Director, Enterprise Architecture

Position Summary

The Director, Enterprise Architecture, based in Bloomington, MN, will lead Donaldson's enterprise architecture function: a team of the most technically capable architects in the IT organization. This hands-on leader will set the architectural direction for a global manufacturing enterprise across cloud, infrastructure, applications, data, integration, security, and operational technology, and will personally step in to solve the most complex technical challenges.

The Director will shift architecture left, engaging upstream with business and technology leaders to shape solutions before they are designed, and will create the reference architectures, patterns, and standards that make delivery faster, more consistent, and more repeatable. Success is measured by delivered outcomes, not documents. Qualified candidates must be able to work a hybrid schedule at our Bloomington, MN office.

Role Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing team of enterprise, solution, domain, and data architects who serve as the deepest technical experts in the IT organization and the escalation point for the hardest problems.
• Engage early in business planning, demand intake, and portfolio prioritization to shape requirements, options, and architectures before projects begin, reducing rework, risk, and cost later in delivery.
• Personally drop into critical initiatives, major incidents, and complex design challenges, working alongside delivery teams to diagnose root causes and architect durable solutions.
• Define and maintain the enterprise target-state architecture and multi-year technology roadmaps across business, application, data, integration, infrastructure, cloud, security, and OT domains, aligned to business strategy.
• Build a reusable library of reference architectures, design patterns, blueprints, and paved-road templates (for example cloud landing zones, integration and API patterns, identity, data platforms, and AI) that accelerate delivery and drive standardization.
• Establish lightweight, value-adding architecture governance, including principles, standards, decision records, and design reviews, that speeds good decisions rather than gating them.
• Drive simplification and technical debt reduction through application and technology portfolio rationalization, lifecycle management, and clear build, buy, reuse, and retire decisions.
• Architect the foundations for enterprise AI, data and analytics, automation, and modern integration, including the platform, security, and responsible-AI patterns needed to scale safely.
• Partner with cybersecurity, infrastructure, applications, data, digital, and manufacturing leaders to embed secure-by-design, Zero Trust, resilience, and IT/OT convergence principles into every solution.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and vendors through hands-on proofs of concept, make clear recommendations that balance innovation, cost, risk, and value, and measure the impact of enterprise architecture through outcome-based metrics.

• Travel
• Up to 15%

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 12+ years of progressive technology experience, including 5+ years in enterprise or solution architecture and 5+ years leading architects or senior technical teams.
• Deep, hands-on technical expertise across multiple domains, such as cloud and hybrid infrastructure, application and integration architecture, data platforms, identity, and security, with the credibility to lead engineers and challenge vendors.
• Proven record of architecting and delivering large-scale technology transformations, such as cloud migration, ERP modernization, or platform consolidation, in a complex, global enterprise.
• Experience creating reference architectures, standards, and reusable patterns that measurably improved delivery speed, quality, and consistency.

Preferred Qualifications

• Architecture leadership experience within global manufacturing, industrial technology, or a Fortune 500 enterprise.
• Expertise in at least one major public cloud (Microsoft Azure preferred) and hybrid architectures, including landing zones, infrastructure as code, containers, and Kubernetes.
• Strong integration and data architecture experience, including APIs, event-driven architecture, integration platforms, master data, and modern data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, or Microsoft Fabric.
• Experience with ERP and manufacturing system landscapes (such as SAP, Oracle, MES, and PLM) and IT/OT integration in plant environments.
• Experience designing architectures and governance for AI and generative AI, including platform, data, security, and responsible-AI considerations.
• Familiarity with architecture frameworks and practices such as TOGAF, C4 modeling, and architecture decision records, applied pragmatically rather than dogmatically.
• Hands-on background as a software, cloud, or infrastructure engineer, with experience in DevOps, platform engineering, CI/CD, and observability.
• Security architecture knowledge, including Zero Trust, identity and access management, network segmentation, and secure-by-design practices.
• Relevant certifications such as TOGAF, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert, AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional, or Google Professional Cloud Architect.
• Exceptional communicator and coach who can whiteboard a deep technical design with engineers, explain trade-offs and business value to executives, and grow the next generation of architects.

Annual Salary Range

$180,080 - 225,100. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors including, but not limited to applicable work experience, training, education, performance.

This position is eligible for annual incentive plan and long-term incentives based on performance and company growth.

Immigration Sponsorship Not Available

• Applicants for this position must be currently and legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future sponsorship (e.g., H-1B, J-1, F-1, CPT, OPT, etc.).
• Donaldson will not offer immigration sponsorship or assume sponsorship of an employment visa for this position.
• International relocation or remote work arrangements outside of the U.S. will not be considered.

Employee benefits are part of the competitive total rewards package that Donaldson Company, Inc. provides to you. Our comprehensive benefits program includes health benefits, retirement plan (401k), paid time away, paid leaves (including paid parental leave) and more.

Employment opportunities for positions in the United States may require use of information which is subject to the export control regulations of the United States. Hiring decisions for such positions are required by law to be made in compliance with these regulations. Applicants for employment opportunities in other countries must be able to meet the comparable export control requirements of that country and of the United States.

Donaldson Company has been made aware that there are several recruiting scams that are targeting job seekers. These scams have attempted to solicit money for job applications and/or collect confidential information, Donaldson will never solicit money during the application or recruiting process.

Donaldson only accepts online applications through our Careers | Donaldson Company, Inc. website and any communication from a Donaldson recruiter would be sent using a donaldson.com email address. If you have any questions about the legitimacy of an employment opportunity, please reach out to to verify that the communication is from Donaldson.