AVP, AI Enterprise Architecture, Portland

Job Posting End Date: June 19

Our Fortune 500 company is driving a digital transformation and looking for forward-thinking innovators to disrupt how our industry thinks about and uses technology. As one of the world's leading employee benefits providers, we help millions of people gain affordable access to benefits that help them protect their families, their finances and their futures.

Are you an asker of questions, a solver of problems, and a challenger of the status quo? Our mission is to provide a differentiated customer experience and exceed the expectations people have of technology at any company - not just insurers.

We are seeking individuals to join our team of talented IT professionals who share never-ending passion and an unwavering focus on our customer experience. Team members comfortable working in an agile, fast-paced, and delivery-focused environment thrive in our environment where we value an entrepreneurial spirit and those who challenge the status-quo.

Unum is changing, and we're excited about what's next. Join us.

General Summary:

This role is responsible for defining and advancing the enterprise AI architecture strategy assuring scalable, secure, and flexible AI capabilities that enable rapid delivery of business value.

It serves as the bridge between enterprise architecture strategy and execution, shaping how solutions integrating AI are designed, governed, and deployed across the organization. The leader directly contributes to the design and development of enterprise AI platforms, reference architectures, and reusable patterns, while ensuring our AI architecture&technology decisions align to Unum Group's business strategy and long-term value.

This role acts as a thought leader and orchestrator, partnering across technology and business teams to integrate AI into the enterprise in a disciplined, sustainable, and responsible way.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Define and evolve the enterprise AI architecture strategy and standards

Be the enterprise architecture representative in AI governance committees and directly contribute to governance frameworks and enterprise standards.

Ensure enterprise AI capabilities are aligned to business outcomes and enterprise priorities

Design scalable, modular, and secure agentic AI solutions

Establish reference architectures, reusable patterns, and enterprise platforms to industrialize AI capabilities at scale (primarily cloud-based / hyperscaler capabilities)

Align AI architecture with enterprise capabilities and technology roadmaps

Evaluate emerging technologies and guide tool/platform selection to ensure cost-effective, future-ready solutions

Continuously maintain and update the enterprise AI platform roadmaps as the technology and industry capabilities evolve

Ensure consistent adoption of architecture standards across delivery teams

Lead architecture governance, compliance, and quality (design-time and runtime performance)

Influences senior leaders and drives alignment across stakeholders

Partner with business, product, and technology leaders to translate strategy into execution

Guide and mentor architects and technical leaders while being a champion of disciplined architecture practices across the organization

Drive continuous improvement through learnings from implementation and solution delivery

Define business outcomes, use cases, and success metrics; support AI business cases

Partner with the enterprise data team to ensure availability, governance, and compliance of data required for AI solutions

Lead evaluation and selection of foundation models (LLMs, etc.) based on business fit and cost

Oversee model training, validation, and risk assessment (e.g., bias, hallucination)

Define deployment approaches and support enterprise adoption and change management

Establish monitoring frameworks for performance, drift, and continuous improvement

Ensure alignment with responsible AI principles (fairness, transparency, accountability) and regulatory requirements

Partner with risk, legal, and compliance teams to mitigate AI-specific risks (e.g., bias, model drift, data leakage)

Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and oversight mechanisms for AI solutions

Job Specifications

Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred

15+ years of experience in enterprise architecture with significant experience designing and implementing enterprise AI/ML platforms and solutions

Deep knowledge of AI/ML frameworks, cloud AI services (e.g., AWS), and modern data technologies

Experience with foundation models, prompt engineering, RAG architectures, and agentic AI patterns

Strong understanding of AI risks, governance frameworks, and regulatory considerations

Familiarity with Agile/Lean delivery and modern engineering practices (e.g., CI/CD, MLOps)

Demonstrable experience of delivering complex software systems as an engineer and architect

Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and business audiences

Experience with standard enterprise architecture modeling practices (ArchiMate and Bizzdesign preferred)

Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving and analytical skills

Collaborative and influential leader across complex organizations

Curious and forward-looking on emerging technologies

Outcome-driven with focus on measurable business impact

~IN1

#LI-RA1

Our company is built on helping individuals and families, and this starts with our employees. We want employees to maintain a positive balance, which is why we provide access to the benefits and resources they need to invest in themselves. From our onsite fitness facilities and generous paid time off to employee professional development programs, we are committed to helping employees live and work their best - both inside and outside the office.

Unum is an equal opportunity employer, considering all qualified applicants and employees for hiring, placement, and advancement, without regard to a person's race, color, religion, national origin, age, genetic information, military status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or protected veteran status.

The base salary range for applicants for this position is listed below. Unless actual salary is indicated above in the job description, actual pay will be based on skill, geographical location and experience.

$133,500.00-$274,100.00

Additionally, Unum offers a portfolio of benefits and rewards that are competitive and comprehensive including healthcare benefits (health, vision, dental), insurance benefits (short&long-term disability), performance-based incentive plans, paid time off, and a 401(k) retirement plan with an employer match up to 5% and an additional 4.5% contribution whether you contribute to the plan or not. All benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of individual Plans.

Company:

Unum