Director, IT

For more than 75 years, we have amplified products and services based on rigorous research and our belief in the power of learning. Driven by our mission to advance quality and equity in education, ETS provides learning solutions, pioneering research, and trusted assessments that help guide learners around the world on their path to new possibilities.

Our portfolio of trusted measures includes TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, and Praxis . Along with research, development, and innovation that explores new frontiers in learning and measurement, our educational measurement solutions and research contribute to the development of new methods and tools, inform important dialogue with education policymakers, and shed light on critical issues and potential solutions - all with the aim of creating a world where all learners can improve their lives through education.

With new senior leadership at the helm, ETS aims to continue changing the lives of all learners as we expand our organization's global footprint. Our goal is to remain at the forefront of assessment and measurement efficacy within the education and ed tech space as it continues to grow and evolve.

POSITION SUMMARY:

ETS is looking for a leader for our Enterprise Architecture team who is passionate about bridging education research, business development, and technology to improve lives. As a non-profit and a major player in the global education space, advancing learning and education opportunities for all people is ETS’ shared mission and the core of all that we do. We seek to make a substantial difference in the world by driving the quality and equity of education around the world. Join us and change the world for the better

The Director of Architecture role is a major player in all technology decisions at ETS. You’ll provide strategic leadership, guidance, and subject matter expertise to the Architecture team. This team sits at the intersection of our business and operational needs and the technologies available to meet them. They guide our product owners and leadership in evaluating business needs and designing technology solutions for them.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Lead a team of high-performing individuals recognized as experts across the organization.
2. Support and grow your team to enable them to continue to be successful.
3. Understand our business goals and shape technology solutions to meet them, balancing immediate needs and our strategic technology vision.
4. Establish and communicate technology strategy, lead Reference Architecture, and run the Architecture Review Board.
5. Drive technology innovation by leading an emerging technology research team to prototype technologies that could benefit or disrupt the business in the next one to three years.
6. Maintain and enhance ETS’ Software Development Life Cycle, defining standards and best practices across processes, roles, artifacts, and tools.
7. Maintain a broad business understanding including customer and market trends.
8. As a technology expert, advise and consult with application teams on our architecture strategy and software design based on deep experience (e.g., architecture patterns, AWS, Java, serverless, Lambda, containers).
9. Leverage a broad understanding of secure architecture, design, and development best practices to create secure architectures and guide development teams.
10. Lead the adoption of cloud-native tools and services across our technology landscape.
11. Be an evangelist on the use of innovative technologies to solve business problems.
12. Represent IT, as needed, in various enterprise project activities.
13. Perform a wide variety of actions that require independent judgment, expertise, initiative, and follow-through as related to technology research and development activities.
14. Adhere to the ETS and IT standards applicable to your job function.
15. Facilitate cross-team and cross-component collaboration.
16. Adhere to ethical standards and comply with the laws and regulations applicable to your job function.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:

1. Experience with Enterprise and Solution Architecture methodologies, standards, and best practices (e.g., TOGAF, DoDAF).
2. Experience leading and developing staff and managing financial resources.
3. Deep hands-on experience across the complete software development lifecycle (SDLC), with 5+ years of experience in agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, SAFe).
4. Cloud computing design and development, AWS preferred (Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, SNS, SQS, RDS).
5. Rich and varied solution architecture and design experience balancing multiple priorities and stakeholder interests to drive business goals.
6. Expertise in Architecture principles and frameworks.
7. Experience using threat modeling to analyze and improve architectures.
8. Strong analysis, problem solving, and troubleshooting skills.
9. Strong verbal and written communication skills.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Required:

1. Experience working closely with business domains, understanding customer needs, and market trends.
2. 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in IT management in a midsize to large scale organization.
3. 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in IT trends, analysis, and development.
4. Diagnostic and strategic planning.
5. Demonstrated experience in IT planning and development, project management, and policy development.
6. Demonstrated understanding of financial and cost analysis.
7. Strong technical problem-solving and troubleshooting ability.
8. Familiarity with performance management processes.
9. Proven leadership skills and ability to build and maintain a high-performing team.

Preferred:

ETS believes in a Total Rewards philosophy for our employees, and they include:

1. Health, Vision, Dental insurance plans to choose from.
2. Generous continuous learning support, from individual learning grants to up to 6 classes a year for tuition reimbursement as well as online learning access
3. Generous PTO and vacation time to balance your work and life.
4. Additional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer work.
5. Retirement plan (401(a)) and traditional Roth (403b) with company contribution.
6. Commuter Benefits, Pet Insurance, 1 year subscription to Calm App.

ETS is mission-driven and action-oriented.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are at the forefront of the ETS employee's daily work. To further foster an inclusive environment, ETS is home to a wide variety of Affinity groups that celebrate the diversity of our talented employees.

Are you passionate about volunteering and being active in your career and community? ETS offers our Center for Advocacy & Philanthropy (CAAP) where we encourage ETS employees to become active volunteers in their communities and schools through the ETS Cares Giving Campaign. Our employees can support any 501c3 or eligible charity of their choice.

ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer comprised of people with different experiences, strengths, and backgrounds who share a passion for advancing quality and equity in education. We are dedicated to building teams that reflect the various backgrounds, experiences, and identities of those we serve. The Talent Acquisition team strives to ensure candidates enjoy a fair and equitable hiring process. We believe our differences empower us to be a better team, making better decisions and delivering better results.