Senior Manager Digital Architecture - Emerging Technology & AI

Caterpillar•Chicago, IL

14h

About The Position

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Cat Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc., leveraging the latest technologies to build industry leading digital solutions for our customers and dealers. With over 1.5 million connected assets worldwide, our teams use data, technology, advanced analytics, telematics and AI capabilities to help our customers build a better, more sustainable world. Job Summary: As the Senior Digital Architecture Manager of Emerging Technology & AI, you will lead a highly versatile team of engineers and architects dedicated to defining the future of our digital ecosystem. We have active AI workloads in production, a multi-decade history in ML and a thriving online commerce store front. We aim to continue to drive business value through technology adoption. You will sit at the intersection of business strategy and deep technical execution, spearheading our evolution through a strategic partnership with NVIDIA, Microsoft, AWS and other vendors . Your mission is to identify "what's next," build the repeatable patterns that make it real, and hand off bulletproof architectures to our production engineering teams.

Requirements

Knowledge of leadership concepts and ability to use strategies and skills to enlist others in setting, embracing and achieving objectives.
Demonstrated capability to translate experimentation and proof ‑ of ‑ concept outcomes into reusable architectural patterns, reference implementations, and enterprise standards that accelerate adoption.
Proven skill in communicating complex technical concepts to executive and business stakeholders, influencing investment decisions, and aligning teams around a shared architectural direction.
Credibility earned through deep technical engagement, with the ability to guide teams through architectural decisions, trade ‑ offs, and design reviews across AI, cloud, and integration platforms.
Knowledge of tools, methods, and techniques of requirement analysis; ability to elicit, analyze and record required business functionality and non-functionality requirements to ensure the success of a system or software development project.

Nice To Haves

A four‑year bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, with 15+ years of experience , including 5+ years leading AI/ML or emerging technology architecture initiatives .
Proven experience leading architecture and emerging technology teams through prototypes, proofs of concept, and the creation of repeatable architectural and deployment patterns that scale across the enterprise.
Demonstrated success translating leading‑edge technologies from early experimentation into production‑ready architectures, platforms, or standards —moving beyond innovation to measurable enterprise adoption.
Deep expertise across modern AI/ML and Generative AI ecosystems , with hands‑on experience evaluating, integrating, and operationalizing rapidly evolving technologies (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, JAX, OpenAI/Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, LLaMA, Mistral, LangChain, LlamaIndex, RAG‑based architectures).
Strong NVIDIA AI stack experience , including hands‑on expertise with technologies such as CUDA, NeMo, NIM, RAPIDS, TensorRT/Triton, Riva, DeepStream, Isaac, Omniverse, Jetson, and NVIDIA AI Enterprise—supporting training, fine‑tuning, and inference at scale.
Experience designing and evolving hybrid and multi‑cloud AI platforms across Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and NVIDIA, with deep knowledge of Kubernetes, Docker, GPU orchestration, and secure enterprise deployment models.
Experience leading first‑of‑their‑kind or highly ambiguous initiatives , where architectural direction, operating models, and success criteria were not fully defined, requiring strong judgment and experimentation‑driven decision-making.
Strong awareness of the broader emerging technology ecosystem , including hyperscalers, open‑source communities, and technology partners, with the ability to assess innovation through both technical and business lenses.
A track record of influencing enterprise‑wide architectural direction , partnering with executive leaders, and shaping long‑term technology and platform investment decisions.
A passion for building and mentoring elite technical talent , fostering a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous learning that raises the architectural maturity of the organization.

Responsibilities

Own the Emerging Technology Frontier : Lead Caterpillar’s exploration, validation, and adoption of emerging technologies, transforming early‑stage innovations into enterprise‑ready capabilities that shape the company’s digital future.
Lead High ‑ Impact Proofs of Concept : Direct hands‑on PoCs using leading‑edge AI/ML, generative AI, and cloud‑native technologies to rapidly assess feasibility, business value, and scalability—turning experimentation into informed enterprise decisions.
Create Patterns That Scale : Convert successful explorations into repeatable architectural patterns, reference implementations, and blueprints (LLMOps, MLOps, CI/CD for AI) that dramatically accelerate adoption across teams and platforms.
Architect the Next ‑ Generation AI Platform : Design and guide the evolution of secure, scalable, hybrid‑cloud AI architectures across Azure, AWS, GCP, and NVIDIA—enabling Caterpillar’s internal AI Factory and future digital products.
Translate Vision Into Execution : Act as a trusted advisor between executive leadership and engineering teams—shaping strategy, influencing investment decisions, and turning ambiguity into actionable technical roadmaps.
Build and Inspire Elite Talent : Lead, mentor, and grow a high‑performing team of senior architects and engineers, fostering a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and engineering excellence.