Excellent level of English;
Strong Analytical and communication skills;
Deeply understands negotiation methods and the stakes and manages opposing viewpoints and negotiated equitable designs to ensure successful and stable outcomes;
Ability to stay focused in high-pressure, high-stress projects;
Is self-organizing;
Has co-creation skills (workshops, guiding, constraining, selling, telling);
Acts as the thought leader for the architects community and ensures the accomplishment of pre-defined outcomes;
Trains and coaches colleagues.