We are seeking a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Enterprise Architect to join our team supporting a large-scale federal modernization program. This role owns enterprise architecture direction across business, data, application, security, and technology domains. You will be setting target-state architecture and modernization priorities, to running architecture governance and review processes, to ensuring the architecture repository and modeling practice stay current and adopted across the organization.
This is a hands-on architecture role. You'll be expected to work in real architecture artifacts and drive real decisions, not just set direction from a distance.
This is a hybrid role based out of Washington, DC. Candidates must be U.S. citizens.
Key Responsibilities
1. Architecture Vision & Strategy
- Assess and continuously improve the enterprise architecture framework to support the organization's mission, business, and IT objectives.
- Define target-state architecture direction and cross-domain integration priorities across business, data, application, security, and technology.
- Set modernization priorities and connect strategic architecture direction to practical, implementable designs.
2. As-Is, To-Be & Transition Architecture
- Develop and maintain current-state (As-Is), target-state (To-Be), and transition architectures across business, data, application, security, and technology domains at appropriate physical, logical, solution, and technical levels.
- Maintain architecture principles, standards, reference architectures, technology standards, inventories, and roadmaps.
3. Governance & Review Leadership
- Operate or support the Architecture Review Board, investment reviews, engineering reviews, design reviews, working groups, and phase-gate reviews with clear intake, criteria, decisions, and records.
- Evaluate proposed architectural deviations, document risks and impacts, and provide recommendations for approval.
- Serve as a senior architecture voice in governance forums, working directly with leadership stakeholders.
4. Architecture Assessment & Modernization
- Perform architecture assessments to identify gaps, redundancy, technical debt, and opportunities for modernization, standardization, optimization, and rationalization.
- Provide recommendations for technology modernization, application rationalization, cloud adoption, and process improvement based on architecture analysis.
5. Repository & Modeling Practice
- Administer and improve the enterprise architecture modeling suite (repository, models, metamodel guidance, quality rules, permissions, and workflows).
- Drive artifact inventory, remediation, migration, quality validation, training, and adoption across the organization.
6. Stakeholder Coordination & Reporting
- Coordinate architecture activities with cybersecurity, data management, cloud, infrastructure, application development, and portfolio management stakeholders.
- Prepare and deliver periodic reports summarizing architecture activities, compliance status, risks, modernization initiatives, and progress toward the target architecture.
Requirements
- 12+ years of experience in enterprise or solution architecture, including significant responsibility for architecture governance, standards, and cross-domain design decisions.
- Demonstrated experience developing or governing As-Is, To-Be, transition, domain, solution, and technical architectures.
- Hands-on experience with architecture review boards, compliance reviews, deviations/waivers, standards, roadmaps, and decision records.
- Proven ability to connect strategic architecture direction to practical designs, implementation gates, technical debt remediation, and modernization actions.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting to both technical teams and leadership.
- U.S. Citizenship Required.
Nice to Have
- Direct federal, government, or large regulated-enterprise architecture experience.
- Hands-on experience with enterprise architecture modeling and repository tools (e.g., Sparx Enterprise Architect, Prolaborate) — administration, modeling, migration, or adoption.
- TOGAF, FEAF, DoDAF, Zachman, ArchiMate, UML, BPMN, SysML, or comparable framework/modeling credentials.
- Experience establishing measurable architecture governance that accelerates decisions rather than producing ceremonial reviews.
- Experience with repository remediation, metamodels, taxonomy, reference architectures, or application rationalization.
Benefits
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Referral program
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
Skills Required
- 12+ years of experience in enterprise or solution architecture, including governance and cross-domain design decisions
- Demonstrated experience developing or governing As-Is, To-Be, transition, domain, solution, and technical architectures
- Hands-on experience with architecture review boards, compliance reviews, deviations/waivers, standards, roadmaps, and decision records
- Proven ability to connect strategic architecture direction to implementable designs, technical debt remediation, and modernization actions
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; experience presenting to technical teams and leadership
- Hybrid role based out of Washington, DC (onsite/hybrid presence required)
- U.S. Citizenship
- Direct federal, government, or large regulated-enterprise architecture experience
- Hands-on experience with EA modeling and repository tools (e.g., Sparx Enterprise Architect, Prolaborate) — administration, modeling, migration, or adoption
- Credentials or experience with TOGAF, FEAF, DoDAF, Zachman, ArchiMate, UML, BPMN, SysML, or comparable frameworks
- Experience establishing measurable architecture governance that accelerates decisions
- Experience with repository remediation, metamodels, taxonomy, reference architectures, or application rationalization
What We Do
Passion and Purpose. We are a start-up borne out of a group of architects and engineers providing solutions that transform with digital breakthroughs. We Partner - Partnership to us means being all in - on the ground, in the weeds, producing and delivering mission solutions. We Innovate - driving digital innovation and experimentation to improve decision services for the American people. We Engage – co-creating to deliver HCD (human centered design) to solve tour customers digital challenges. We Deliver – and take pride and accountability in everything we do. We are Ignite IT. Ignite IT deploys teams that are customer-obsessed, delivering a CX (Customer Experience) renaissance to our Private and Public Sector customers. We combine Commercial BX (Business of Experience) with customer delivery experts to benefit agencies to innovate and improve services and launch new digital solutions. We have built a company foundation dependent on each of our employee’s success, and provide a healthy, engaging, community where learning and knowledge sharing are encouraged. We empower our employees to be bold, continually innovate and propose new ideas to improve processes and services. We engage daily on work that touches millions of people, always focusing on positive impacts and results. We enable mission services that enable Enterprise companies to succeed in digital transformation, protect Border Agents, deploy the Army Reserve and National Guard, providing decision dominance to make America safer. We apply these digital services across the Private and Public Sectors to include include HHS, DHS, AOUSC and Army. We aim to continually raise the bar for our customers to expect more from their digital services. For more information, visit www.igniteitservices.com
