Head of Architecture – 12-Month Contract at DeARX Services (Pty) Ltd

• A leading Investments Institution is seeking an experienced Head of Architecture to lead and mature the enterprise architecture capability across the organisation. This role will drive strategic alignment between business, data, applications, infrastructure, and security to enable large-scale transformation and modernisation initiatives.
• The successful candidate will provide architectural leadership, governance, and strategic direction while partnering closely with executive leadership, business stakeholders, and technology teams to ensure alignment of enterprise strategy and execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead the enterprise architecture vision, strategy, standards, and governance framework.
• Establish and mature enterprise architecture capability across Business, Data, Application, and Technology domains.
• Ensure alignment between business strategy, operating models, and technology architecture.
• Lead architecture governance forums, design authorities, and solution review boards.
• Oversee development of enterprise roadmaps, capability models, and transformation architectures.
• Drive end-to-end architectural consistency across programmes and portfolios.
• Guide and mentor enterprise, solution, and domain architects.
• Partner with executive leadership to influence strategic decision-making and investment prioritisation.
• Enable digital transformation, cloud adoption, integration modernisation, and data strategy execution.
• Ensure architectural compliance with regulatory, security, and enterprise standards.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and define their relevance to enterprise strategy and innovation.
• Reduce architectural complexity through rationalisation of systems, platforms, and integration landscapes.

Strategic Focus Areas

• Enterprise transformation and operating model alignment
• Digital and cloud modernisation strategy
• Application rationalisation and integration optimisation
• Data architecture and analytics enablement
• Architecture governance and maturity uplift
• Technology investment alignment and optimisation

Minimum Requirements

• Relevant Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.
• 10+ years' experience in Enterprise Architecture or senior architecture leadership roles.
• 3–5+ years in a leadership or Head of Architecture / Chief Architect capacity preferred.
• Strong experience in enterprise-scale transformation environments.

Deep understanding of:

• Enterprise Architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF)
• Business capability modelling and operating models
• Application, data, and integration architecture
• Cloud architecture (AWS, Azure, or hybrid environments)
• IT governance and architecture maturity models
• Strong executive stakeholder engagement and influencing ability.
• Proven leadership in guiding architecture teams and communities of practice.

Advantageous

• Experience within financial services, development finance, or public sector environments.
• TOGAF certification strongly preferred.
• Cloud certifications (AWS / Azure / GCP) advantageous.
• Experience with architecture tooling such as:
• LeanIX
• Bizzdesign
• Sparx EA
• ARIS
• Strong understanding of regulatory, risk, and compliance-driven environments.