Subject Matter Expert; SME) Enterprise Architect

Position: Subject Matter Expert (SME) Enterprise Architect
Description

Job Title:

Subject Matter Expert (SME) Enterprise Architect

Location:

Hybrid - 2 days a week on-site - Suitland, MDSalary:  190-260K Summary Position Summary 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, Archi Mate, UML, BPMN, SysML, or comparable framework/modeling credentials.

Experience establishing measurable architecture governance that accelerates decisions rather than producing ceremonial reviews.

Experience with repository…