Enterprise Architect
What the work looks like, the contexts behind the title, what each level means and the training that helps, then how interviews run and how to prepare for each step.
What an enterprise architect actually does
An architect who shapes the whole information system of a company, with a clear map of today, a target for tomorrow and a roadmap to get there.
An enterprise architect looks at the information system of the company as a whole: the applications, the data, the integrations and the technology, and how they support the business.
They map the current IT landscape, define the target architecture and the standards, and help leadership take portfolio decisions, such as which applications to keep, replace or retire.
They use frameworks such as TOGAF and ArchiMate and tools such as LeanIX or Ardoq, and they spend much of their time explaining choices to leaders.
- Updating the map of applications in LeanIX or Ardoq
- A review of a new project against the standards
- Preparing a roadmap for leadership
- A meeting with business leaders on their plans
- Coaching solution architects on a design
The same title, very different focus areas
Most enterprise architecture searches are defined first by the main focus of the role, then by the ground every enterprise architect shares.
What each level means in practice
Titles vary from one company to the next. What changes from one level to the next is the scope you own and the decisions you take.
- Designs solutions within the standards
- Learns the landscape and the business
- Takes part in architecture reviews
- Owns the architecture of a business domain
- Maps the landscape and sets the target
- Works directly with business and IT leaders
- Owns the architecture across several domains
- Leads portfolio decisions with leadership
- Mentors other architects
- Leads the architecture function
- Sets the standards and the roadmap of the company
- Advises the CIO and the executive team
The paths into the role, and what really counts
Companies look first at roadmaps you built and that leadership followed. TOGAF is often listed in job ads, especially in large companies.
- Engineering school or master's in ITThe most common path in France, and often expected by large companies.
- University degree in computer science or information systemsA common path in the US and in Europe.
- Solution architecture firstMost enterprise architects start as solution or integration architects.
- Consulting firstConsultants who advised on IT strategy also move into the role.
Our view: for this role, a roadmap you built and that leadership followed often says more than any certificate.
A conversation with a senior tech recruiter
Your first interview is with one of our senior tech recruiters, who knows the role, the methods and the levels in this guide. The conversation covers your own work through real examples, and the architecture cases come later, with the company. Before the call, we send you the six themes we will cover so you can prepare your examples.
- What you owned yourselfThe roadmaps, standards or architecture domains you were responsible for, and your own part in the team's work.
- Your environment and its constraintsBusiness strategy, budget, legacy systems, rules or politics: what shaped your technical choices.
- The decisions you madeWhich target, which applications to keep or replace, and which standards, the options you compared and the reasons for your choice.
- The impact of your workWhat changed thanks to your work, with numbers when you have them: costs saved, applications retired, projects aligned or risks reduced.
- How you work with other teamsYour work with business leaders, the CIO, architects and project teams, and how you settle a disagreement.
- What you want nextThe kind of company, scope and influence you are looking for in your next role.
- Roadmaps that were followed
- Influence on leadership
- Business alignment
The same ground for every candidate. For a given role, every candidate answers the same final questions, built with the hiring manager around what the role really needs.
Ready for the next steps. After our call, we tell you how the company runs its interviews, who you will meet at each step and what each step is meant to assess.
What the company will assess, step by step
Each company runs its own process, and we walk you through its steps before you start. Enterprise architecture processes often combine the steps below, and the depth expected at each step grows with your level.
- A strategy caseA company with a complex IT landscape, and the target and the roadmap you would propose.
- A deep dive on a past roadmapOne roadmap or architecture program you led, discussed in depth: the context, your choices and the results.
- A presentation to leadersA short presentation of a recommendation to business and IT leaders, with their questions.
- Meeting the manager and the teamHow you work, how you take decisions with others and what the team expects in your first months.
- Enterprise ArchitectYou structure the landscape clearly, explain your target in simple words and ask the right questions about the business.
- SeniorYou lead the case, connect the architecture to the strategy and point out risks and costs before you are asked.
- Chief ArchitectYou run most of the interview as a peer of the leaders, and show how you would shape the IT strategy of the company.
How to prepare as an enterprise architect
Practical advice for each step of an enterprise architecture process, from the way you introduce yourself to the questions you ask at the end of each interview.
Start with the roadmaps and architecture domains you worked on, their context and your part in them. Mention your main methods and tools in one sentence, then close with what you want next.
For each one, prepare the context, the constraints, your decision, the options you set aside, the result and what you would change today. Say "we" for the team and "I" for your own part.
In a strategy case, start with the goals and the capabilities of the business before you talk about applications.
Prepare one decision you helped leadership take, and how you convinced them.
Practise explaining your target architecture in two minutes, in plain words, to a business leader.
Rules on AI tools differ from one company to the next, especially for take-home cases. Ask before each step, and when they are allowed, explain what you asked the tool and how you checked its output.
- Walk us through a roadmap you built, and what happened next.
- How do you decide which applications to retire?
- How do you get projects to follow the standards?
- How do you explain architecture to business leaders?
- Who does the architecture function report to?
- How are architecture decisions taken?
- Which tools are used to map the landscape?
- Which big programs are planned?
- How do enterprise and solution architects work together?
- How does the team use AI tools in its daily work?
Where enterprise architects come from, and where they go
The roles people most often hold before this one, and the ones they most often move to.
Some enterprise architects also become chief architects.