Business Architect

National Life Insurance Company • Montpelier, VT

4d

About The Position

Come join one of America’s fastest-growing insurance companies. Since 1848, National Life Group has aimed to keep our promises, providing families with stability in good times and in bad. Throughout that history, we have provided peace of mind to those families as they plan their futures.
Our mission extends beyond the insurance and annuities policies that we offer. We strive to make the world a better place through our grants from our charitable foundation, paid volunteer time for our employees, environmentally sustainable and healthy workplaces, and events that promote the work of nonprofits in our own backyard.
We foster a collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and encourage our associates to live our values: Do good. Be good. Make good.
Please note that we do not offer visa sponsorship for this position.
Role Summary
The Business Architect role supports the strategic direction and implementation of business architecture solutions, ensuring alignment between business goals, operational processes, and enabling technology. This role develops and maintains the business blueprints—such as capability maps, customer journeys, value streams, and operating model components—that inform strategic decision-making and guide change across the organization.
The Business Architect collaborates closely with stakeholders across Product, Operations, IT, and Transformation to ensure initiatives are aligned to enterprise capabilities and designed in a way that promotes consistency, scalability, and a strong customer experience. The role requires clear and structured communication, adaptability to evolving business needs, and the ability to translate complex concepts into accessible models and insights.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, computer science, information systems or other related fields
• Minimum five (5) years of experience in business architecture, business analysis, process design, or strategic transformation roles in complex, cross-functional organizations.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a focus on rapport building, active listening and appreciative inquiry building trusted relationships with stakeholders and partners
• Willingness to dig deep and develop working knowledge of business operating model, processes and enabling technology
• Deep analytical skills with the ability to assimilate disparate pieces of information, articulate their relevance to problem solving and apply the knowledge for optimal outcomes
• Strong written and oral communication skills including the ability to communicate complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Proven track record of making timely decisions based on facts, circumstances and needs of the business

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in business, finance, computer science, information systems or other related fields
• Life & annuity industry knowledge
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
• Professional SCRUM Product Owner (PSPO) certification
• Six Sigma certification
• Certified Business Architect (CBA) certification

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the enterprise business architecture repositories, including capability maps, value streams, and customer journey maps.
• Contribute to the development and documentation of the target operating model that defines how the organization delivers value to customers and stakeholders.
• Partner with business leaders and transformation teams to identify opportunities for capability growth, efficiency, and standardization.
• Conduct operational impact assessments for new products, enhancements, and process changes to evaluate downstream implications on people, processes, and systems.
• Collaborate with Product, Operations, and IT partners to evaluate how initiatives align to enterprise capabilities, value streams, and operating model design
• Provide recommendations and mitigation strategies to support business readiness and minimize risk during change implementation.
• Ensure business architecture artifacts are maintained in a structured repository that supports reuse, traceability, and decision-making.
• Use architectural tools (e.g. customer journey maps, capability maps, process maps, etc.) to identify performance gaps, investment priorities, and improvement opportunities.
• Partner with the Operations Excellence and PMO teams to embed capability-driven thinking into project planning and prioritization.
• Support senior leaders by providing architectural insights on operating model design and business readiness.
• Facilitate workshops, design sessions, and alignment discussions to validate models and decisions.
• Present complex information in a clear, concise manner tailored to the audience—from front-line leaders to executives.

Benefits

• Your benefits start day one and are flexible and customizable to your and your family’s specific needs.
• Check out the BENEFITS of a Career at National Life!
• The total compensation package for this position may also include a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered.
• The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in National Life’s discretionary annual incentive programs, subject to the rules governing such programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees