Principal Enterprise Architect

About the Role

At Disney, we’re storytellers. We make the impossible, possible. The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) is a world‑class entertainment and technological leader. Walt’s passion was to continuously envision new ways to move audiences around the world—a passion that remains our touchstone in an enterprise that stretches from theme parks, resorts and a cruise line to sports, news, movies and a variety of other businesses.

Uniting each endeavor is a commitment to creating and delivering unforgettable experiences — and we’re constantly looking for new ways to enhance these exciting experiences.

At Disney Experiences Technology, our team creates world‑class immersive digital experiences for the Company’s premier vacation brands including Disney’s Parks & Resorts worldwide, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, and Disney Vacation Club.

We are seeking a Principal Enterprise Architect to lead through influence — shaping strategy, driving enterprise alignment, and guiding our most critical technology initiatives across the Commerce, Ticketing, and Guest Experience domains.

This is not an ivory‑tower role. Our Principal Architects work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with business leaders, solution teams, and technologists to connect strategy with execution. The ideal candidate blends executive presence, architectural depth, and collaboration mastery, inspiring teams to deliver technology that scales the Disney magic globally.

• Lead Through Influence:
  Operate as a senior advisor and strategic influencer to executives and domain leaders, helping align technology investments with business outcomes.

• Advance Repository Practices:
  Ensure architectural metadata and taxonomy integrity within the Blue Dolphin repository, enabling enterprise transparency and decision support.

• Foster
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Build partnerships with Product, Engineering, Operations, and Security teams to co‑own outcomes, not dictate them.

• Mentor and Inspire:
  Coach solution architects across federated business domains to raise the bar on architecture quality, reusability, and scalability.

• Communication and Influence:
  Translate architectural strategy into compelling business narratives that resonate with executive audiences and technical teams alike.

• Champion Modernization and Platform Thinking:
  Lead initiatives that simplify, modernize, and integrate platforms across Commerce, Payments, Ticketing, and Entitlements.

• Balance Short‑Term Delivery with Long‑Term Strategy:
  Facilitate informed trade‑offs, track technical debt decisions, and ensure alignment with enterprise objectives.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or related field required.
• 10+ years of increasing levels of responsibility in architecture‑oriented roles.
• 5+ years of experience as an Enterprise Architect.
• 8+ years of Software Engineering experience across multiple languages, both front‑end and back‑end.
• Expertise with enterprise architecture repository tools (e.g., tools similar to Blue Dolphin or LeanIX).
• Strong leadership experience mentoring architecture teams.
• Proven ability to influence without authority across technical and business domains.
• Experience defining and applying metadata models, taxonomy relationships, and governance.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑domain architectural initiatives and guide decision processes.
• Understanding of both front‑end and back‑end technologies.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical decisions to business stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of governance frameworks (TOGAF or similar) and experience with Architecture Review Board.
• Experience developing and managing architecture taxonomies, patterns, and standards.
• Proven ability to align architecture with strategic objectives, OKRs, and scorecards.
• Hands‑on familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), API‑led integration, security‑by‑design, and data architecture principles.
• Experience integrating emerging platforms or modernizing legacy systems at scale.
• Evaluate emerging technologies within your area of expertise to guide strategic recommendations.
• Shape scalable architectures and support planning for complex…