Enterprise Architect - Institutional Client Services

Enterprise Architect – Institutional Client Services

This is a contract to hire opportunity. This role is ideal for a strategic thinker with strong technical expertise, excellent communication skills, and a passion for driving innovation in the financial sector. Note that for remote consideration, travel to Buffalo, NY will be expected every 4-6 weeks with Monday through Thursday in office.

As an Enterprise Architect for Institutional Client Services (ICS) at M&T Bank, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the organization's technology strategy, landscape, and roadmap. In this role, you will serve as an integrative force across business and technology domains, establish trusted advisor partnerships with senior leaders, and drive the architecture of complex, high-priority initiatives that deliver significant business value.

Your work will influence large-scale programs that are critical to the bank's long-term success, ensuring scalable, resilient, and forward-looking solutions.

• Strategic Planning: Define and evolve enterprise architecture strategies and roadmaps that align business priorities, regulatory requirements, and long-term technology vision.
• High-Level Design: Develop high-level architectural models and frameworks that support secure, scalable, and resilient solutions across complex financial ecosystems.
• Detailed Solutions Architecture: Translate strategic objectives into actionable solution architectures that provide clear direction to delivery and engineering teams.
• Regulatory & Risk Alignment: Ensure architectural solutions comply with financial industry regulations, internal risk frameworks, and data privacy standards, supporting auditability and operational integrity.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with business leaders, product owners, and technology teams to ensure architectural alignment across client services, digital platforms, and core banking systems.
• Implementation Leadership: Provide architectural oversight and governance throughout the solution delivery lifecycle, ensuring adherence to enterprise standards and successful on-time execution of high-impact initiatives.
• Trusted Advisor: Build strong relationships with management, providing expert advice and insights to support decision-making.
• Communication: Communicate complex architectural concepts clearly and persuasively to both technical and non-technical audiences, fostering alignment and informed decision-making.
• Vendor & Partner Engagement: Collaborate with external technology providers and service partners to ensure solutions meet enterprise standards for performance, cost-effectiveness, and agility in a highly regulated environment.

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to align technology architecture with business strategy, identifying opportunities to drive value, efficiency, and innovation across complex financial services ecosystems.
• Business Acumen: Deep understanding of financial services, particularly the needs of high-net-worth clients and institutions, with the ability to translate those needs into effective architectural solutions.
• Enterprise Architecture Expertise: Proficiency in developing and applying enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman) to guide technology planning, governance, and execution.
• Solution Design: Skilled in designing end-to-end solutions that are scalable, secure, and aligned with enterprise standards, while addressing both current and future-state business capabilities.
• Technology Integration: Experience integrating diverse systems, platforms, and data sources to create cohesive, interoperable solutions that support seamless client experiences and operational efficiency.
• Risk and Compliance Awareness: Strong grasp of regulatory and risk considerations in financial services, with the ability to architect solutions that meet compliance, audit, and data governance requirements.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Proven ability to collaborate with senior business and technology leaders, facilitating alignment, managing expectations, and influencing strategic decisions.
• Communication and Visualization: Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex architectural concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences through clear documentation, presentations, and visual models.
• Change Leadership: Ability to lead through ambiguity, drive consensus, and support organizational change as part of large-scale transformation initiatives.
• Critical Thinking Skills: A creative and analytical approach to diagnosing and resolving technical challenges.
• Continuous Learning: A passion for staying updated on financial services related technologies and their rapidly evolving tools, features, and best practices.

• Strong knowledge of financial services industry domains, particularly institutional banking services
• Understanding of modern technology…