Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture & ERP Applications
ZS Associates · Chicago, United States +3 · 1mo ago
ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it, we transform ideas into impact by bringing together data, science, technology and human ingenuity to deliver better outcomes for all. Here you’ll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide. ZSers drive impact by bringing a client-first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning, bold ideas, courage and passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS.
What you'll do: Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture & ERP Applications in the IT will…
ZS is on a path to becoming a $5B company with more than 30,000 employees, driving rapid growth, increasing global complexity, and expanding business models across multiple industries. As the firm scales, ZS is modernizing and evolving its core enterprise systems to ensure they remain cohesive, resilient, and fit for long‑term growth. We are seeking a Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture & ERP Transformation to provide senior-level leadership, architectural direction, and decision-making authority across the firm’s enterprise technology landscape.
This role is designed for a seasoned technology and business transformation leader who has personally led multiple large-scale enterprise transformations, understands how modern technology ecosystems function end-to-end, and can confidently guide senior stakeholders toward the right long-term architectural outcomes—balancing collaboration, expertise, and decisiveness.
This role represents a step-change in how ZS governs, designs, and evolves its enterprise systems. The Senior Director will shape the firm’s technology foundation for the next decade—ensuring systems scale with growth, support new business models, and enable leaders to focus on strategy rather than system constraints.
The Senior Director’s chief accountability will be the architectural vision and enterprise systems strategy, establishing enterprise architecture principles across applications, data, integration, and infrastructure to ensure Finance, HR, MarComm, Legal, IT, CRM technologies and their associated data evolve in a cohesive, scalable, and well‑governed manner.
This leader will:
- Translate business strategy into executable enterprise architecture
- Serve as the firm’s authoritative voice on technology, architecture and cross-platform design
- Ensure alignment across functions that historically owned their own systems
- Transformations safeguard current operations while enabling future scale
Key Skills:
Enterprise Architecture & Technology Leadership
- Define and take accountability for the enterprise systems architecture, including ERP platforms and adjacent ecosystems (HR, Finance, MarComm, CRM, Data Management, Integrations).
- Establish clear architectural principles and decision frameworks that guide platform selection, integration patterns, and system evolution.
- Rationalize the enterprise application portfolio by reducing redundancy, legacy sprawl, and accumulated technical debt, while preserving essential business functionality and operational continuity.
- Serve as the determining agent on enterprise architecture tradeoffs, informed by stakeholder input and expert analysis.
Business Transformation & Stakeholder Leadership
- Act as a senior partner to the enterprise leaders.
- Guide stakeholders through complex decisions by combining deep expertise, strong executive presence, and pragmatic diplomacy.
- Balance inclusive collaboration with the confidence to drive decisions that are best for the enterprise.
- Translate complex technical topics into clear, executive-ready recommendations.
ERP Strategy & Transformation Delivery
- Lead and ensure the delivery of multi-year ERP transformation initiatives, including modernization, upgrades, consolidation, and integration efforts.
- Define and own the enterprise ERP strategy, ensuring the platform can support ZS’ highly customized operating model while minimizing unnecessary customization and long‑term architectural risk.
- Ensure ERP programs are delivered with strong attention to:
- Business continuity and production stability
- Organizational change management
- Data integrity, governance, and regulatory requirements
- Partner with external system integrators and advisory firms while retaining ownership and institutional knowledge inside the firm.
Governance, Risk, and Operational Excellence
- Strengthen architectural governance to reduce complexity, risk, and long-term cost.
- Improve enterprise‑wide data quality, governance, lineage, and accessibility across platforms to support analytics, AI enablement, regulatory compliance, and executive decision‑making.
- Ensurenterprise platforms meet global requirements for security, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
- Protect and optimize the current production environment while transformations are underway.
Team & Capability Development
- Build and lead a small, high-impact enterprise architecture and ERP leadership team.
- Leverage dotted-line partnerships with PMO, engineering, data, security, and operations teams.
- Establish sustainable operating models that outlast individual programs.
What you’ll bring:
- 20+ years of progressive leadership experience across enterprise technology, architecture, or large-scale business systems.
- Proven leadership of multiple enterprise transformation initiatives, including ERP-centric programs.
- Demonstrated experience operating in complex, multi-function organizations (Finance, HR, Marketing, Legal, Operations).
- Track record of delivering transformations on larger and more complex organizations than ZS, with clear evidence of:
- Where the organization started
- Where it ended
- How the transformation was achieved
Leadership & Executive Presence
- Recognized ability to operate credibly with senior executives.
- Strong leadership presence—able to guide, influence, and at times provide verifiable justification(s) if overriding functional preferences in service of enterprise outcomes.
- Comfortable navigating cultures that value collaboration, trust, and minimal hierarchy
Technical & Strategic Depth
- Deep understanding of ERP platforms and enterprise ecosystems (e.g., Finance, HR, MarComm, CRM, Legal, and Data Management platforms).
- Familiarity with modern enterprise technology ecosystems, including SAP (preferred) and Microsoft enterprise platforms, and the ability to apply this knowledge to ERP‑centric, cross‑functional architecture decisions.
- Strong grounding in enterprise architecture, integration patterns, and system lifecycle management.
- Experience working with global regulatory and data privacy considerations.
- Ability to balance best‑of‑breed approaches with long‑term architectural coherence.
Preferred Attributes
- Experience partnering with or leading alongside major consulting firms (e.g., Big 4, global integrators).
- Exposure to cloud platforms, data platforms, and emerging technologies (including AI) as part of enterprise transformation.
- Background in professional services or similarly matrixed organizations is a plus.
- Good familiarity with multi-jurisdictional regulatory and data privacy requirements - including regional differences in AI governance, data sovereignty, and compliance frameworks (e.g., EU AI Act, GDPR, and equivalent regimes) - particularly as they affect global enterprise platform decisions.
- Fluency in English
- Client-first mentality
- Intense work ethic
- Collaborative spirit and problem-solving approach
How you’ll grow:
- Cross-functional skills development & custom learning pathways
- Milestone training programs aligned to career progression opportunities
- Internal mobility paths that empower growth via s-curves, individual contribution and role expansions
Perks & Benefits:
At ZS, your growth matters. We offer a comprehensive total rewards package that supports your health and well‑being, financial future, time away, and professional development. With robust skills‑building programs, multiple career progression paths, internal mobility, and a deeply collaborative culture, you’ll have the opportunity to do meaningful work, expand your capabilities, and thrive as part of a global community. For details on total rewards in United States, visit ZS US office locations | Where we work | ZS.
Hybrid working model:
We are committed to giving our employees a flexible and connected way of working. A flexible and connected ZS allows us to combine work from home and on-site presence at clients/ZS offices for the majority of our week. The magic of ZS culture and innovation thrives in both planned and spontaneous face-to-face connections.
Travel:
Travel is a requirement at ZS for client facing ZSers; business needs of your project and client are the priority. While some projects may be local, all client-facing ZSers should be prepared to travel as needed. Travel provides opportunities to strengthen client relationships, gain diverse experiences, and enhance professional growth by working in different environments and cultures.
Considering applying?
At ZS, we honor the visible and invisible elements of our identities, personal experiences, and belief systems—the ones that comprise us as individuals, shape who we are, and make us unique. We believe your personal interests, identities, and desire to learn are integral to your success here. We are committed to building a team that reflects a broad variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Learn more about our inclusion and belonging efforts and the networks ZS supports to assist our ZSers in cultivating community spaces and obtaining the resources they need to thrive.
If you’re eager to grow, contribute, and bring your unique self to our work, we encourage you to apply.
ZS is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment and advancement opportunities without regard to any class protected by applicable law.
Work Authorization:
This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States that does not now or in the future require employer sponsorship.
To complete your application:
An on-line application, including a full set of transcripts (official or unofficial), is required to be considered.
NO AGENCY CALLS, PLEASE.
Find Out More At:
www.zs.com
What you'll do: Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture & ERP Applications in the IT will…
ZS is on a path to becoming a $5B company with more than 30,000 employees, driving rapid growth, increasing global complexity, and expanding business models across multiple industries. As the firm scales, ZS is modernizing and evolving its core enterprise systems to ensure they remain cohesive, resilient, and fit for long‑term growth. We are seeking a Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture & ERP Transformation to provide senior-level leadership, architectural direction, and decision-making authority across the firm’s enterprise technology landscape.
This role is designed for a seasoned technology and business transformation leader who has personally led multiple large-scale enterprise transformations, understands how modern technology ecosystems function end-to-end, and can confidently guide senior stakeholders toward the right long-term architectural outcomes—balancing collaboration, expertise, and decisiveness.
This role represents a step-change in how ZS governs, designs, and evolves its enterprise systems. The Senior Director will shape the firm’s technology foundation for the next decade—ensuring systems scale with growth, support new business models, and enable leaders to focus on strategy rather than system constraints.
The Senior Director’s chief accountability will be the architectural vision and enterprise systems strategy, establishing enterprise architecture principles across applications, data, integration, and infrastructure to ensure Finance, HR, MarComm, Legal, IT, CRM technologies and their associated data evolve in a cohesive, scalable, and well‑governed manner.
This leader will:
- Translate business strategy into executable enterprise architecture
- Serve as the firm’s authoritative voice on technology, architecture and cross-platform design
- Ensure alignment across functions that historically owned their own systems
- Transformations safeguard current operations while enabling future scale
Key Skills:
Enterprise Architecture & Technology Leadership
- Define and take accountability for the enterprise systems architecture, including ERP platforms and adjacent ecosystems (HR, Finance, MarComm, CRM, Data Management, Integrations).
- Establish clear architectural principles and decision frameworks that guide platform selection, integration patterns, and system evolution.
- Rationalize the enterprise application portfolio by reducing redundancy, legacy sprawl, and accumulated technical debt, while preserving essential business functionality and operational continuity.
- Serve as the determining agent on enterprise architecture tradeoffs, informed by stakeholder input and expert analysis.
Business Transformation & Stakeholder Leadership
- Act as a senior partner to the enterprise leaders.
- Guide stakeholders through complex decisions by combining deep expertise, strong executive presence, and pragmatic diplomacy.
- Balance inclusive collaboration with the confidence to drive decisions that are best for the enterprise.
- Translate complex technical topics into clear, executive-ready recommendations.
ERP Strategy & Transformation Delivery
- Lead and ensure the delivery of multi-year ERP transformation initiatives, including modernization, upgrades, consolidation, and integration efforts.
- Define and own the enterprise ERP strategy, ensuring the platform can support ZS’ highly customized operating model while minimizing unnecessary customization and long‑term architectural risk.
- Ensure ERP programs are delivered with strong attention to:
- Business continuity and production stability
- Organizational change management
- Data integrity, governance, and regulatory requirements
- Partner with external system integrators and advisory firms while retaining ownership and institutional knowledge inside the firm.
Governance, Risk, and Operational Excellence
- Strengthen architectural governance to reduce complexity, risk, and long-term cost.
- Improve enterprise‑wide data quality, governance, lineage, and accessibility across platforms to support analytics, AI enablement, regulatory compliance, and executive decision‑making.
- Ensurenterprise platforms meet global requirements for security, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
- Protect and optimize the current production environment while transformations are underway.
Team & Capability Development
- Build and lead a small, high-impact enterprise architecture and ERP leadership team.
- Leverage dotted-line partnerships with PMO, engineering, data, security, and operations teams.
- Establish sustainable operating models that outlast individual programs.
What you’ll bring:
- 20+ years of progressive leadership experience across enterprise technology, architecture, or large-scale business systems.
- Proven leadership of multiple enterprise transformation initiatives, including ERP-centric programs.
- Demonstrated experience operating in complex, multi-function organizations (Finance, HR, Marketing, Legal, Operations).
- Track record of delivering transformations on larger and more complex organizations than ZS, with clear evidence of:
- Where the organization started
- Where it ended
- How the transformation was achieved
Leadership & Executive Presence
- Recognized ability to operate credibly with senior executives.
- Strong leadership presence—able to guide, influence, and at times provide verifiable justification(s) if overriding functional preferences in service of enterprise outcomes.
- Comfortable navigating cultures that value collaboration, trust, and minimal hierarchy
Technical & Strategic Depth
- Deep understanding of ERP platforms and enterprise ecosystems (e.g., Finance, HR, MarComm, CRM, Legal, and Data Management platforms).
- Familiarity with modern enterprise technology ecosystems, including SAP (preferred) and Microsoft enterprise platforms, and the ability to apply this knowledge to ERP‑centric, cross‑functional architecture decisions.
- Strong grounding in enterprise architecture, integration patterns, and system lifecycle management.
- Experience working with global regulatory and data privacy considerations.
- Ability to balance best‑of‑breed approaches with long‑term architectural coherence.
Preferred Attributes
- Experience partnering with or leading alongside major consulting firms (e.g., Big 4, global integrators).
- Exposure to cloud platforms, data platforms, and emerging technologies (including AI) as part of enterprise transformation.
- Background in professional services or similarly matrixed organizations is a plus.
- Good familiarity with multi-jurisdictional regulatory and data privacy requirements - including regional differences in AI governance, data sovereignty, and compliance frameworks (e.g., EU AI Act, GDPR, and equivalent regimes) - particularly as they affect global enterprise platform decisions.
- Fluency in English
- Client-first mentality
- Intense work ethic
- Collaborative spirit and problem-solving approach
How you’ll grow:
- Cross-functional skills development & custom learning pathways
- Milestone training programs aligned to career progression opportunities
- Internal mobility paths that empower growth via s-curves, individual contribution and role expansions
Perks & Benefits:
At ZS, your growth matters. We offer a comprehensive total rewards package that supports your health and well‑being, financial future, time away, and professional development. With robust skills‑building programs, multiple career progression paths, internal mobility, and a deeply collaborative culture, you’ll have the opportunity to do meaningful work, expand your capabilities, and thrive as part of a global community. For details on total rewards in United States, visit ZS US office locations | Where we work | ZS.
Hybrid working model:
We are committed to giving our employees a flexible and connected way of working. A flexible and connected ZS allows us to combine work from home and on-site presence at clients/ZS offices for the majority of our week. The magic of ZS culture and innovation thrives in both planned and spontaneous face-to-face connections.
Travel:
Travel is a requirement at ZS for client facing ZSers; business needs of your project and client are the priority. While some projects may be local, all client-facing ZSers should be prepared to travel as needed. Travel provides opportunities to strengthen client relationships, gain diverse experiences, and enhance professional growth by working in different environments and cultures.
Considering applying?
At ZS, we honor the visible and invisible elements of our identities, personal experiences, and belief systems—the ones that comprise us as individuals, shape who we are, and make us unique. We believe your personal interests, identities, and desire to learn are integral to your success here. We are committed to building a team that reflects a broad variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Learn more about our inclusion and belonging efforts and the networks ZS supports to assist our ZSers in cultivating community spaces and obtaining the resources they need to thrive.
If you’re eager to grow, contribute, and bring your unique self to our work, we encourage you to apply.
ZS is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment and advancement opportunities without regard to any class protected by applicable law.
Work Authorization:
This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States that does not now or in the future require employer sponsorship.
To complete your application:
An on-line application, including a full set of transcripts (official or unofficial), is required to be considered.
NO AGENCY CALLS, PLEASE.
Find Out More At:
www.zs.com