Principal Architect - Finance & ERP - Cary, United States

When you join MetLife’s Global Technology team, you’ll be part of a forward-thinking group dedicated to shaping the future of digital solutions for customers worldwide. You’ll develop, maintain and support technology applications and delivery, leveraging AI, automation, and contemporary ways of working to enhance experiences and drive business outcomes. Your work will simplify complex processes, improve tech resiliency, and ensure high-performing, seamless solutions that power life’s most important moments. In this dynamic environment, you’ll collaborate with talented peers across teams and functions, expanding your skills in impactful ways. Ready to push boundaries and set new industry standards? Join us and help drive the future of technology forward.

MetLife is seeking a Principal Architect – Finance Modernization & ERP Transformation to provide architectural leadership for the Finance Modernization Program, with primary responsibility for the Workday ERP implementation and supporting Finance ecosystem transformation. 

This architect will serve as the lead architecture partner for the ERP Modernization Program, working closely with Finance stakeholders, ERP delivery teams, Enterprise Architecture, Data & Analytics teams, and governance bodies to define target-state architectures, integration patterns, data strategies, and implementation roadmaps. 

The ideal candidate combines deep ERP and finance domain expertise with strong architecture leadership, enterprise integration experience, cloud-native architecture knowledge, and hands-on experience with modern data platforms, including Databricks.

ERP & Finance Modernization Architecture:

• Serve as the lead architect supporting the Finance Modernization and ERP Transformation Program. 
• Define and maintain target-state and transition-state architectures for Workday Financials and related finance platforms. 
• Drive architectural consistency, standards, and governance across all ERP modernization workstreams. 
• Partner with business and technology leaders to translate strategic objectives into architecture roadmaps and implementation plans. 
• Ensure architecture decisions are documented, reviewed, and approved through established governance processes.

Workday Architecture Leadership:

• Lead architecture design for Workday Financials and associated finance capabilities. 
• Define integration architecture patterns for Workday inbound and outbound integrations. 
• Establish standards for API-based, event-driven, file-based, and middleware integrations. 
• Provide architectural guidance on Workday capabilities, extensibility frameworks, reporting, security, and ecosystem integrations. 
• Evaluate architecture tradeoffs and advise leadership on risks, dependencies, and technical debt.

Enterprise Data & Databricks Strategy:

• Define data architecture patterns supporting finance modernization initiatives. 
• Partner with Enterprise Data, Data Governance, and Analytics teams to establish scalable data solutions. 
• Drive adoption of Databricks as the strategic enterprise data and analytics platform. 
• Define patterns for:  
  • Data ingestion 
  • Data transformation 
  • Data products 
  • Data governance 
  • Data quality 
  • Data lineage

AI and analytics enablement:

• Ensure alignment with enterprise data platforms, governance standards, and system-of-record principles. 
• Work with D&A to define finance data product strategy, canonical finance data model, semantic layer, lineage, reconciliation controls, data quality rules, system-of-record boundaries, and reporting transition from PeopleSoft sources to Workday and strategic data platforms.  
• Ensure Databricks usage is aligned to governed finance reporting, analytics, AI enablement, and operational data needs without duplicating Workday transaction-system responsibilities. 

Integration & Enterprise Architecture:

• Define integration strategies between Workday, legacy ERP platforms, Enterprise Data Hub, HR, Tax, Treasury, Investments, and downstream reporting solutions. 
• Create reusable reference architectures and integration patterns. 
• Collaborate with Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects, and engineering teams to ensure enterprise alignment. 
• Promote API-first, event-driven, and cloud-native architecture principles. 
• Establish architecture guardrails that reduce duplication and encourage reuse of enterprise capabilities. 

Architecture Governance:

• Lead architecture reviews through GARB, FRM ARB, AI ARB, and other governance forums. 
• Develop and maintain ERP architecture patterns, standards, and reference architectures. 
• Ensure solution architecture deliverables satisfy enterprise architecture requirements. 
• Review vendor and implementation partner recommendations and ensure alignment with enterprise standards. 
• Drive continuous improvement of architecture practices, patterns, and governance processes. 
• Ensure architecture supports segregation of duties, least privilege, SOX/financial controls, auditability, sensitive data handling, retention/archival, encryption, monitoring, and third-party risk requirements. 
• Partner with Security, Risk, Compliance, Internal Audit, and Finance Control teams to validate that Workday and surrounding finance ecosystem changes preserve control effectiveness during transition and after go-live. 

AI & Modernization:

• Identify opportunities to leverage AI and automation across Finance and ERP capabilities. 
• Partner with enterprise AI teams to establish responsible AI architecture patterns. 
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend adoption strategies aligned with business priorities. 
• Enable AI-powered insights through Workday, Databricks, and enterprise analytics platforms. 
• Drive practical AI adoption across Finance modernization by identifying high-value use cases such as financial close support, financial close acceleration, anomaly detection, intelligent reconciliation, reconciliation assistance, automated controls monitoring, intelligent reporting, forecasting insights, reporting assistance, knowledge management, service operations, and knowledge-assist capabilities.  
• Define responsible AI architecture patterns for Workday, Databricks, and enterprise AI platforms, including data grounding, prompt and output controls, prompt/output management, human-in-the-loop review, human review, model risk, privacy, security, access controls, explainability, auditability, monitoring, measurable value realization, and value measurement.  
• Evaluate Workday-native AI capabilities, AI agents, Databricks AI/ML capabilities, and enterprise GenAI services for fit-for-purpose use within Finance modernization, while preventing fragmented or non-governed AI adoption.  

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related technical discipline. 
• 10+ years of experience in enterprise application architecture. 
• 5+ years operating as a Principal Architect, Enterprise Architect, or Lead Architect. 
• 8+ years designing and implementing large-scale ERP, Finance, or Corporate Systems solutions. 
• Deep understanding of finance business processes including:  
  • General Ledger 
  • Accounts Payable 
  • Accounts Receivable 
  • Fixed Assets 
  • Financial Reporting 
  • Planning and Forecasting
• Experience leading complex ERP transformation programs. 
• Strong experience designing cloud-native enterprise application architectures. 
• Strong understanding of application, integration, security, and data architecture domains. 
• Experience with Azure Cloud technologies and enterprise integration platforms. 
• Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management skills. 
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate AI/GenAI opportunities within governed enterprise architecture, security, data, and risk frameworks.

• Experience implementing or architecting Workday Financials. 
• Experience with Workday integration technologies including:  
  • Workday Studio 
  • EIB 
  • Workday Web Services 
  • APIs 
  • Workday Extend
• Experience with modern enterprise data platforms including Databricks. 
• Experience architecting ERP modernization where legacy ERP platforms such as PeopleSoft transition to SaaS ERP platforms such as Workday, including integration remediation, data conversion, reconciliation, reporting migration, cutover, and decommissioning planning.
• Experience defining enterprise data lakehouse architectures. 
• Experience with data governance technologies such as Unity Catalog, Collibra, and Ataccama. 
• Experience supporting Finance Data Hub, Enterprise Data Hub, or large-scale reporting modernization programs. 
• Insurance or Financial Services industry experience preferred. 
• Experience with Workday AI / platform innovation, enterprise GenAI services, AI governance, ML-enabled analytics, Databricks AI/ML capabilities, agentic workflow patterns, responsible AI controls, and AI value measurement in Finance, HR, or Corporate Systems contexts. 

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The expected salary range for this position is$140,000 - $185,000. This role may also be eligible for annual short-term incentive compensation and stock-based long-term incentives. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms. 

Benefits We Offer About MetLife MetLife is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions are made without regards to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status (although applicants and employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States), uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law (“protected characteristics”).