Lead Systems Architect – Portfolio & Capability Optimization

Wells Fargo•Charlotte, NC

22h•Hybrid

About The Position

About this role: Wells Fargo is seeking a Lead Systems Architect (Portfolio & Capability Optimization) to join the Technology Chief Operating Office (TCOO) Central Architecture team—a strategic, enterprise-facing group responsible for shaping and advancing technology strategy across the COO organization. The Central Architecture team serves as a unifying force, bringing a centralized, cross‑domain perspective to technology decision‑making. By establishing strong architectural alignment and portfolio discipline, the team ensures that technology investments are intentional, scalable, and aligned with enterprise standards. In this role, you will lead efforts to optimize technology portfolios and capabilities, drive application rationalization, and enable reusable AI and GenAI patterns that accelerate value across the organization. You will play a critical role in evaluating and shaping COO Technology investments—ensuring they are defensible, strategically aligned, and positioned to deliver long‑term impact. If you are passionate about enterprise architecture, technology optimization, and influencing strategy at scale, this role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of COO Technology. In this role, you will: Portfolio & Capability Optimization Act as the central portfolio and capability optimization architect for COO Technology, providing cross‑domain architectural insight and decision support. Lead application portfolio assessment, rationalization, and lifecycle optimization, identifying opportunities to reduce redundancy, technical debt, and cost. Assess and guide technology investment alignment, including build‑versus‑buy decisions and portfolio trade‑offs, to ensure consistency with enterprise architecture standards and COO strategy. Define and track architecture health, risk, and portfolio performance metrics to enable data‑driven decision‑making and executive transparency. AI / GenAI Enablement & Reuse Define and maintain a reusable capability view for AI‑enabled services, guiding reuse versus bespoke build decisions across COO portfolios. Establish and socialize reference architectures and patterns for AI‑enabled solutions, such as knowledge‑assisted workflows and agentic patterns. Partner with Cyber, Model Risk, and platform teams to ensure AI capabilities adopt enterprise guardrails, including data protection, resiliency, and policy‑aligned controls. Align domain roadmaps to enterprise AI platforms and shared services that enable governed experimentation, reuse, and standardized delivery.

Requirements

5+ years of Architecture experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
5+ years leading medium to large‑scale architecture or portfolio optimization programs
3+ years of experience working with enterprise‑scale application portfolios, including assessment, rationalization, modernization, or migration initiatives
1+ years of experience integrating AI‑enabled capabilities into enterprise portfolios in a governed, scalable manner

Nice To Haves

Strong communication and stakeholder influence skills, including engagement with senior technology leadership
Deep understanding of enterprise architecture principles, portfolio governance, and modernization strategies
Proven ability to lead through ambiguity and drive alignment in complex, federated environments
Experience with architecture modeling and portfolio tools (e.g., Bizzdesign, ArchiMate, ServiceNow, or similar)
Demonstrated ability to assess platform health, risk, and readiness through structured portfolio evaluations
Experience integrating emerging technologies, including AI‑enabled capabilities, into enterprise portfolios in a governed, scalable manner
Experience shaping AI/GenAI reference architectures and reusable patterns in regulated enterprise environments
Familiarity with AI safety and control concepts and how to embed them into architecture standards
Ability to translate AI risk and control requirements into actionable architecture artifacts consumable by delivery and governance teams

Responsibilities

Portfolio & Capability Optimization Act as the central portfolio and capability optimization architect for COO Technology, providing cross‑domain architectural insight and decision support.
Lead application portfolio assessment, rationalization, and lifecycle optimization, identifying opportunities to reduce redundancy, technical debt, and cost.
Assess and guide technology investment alignment, including build‑versus‑buy decisions and portfolio trade‑offs, to ensure consistency with enterprise architecture standards and COO strategy.
Define and track architecture health, risk, and portfolio performance metrics to enable data‑driven decision‑making and executive transparency.
AI / GenAI Enablement & Reuse Define and maintain a reusable capability view for AI‑enabled services, guiding reuse versus bespoke build decisions across COO portfolios.
Establish and socialize reference architectures and patterns for AI‑enabled solutions, such as knowledge‑assisted workflows and agentic patterns.
Partner with Cyber, Model Risk, and platform teams to ensure AI capabilities adopt enterprise guardrails, including data protection, resiliency, and policy‑aligned controls.
Align domain roadmaps to enterprise AI platforms and shared services that enable governed experimentation, reuse, and standardized delivery.

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