Enterprise Lead Architect

Job Title: Enterprise Lead Architect (ELA) Location: Washington, D.C. 20250 Employment Type: Full-Time Experience Level: Senior Overview The Enterprise Lead Architect (ELA) will provide strategic, enterprise-level leadership in data and solution architecture for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This role will drive alignment with USDA and Federal Partners and Agriculture Consortium (FPAC) directives, including Zero Trust, cloud migration, and the Technical Guidance Framework, while fostering innovation in AI/ML and cloud-native technologies. The ELA will serve as the principal technical leader across NRCS delivery teams, ensuring consistency, risk mitigation, and transformational modernization of systems to enhance business agility, cost efficiency, and compliance. Responsibilities • Enterprise Architecture Leadership: • Define and enforce unified data and solution architecture standards across NRCS systems, aligning with USDA/FPAC mandates and industry best practices. • Lead the technology intake process, evaluating and recommending new technologies to the Government Program Manager (GPM) in compliance with the Cloud Memo. • Cloud and Modernization Strategy: • Optimize the use of AWS-native applications, DevSecOps pipelines, and cloud-native services while ensuring compliance with Zero Trust architecture. • Modernize legacy systems (e.g., .NET to .NET Core) for serverless/container environments, and decompose database monoliths (e.g., NPAD) into domain-aligned components. • Technical Governance & Debt Management: • Document and maintain architectural decisions in a centralized repository. • Conduct a 30-day systems review to categorize technical debt, establish a transparent backlog, and develop remediation plans. • Collaboration & Compliance: • Partner with federal and contractor architects to harmonize interfaces, manage dependencies, and align with USDA’s Lakehouse Data Strategy (e.g., Databricks integration, elimination of redundant data). • Ensure all solutions expose automation-ready health monitoring endpoints and pass load/performance testing benchmarks. • Innovation & Integration: • Enable forward-looking architectures to integrate AI/ML, GenAI, and emerging technologies while maintaining auditability and compliance. • Facilitate architecture reviews, design assurance gates, and cross-team design sessions. • Risk & Compliance Management: • Validate Zero Trust compliance, identify remediation gaps, and promote Zero Trust principles across development teams. • Monitor and escalate architectural risks to the GPM, ensuring alignment with business and technical priorities. Qualifications • Leadership & Experience: • 5+ years of architectural leadership in federal IT programs; 5+ years managing large-scale programs. • Demonstrated expertise in developing and deploying AWS-native applications. • Proven success driving digital transformation initiatives with measurable business impact. • Technical Expertise: • Mastery of cloud-native architecture (AWS), API management, data platforms (e.g., Databricks), and DevSecOps pipelines. • Current AWS certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer) to validate cloud proficiency. • Strategic & Operational Skills: • Strong understanding of USDA/FPAC directives, including the Lakehouse Data Strategy and Zero Trust framework. • Experience mapping business domains/sub-domains and decomposing monolithic systems. • Soft Skills: • Exceptional communication and leadership to guide cross-functional teams and resolve complex technical challenges. • Ability to translate business needs into technical solutions and drive consensus across stakeholders. Preferred: • Familiarity with USDA NRCS systems, projects, or initiatives (e.g., Integrated Field Tools).