Chief Architect

We are excited to introduce an exceptional opportunity for an experienced and highly influential Chief Architect to join Downer’s Group Technology team.

This is a pivotal technology leadership role suited to a strategic and hands-on architecture professional who thrives in complex enterprise environment and is passionate about shaping technology direction at scale. As the most senior technical design authority across Downer, you will play a critical role in defining and guiding the future-state architecture that enables the organisation’s transformation, growth and operational excellence.

Reporting to the General Manager, Strategy & Enablement, the Chief Architect is accountable for architecture decisions that influence the entire technology estate including Cloud & Networks, Apps & ERP, Data, AI & Integration, Cyber Security, and Business Unit technology environments. You will provide Group-wide architectural leadership, establish standards and governance, and ensure technology investments align with business outcomes, risk management and long-term strategic objectives.

Working closely with technology leaders, architects, business stakeholders, vendors and strategic partners, you will lead the development of a federated architecture model that balances governance with agility while enabling innovation across the Group.

This is a unique opportunity to drive technology strategy and architecture at enterprise scale while influencing some of the organisation’s most significant investment, transformation and capability-building decisions.

About the Role

In this role you will:

• Serve as Downer’s most senior technical design authority, providing Group-wide architecture leadership and accountability across the technology estate.

• Personally author target-state reference architectures for the organisation’s most complex and strategically important domains, including cloud and hosting, integration platforms and enterprise data capability.

• Establish and maintain architecture standards, patterns and principles that guide technology decision-making across the Group.

• Lead and govern a federated architecture operating model spanning Cloud & Networks, Apps & ERP, Data, AI & Integration, Cyber Security and Business Unit architecture teams.

• Chair the Architecture Review Board and provide architectural oversight for strategic initiatives, major programs and technology investments.

• Provide architecture due diligence and design leadership for significant platform, vendor, consolidation, transformation and M&A initiatives.

• Drive consistency, alignment and architecture governance across a complex and diverse technology landscape.

• Act as the escalation point for the organisation’s most complex architectural challenges and technology decisions.

• Guide and mentor architects across the business, fostering capability uplift and a culture of engineering excellence.

• Lead architecture direction supporting technology insourcing, operating model transformation and enterprise capability development.

• Collaborate with senior business and technology leaders to translate strategy into practical, scalable and future-focused technology outcomes.

• This is a highly visible leadership role where you will influence the strategic direction of technology across Downer while ensuring architectural integrity, scalability, security and business value.

Our Ideal Candidate

You are a respected architecture leader with deep technical expertise, commercial acumen and a proven ability to influence at executive level. You are equally comfortable operating at strategic board-level discussions and diving into complex technical architecture challenges.

You bring:

• Demonstrated mastery as a practising, hands-on architect across multiple technology domains including cloud, integration and data platforms.

• Experience holding architecture authority across large-scale enterprise or multi-function technology environments.

• Proven experience designing and leading enterprise architecture strategies within complex organisations.

• Strong experience developing and operating federated architecture models that drive alignment without relying on direct authority.

• Experience leading architecture through technology transformation, insourcing initiatives or capability-building programs.

• Deep expertise in enterprise architecture, cloud platforms, integration strategy, data architecture and technology governance.

• Proven capability to evaluate and guide major technology investments, vendor strategies, platform selections and transformation initiatives.

• Experience establishing architecture standards, principles, reference architectures and governance frameworks.

• Exceptional stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to influence senior leaders across business and technology functions.

• Strong commercial and strategic thinking, with the ability to balance innovation, risk, investment and business outcomes.

• A passion for mentoring and developing architecture capability across a broad technology community.

You are recognised for your technical credibility, sound judgement and ability to shape technology direction through influence, leadership and architectural excellence.

Benefits Of Working with Downer

• Work with an ASX listed company, working with market leaders.
• Grow your career with us, we are passionate about giving our people opportunities to grow through personal and professional development and continuous learning: 
  • Professional development programs 
    • Access to professional memberships and industry networks
• Be part of a team that cares, we foster a work environment built on support that is flexible around our employee’s wellbeing needs: 
  • Flexible work arrangements 
    • Parental leave
    • Employee Assistance Program
    • Programs promoting diversity and inclusion
• A range of Corporate Benefits, including:  
  • Discounted services (car hires, hotels, insurance, retail stores, gyms) 

Why Downer?

As a trusted name in infrastructure, transport, facilities management, and construction, Downer is committed to delivering projects that create a lasting, positive legacy. We’re committed to building a team that reflects the diverse communities we serve, and we welcome people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, cultures, abilities, and lived experiences. We especially encourage applications from those whose voices have traditionally been underrepresented in our industry, including women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Māori and Pasifika Peoples, veterans, people with disability, and neurodivergent individuals.  

Even if your experience doesn’t align perfectly with this role, we’d still like to hear from you. If it feels like the right fit, apply - potential counts, and so do you.

As a WORK180 Endorsed Employer, we support flexibility that works for your life, inclusive leadership that values your voice, and equitable access to opportunity so you can do your best work and bring your whole self to it.