ServiceNow Technical Architect Lead

Location: Hybrid:
Chantilly, VA (Government/Contractor SCIF) 50% on-site & Remote

Clearance: Active Top Secret Required

We are seeking a highly accomplished Service Now Technical Architect Lead to serve as the senior technical authority across multiple Service Now delivery teams supporting Defense and Intelligence Community customers. This position provides enterprise-level architectural leadership, delivery governance, technical mentorship, and platform oversight across New River Systems' growing Service Now portfolio.

This role is ideal for a seasoned Service Now Certified Technical Architect (CTA) who combines deep platform expertise with the leadership skills required to establish architectural standards, guide development teams, govern platform releases, and ensure long-term platform health. The successful candidate will drive an Out-of-the-Box (OOB) first philosophy that minimizes technical debt, supports upgradeability, and aligns Service Now solutions with mission and business objectives.

As the Technical Architect Lead, you will provide strategic guidance across ITSM, HRSD, IRM/GRC, Sec Ops, ITOM, and App Engine implementations, while acting as the final technical review authority for architecture decisions, release packages, update sets, and platform design standards. You will partner with program leadership, customer stakeholders, architects, and development teams to ensure secure, scalable, and maintainable Service Now solutions across highly regulated federal environments.

• A recognized Service Now architecture expert capable of leading technical strategy across multiple programs and delivery teams.
• Proven ability to influence architects and developers without direct supervisory authority.
• Extensive experience architecting Service Now solutions for Federal, DoD, or Intelligence Community environments.
• Deep expertise in platform governance, update set management, release approval processes, and technical standards enforcement.
• Strong knowledge of Service Now security architecture, integrations, CMDB, domain separation, and enterprise-scale platform design.
• Experience mentoring developers, technical leads, and solution architects.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to engage executive leadership, program managers, and government stakeholders.
• Commitment to platform modernization, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.

• Serve as the enterprise technical authority for Service Now architecture decisions across multiple customer programs.
• Maintain and evolve Service Now architecture standards, development guidelines, and governance processes.
• Conduct architectural reviews and produce Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) to document solution approaches and tradeoff decisions.li>
• Review and approve all major technical designs to ensure alignment with OOB-first principles, upgrade safety, security requirements, and customer governance standards.
• Chair Technical Review Boards (TRBs) and oversee release governance activities including update set reviews, deployment readiness assessments, and production release approvals.
• Evaluate Business Rules, Script Includes, Client Scripts, ACLs, Integrations, and Flow Designer implementations for performance, maintainability, and security risks.
• Identify technical debt across active programs and provide remediation recommendations to program leadership.
• Lead architecture efforts for complex capabilities including CMDB modernization, enterprise integrations, identity management solutions, Employee Center migrations, and IRM/GRC implementations.
• Develop and review architecture artifacts including solution designs, interface control documents, integration diagrams, data flow models, and topology…