Director of Enterprise Architecture

East West Bank•El Monte, CA

About The Position

East West Bank is seeking a Senior Principal Enterprise Architect to lead the development, governance, and evolution of our enterprise technology architecture as we advance into a new era of transformational growth. This role is pivotal in aligning business strategy with technology modernization, data architecture, and application integration across the enterprise. The Principal Enterprise Architect will lead and develop a team of architects in Application, Data, Integration, Infrastructure, and Security domains, to ensure consistent architecture practices across the Enterprise whilst fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence. This role will also establish and chair the Enterprise Architecture Review Board (EARB) . This role ensures that technology initiatives are strategically aligned, future-ready, secure, and operationally resilient—supporting the bank’s journey toward becoming a leading, digitally enabled financial institution.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (advanced degree preferred).
15+ years of experience in enterprise technology architecture, solution architecture, or technical strategy roles.
5+ years in architectural leadership, influencing or mentoring architecture teams across multiple domains.
Demonstrated experience establishing or operating an Architecture Review Board or equivalent governance function.
Strong understanding of: Core banking systems and digital banking ecosystems Enterprise integration patterns, API management, service-based and event-driven architecture Cloud platforms (Azure and/or AWS) Data architecture, governance, and security considerations for regulated environments
Excellent stakeholder communication, strategic thinking, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Applicants must have legal authorization to work in the United States.
We do not offer visa sponsorship at this time.

Nice To Haves

Experience scaling technology capabilities to support enterprise transformation and regulatory readiness.
Experience with core banking modernization, cloud transformation, and enterprise platform integration.
Familiarity with financial regulatory expectations (e.g., operational resiliency, data governance, cybersecurity controls).

Responsibilities

Enterprise Architecture Strategy & Leadership Lead the design and delivery of innovative, scalable, and secure technology solutions that support the firm’s strategic objectives and modernization goals.
Provide architectural leadership in partnership with the business solutions group across multiple domains—ensuring solutions align with enterprise standards and adapt to evolving business needs.
Define, communicate, and maintain enterprise architecture principles, standards, and roadmaps aligned to business priorities and regulatory expectations.
Develop and maintain target business object models and assess the impact of future business architecture on application architectures.
Drive adoption of modern technical methods and product development practices across specialized fields.
Architecture Governance & Review Establish and chair the Enterprise Architecture Review Board (EARB) to govern solution design and technology decision-making.
Ensure architecture decisions align with long-term enterprise strategy, reduce technical debt, and improve interoperability across platforms in various markets.
Develop standardized reference architectures, reusable frameworks, patterns, and governance models that improve delivery velocity and quality.
Strategic Planning & Transformation Partner with business and technology executives to translate business strategies into enterprise technology roadmaps.
Advise and lead strategy and architectural discussions across a portfolio of products, applications, and technologies.
Evaluate emerging technologies, legacy modernization approaches, and cloud adoption strategies to enable innovation and operational resiliency.
Define system and operational requirements for computing infrastructure, addressing inter-application dependencies and interfaces.
Documentation, Communication & Audit Readiness Deliver clear, comprehensive architectural diagrams and documentation that are audit-ready and support regulatory compliance.
Translate highly complex technical issues, trends, and approaches into actionable insights for leadership, enabling well-informed decisions about target state architecture.
Present complex technical concepts and architectural strategies to senior leadership and stakeholders in a clear, compelling manner.
Collaboration & Leadership Act as a trusted advisor to IT and business leadership teams, working closely with cybersecurity, operations, risk, compliance, and engineering teams.
Promote architectural thinking and best practices across programs and delivery teams.
Mentor and develop junior architects and engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.