Job Description: EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a global data and artificial intelligence ("AI") company that offers services and solutions to reinvent client business models, drive better outcomes and unlock growth with speed. EXL harnesses the power of data, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform businesses, including the world’s leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and financial services, media and retail, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect.
We are headquartered in New York and have more than 60,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com .
Role Title: Head of Architecture and Engineering Operations
BU/Segment: Digital
Location: Dublin, Republic of Ireland (Flexible hybrid working)
Employment Type: Permanent
Summary of the role:
This is a senior leadership role within EXL's Digital Engineering and AI organization. The role will help define how architecture and engineering operations work across EXL, with responsibility for the operating model, engineering standards, architecture governance, developer experience and engineering FinOps practices that support scalable delivery.
You will lead and develop a globally distributed architecture team across Ireland, the UK, the US and India, partnering with product, platform, engineering, security, finance and delivery leaders to align architecture strategy with business outcomes. The role will also provide senior client-facing architecture leadership for strategic pursuits, solution shaping and technical risk assessment.
The role combines strategic direction with practical technical leadership. You will mature the Architecture Review Board, define reusable reference architectures, maintain the EXL Technology Radar, shape developer experience across tools and processes, and lead engineering FinOps practices in partnership with Finance, cloud platform and engineering leaders.
Some travel may be required for team, client or leadership meetings.
This role is suited to a hands-on architecture leader who can set direction, influence senior stakeholders and remain close enough to complex technical decisions to be credible with architects and engineers.
As part of your duties, you will be responsible for:
The role has four core areas of ownership:
Architecture strategy and governance
Define and communicate architecture strategy across our products, platforms and AI solutions. Establish clear engineering principles, standards, reference architectures and decision frameworks that help teams design secure, scalable and supportable solutions.
Technology Radar
Own and maintain EXL's Technology Radar to define, govern and communicate technology strategy. Use it to guide adoption, standardisation, experimentation and retirement decisions across engineering teams.
Developer experience
Set the vision for how engineering teams work day to day, including access to the right tools, golden paths, reusable patterns, documentation, engineering processes and AI-assisted delivery capabilities. AI tooling is an important part of this mandate, but the broader goal is to enable teams to deliver value effectively, safely and consistently.
Engineering FinOps
Lead engineering FinOps practices in partnership with Finance, cloud platform and engineering leaders. This includes improving visibility, rightsizing, reservation strategy, licence optimisation and tagging discipline, while ensuring cost, performance and operational accountability are built into the engineering operating model.
What you'll do
- Lead and develop a globally distributed architecture team across Ireland, the UK, the US and India, with clear roles, accountabilities and standards of technical leadership.
- Define the architecture operating model, including governance forums, review patterns, decision rights, architecture artefacts and escalation paths.
- Chair and mature the Architecture Review Board, ensuring architectural decisions are pragmatic, risk-aware and aligned to EXL standards and business priorities.
- Publish, maintain and drive adoption of engineering principles, standards and reference architectures across EXL's Products, Platforms and AI solutions.
- Own the EXL Technology Radar, using it to define and communicate technology strategy, adoption guidance and lifecycle decisions across the organisation.
- Establish named architectural ownership and reusable patterns across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, with an emphasis on secure, scalable and portable platform design.
- Partner with product, platform, engineering, InfoSec, data, finance and delivery leaders to align technical strategy with product roadmaps, client commitments and operational constraints.
- Define the Developer Experience strategy across tools, delivery processes, internal platforms, documentation, templates, reusable components and AI-assisted engineering practices.
- Ensure engineering teams have access to the right tooling and processes to deliver value effectively, with adoption measured through outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
- Lead engineering FinOps practices for cloud and tooling spend in partnership with Finance, cloud platform and engineering leaders, including cost visibility, tagging discipline, optimisation opportunities, licence consolidation and executive reporting.
- Provide senior client-facing architecture support for strategic pursuits and client conversations, including solution shaping, estimation input, technical narrative, architectural trade-off analysis and risk assessment.
- Stay technically engaged by leading complex architecture reviews, advising on strategic designs and remaining credible with senior architects and engineers.
- Own the team's budget, objectives, operating cadence, executive reporting and architecture metrics pack.
Qualifications and experience we consider to be essential for the role:
We are looking for a senior architecture leader with the judgement to set direction, the credibility to influence experienced engineers and the pragmatism to help teams deliver. We do not expect every candidate to match every item exactly, but the following experience is important:
- 12-15+ years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, cloud architecture, enterprise architecture or related technology leadership roles.
- At least 5 years of experience in a senior architect, principal architect or architecture leadership role.
- Experience leading globally distributed architecture or engineering teams across multiple regions; experience working across Ireland, the UK, the US and India is beneficial but not essential.
- Deep hands-on experience with at least one major cloud platform, with working knowledge of AWS, Azure and Google Cloud architectural patterns.
- Strong understanding of enterprise-scale platforms, cloud-native architectures, APIs, integration patterns, data platforms, AI-enabled systems and modern engineering practices.
- Experience establishing or significantly improving architecture governance, Architecture Review Boards, technical standards or equivalent design authority practices.
- Experience improving developer experience through tools, engineering processes, internal platforms, reusable patterns, documentation and delivery automation.
- Good understanding of AI-assisted engineering tools and practices, with a practical view of where they improve productivity, quality and delivery outcomes.
- Experience contributing to or leading engineering FinOps practices, including cost visibility, optimisation, tagging, budgeting, forecasting or licence management.
- Client-facing or pre-sales architecture experience, with the ability to explain complex technical trade-offs to senior technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce architecture decision records, standards, technology strategy documents and executive-level material.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
Skills and Personal attributes we would like to have:
- Cloud or architecture certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect Professional, Google Professional Cloud Architect, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert, TOGAF or equivalent.
- Experience owning a Technology Radar, technology strategy framework, engineering standards catalogue or enterprise architecture repository.
- Hands-on FinOps experience, including cost dashboards, reservation or savings plan strategy, licence optimisation or FinOps Foundation certification.
- Experience with responsible AI, AI governance, model governance, LLM observability, guardrails or AI platform architecture.
- Experience working in consulting, professional services, product/platform engineering or client delivery environments.
- Close working experience with InfoSec, cloud platform teams, finance, procurement and product management functions.
Public speaking, internal evangelism or published thought leadership on architecture, AI-enabled engineering, developer productivity or cloud strategy.
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What success looks like:
Success in this role will be measured by the quality, adoption and business impact of the architecture operating model. Over the first year, strong outcomes would include:
- A globally distributed architecture team operating with clear ownership, consistent practices and trusted relationships across product, platform and engineering teams.
- A mature Architecture Review Board with clear intake, decision-making, documentation and escalation patterns.
- Reference architectures, engineering standards and architecture decision records published and actively used across Products, Platforms and AI solutions.
- An EXL Technology Radar published, maintained and used to guide technology adoption, experimentation, standardisation and retirement decisions.
- A Developer Experience roadmap in place, with teams using approved tools, golden paths and engineering processes that improve delivery quality and speed.
- Engineering FinOps practices embedded in partnership with Finance, cloud platform and engineering teams, with improved visibility, accountability and optimisation opportunities reported to stakeholders.
Strategic pursuits and client conversations supported with clear architectural narratives, credible solution options and practical delivery considerations.
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As part of a leading global Data and AI company, you can look forward to:
- A competitive salary with a generous bonus, private healthcare, life assurance at 4 x your annual salary, income protection insurance, and a rewarding pension.
- At EXL , we are committed to providing our employees with the tools and resources they need to succeed and excel in their careers. We offer a wide range of professional and personal development opportunities. We also support a range of learning initiatives that allow our employees to build on their existing skills and knowledge. From online courses to seminars and workshops, our employees have the opportunity to enhance their skills and stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies.
- As an Equal Opportunity Employer, EXL is committed to diversity. Our company does not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, age, or disability status.
- At EXL , we offer a flexible hybrid working model that allows employees to live a balanced, healthy lifestyle while strengthening our culture of collaboration.
To be considered for this role, you must already be eligible to work in the Republic of Ireland.
