Executive Director, Enterprise Architecture, Digital Automotive

A Career at HARMAN

As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move, HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation, inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together, you’ll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do every day.

About the Role

This role serves as the enterprise architectural authority for all digital platforms across HARMAN’s global automotive business and common Enterprise platforms. The Enterprise Architect owns target-state architecture and architectural standards, governs platform decisions, and ensures scalable, secure, and compliant execution across regions and programs. The role operates with enterprise-wide impact, influences senior leadership decisions, and shapes long-term technology investment strategy. Drive architectural alignment for multi-year digital transformation initiatives, ensuring adoption, simplification, and measurable business outcomes. Partner with business and transformation leaders to ensure architecture enables operating model change, not just system modernization.

What You Will Do

• Own enterprise-wide SAP S/4HANA architecture, including global template, localization strategy, and clean-core standards.
• Serve as final architectural authority for SAP S/4 platform decisions, rollouts, upgrades, and optimization initiatives.
• Define architectural guardrails balancing standardization, regulatory needs, and business flexibility.
• Own architecture for SAP satellite platforms; Ensure scalable, compliant architectures for statutory reporting, e-invoicing, and country-specific mandates.
• Govern integration with finance processes, master data, security, and audit controls.
• Own enterprise integration principles and standards across SAP S/4, Salesforce, PLM, ALM  platforms, Legal platforms and Workday.
• Govern API-led, event-driven, and middleware-based integration patterns, including lifecycle, security, and resilience.
• Own architectural standards for SAP HANA and enterprise database platforms, including performance, HA/DR, and lifecycle management.
• Influence cloud, hybrid, and SAP-certified infrastructure architectures to ensure scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency.
• Own architectural evaluation criteria for enterprise tools including SaaS adoption.
• Discern and flag tools that cannot scale with global growth, regulatory complexity, or integration needs.
• Prevent tool sprawl through clear architectural guardrails and decision frameworks.
• Promote a platform and product-oriented mindset, ensuring enterprise systems evolve through roadmaps, lifecycle ownership, and continuous improvement
• Define enterprise reference architectures for Agentic AI integration with core platforms.
• Establish guardrails for security, authorization, auditability, and compliance.
• Enable AI-driven augmentation without compromising core system integrity.
• Ensure enterprise architecture is embedded into Digital solution delivery lifecycle from demand intake through operate.
• Chair enterprise architecture governance forums.
• Influence senior leadership decisions on platform strategy and investment.
• Mentor senior architects and act as a trusted advisor across IT and business leadership.
• Provide architectural leadership for growth initiatives, including acquisitions, divestitures, and rapid regional expansion.

What You Bring

• 15+ years in enterprise architecture, with deep SAP ERP, including strong S/4HANA knowledge.
• Proven ownership of enterprise-scale platform architecture in global, regulated environments.
• Strong expertise in integration, databases, and infrastructure.

Nice to Have

• Tier 1 Automotive or large manufacturing enterprise experience
• SAP BTP and clean-core extensibility experience
• Exposure to enterprise AI / Agentic AI architectures
• TOGAF® (Certified or equivalent enterprise architecture framework experience)
• Zachman Framework exposure
• SAP S/4HANA Architecture or Solution Architect certifications
• SAP BTP Architecture or Extension Suite certifications
• Cloud Architecture certifications (AWS, Azure, or GCP – Professional / Architect level)
• Infrastructure or platform architecture certifications relevant to SAP-certified environments

What Makes You Eligible

• Willingness to travel up to 20% globally.
• Ability to work with stakeholders across Americas, Europe, and Asia.
• Able to work from an office located in Stamford, CT, or Novi, MI
• Successfully complete a background investigation and drug screen as a condition of employment

$ 210,000 - $ 308,000

HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.