Vice President - Architecture Futurist / Product Owner

About the role

In the Technology division, we leverage innovation to build the connections and capabilities that power our Firm, enabling our clients and colleagues to redefine markets and shape the future of our communities.

This is a Software Engineering position at the Vice President level, which is part of the job family responsible for developing and maintaining software solutions that support business needs.

Morgan Stanley is an industry leader in financial services, known for mobilizing capital to help governments, corporations, institutions, and individuals around the world achieve their financial goals.

Interested in joining a team that’s eager to create, innovate and make an impact on the world? Read on.

Institutional Securities Technology (IST) develops and oversees the overall technology architecture strategy and bespoke technology solutions to drive and enable the institutional businesses and enterprise-wide functions. Our clients include Fixed Income, Equities, Commodities, Investment Banking, Research and Global Capital Markets.

Institutional Securities Group (ISG) Architecture Governance is responsible for development, communication and implementation of the Technology Architecture principles, standards, design patterns and governance that inform the development and engineering of the ISG Technology platform in support of the ISG business.

Role

We are seeking a Vice President of ISG Divisional Enterprise Architecture Strategy & Technical Content to shape, articulate, and codify the enterprise architecture strategy for Institutional Securities Group Technology.

What you’ll do in the role

Partnering with senior architects, engineers, governance teams, and technology executives, this role translates complex strategies and decisions into authoritative, actionable content-including target-state strategies, principles, standards, patterns, roadmaps, and executive materials. The ideal candidate combines architecture fluency, strategic thinking, technical writing, and executive storytelling to guide decisions across the division.

Divisional Enterprise Architecture Strategy

• Partner with senior leaders to define ISG's enterprise architecture strategy, target state, principles, technology positions, roadmaps, and decision frameworks.
• Synthesize business priorities, engineering needs, domain strategies, and technology trends into a coherent divisional point of view.
• Clearly explain where the architecture is going, why it matters, and the implications for technology teams.

Technical Writing & Architecture Content

• Create and refine architecture strategies, standards, reference architectures, design patterns, playbooks, governance guidance, and implementation materials.
• Work with architects and subject-matter experts to turn complex concepts into precise, accessible, and actionable documentation while preserving technical accuracy and ownership.
• Establish consistent terminology, editorial standards, and clear links among strategy, decisions, standards, patterns, and engineering guidance.

Executive Thought Leadership & Strategic Content

• Translate architecture and engineering topics into concise, decision-oriented executive narratives, presentations, strategy decks, briefings, and governance materials.
• Research emerging technologies and architecture trends, assess their implications for ISG, and translate findings into executive briefings, strategies, and actionable white papers.
• Develop visual frameworks-including architecture views, capability maps, operating models, roadmaps, and decision frameworks-that strengthen the written narrative.
• Tailor content by audience while maintaining consistent messages across strategy, documentation, and leadership communications.

Architecture Knowledge & Enablement

• Build a scalable, authoritative body of architecture knowledge that makes strategies, standards, patterns, decisions, and guidance easy to discover and use.
• Partner with domain owners to keep content current, close documentation gaps, and convert governance outcomes into reusable guidance.
• Create onboarding, educational, and reference materials that improve understanding of architecture expectations and establish content as a durable organizational asset.

Stakeholder Partnership

• Build strong partnerships across architecture, engineering, governance, technology management, and senior leadership.
• Facilitate working sessions to capture decisions, rationale, and strategic implications; challenge unclear thinking and reconcile differing perspectives into consistent guidance.
• Influence outcomes effectively in a highly matrixed environment without direct authority.

What you’ll bring to the role

• 7+ years of experience in technical writing, technology strategy, enterprise architecture, technology consulting, architecture enablement, or a related discipline.
• Exceptional writing and editing skills, with demonstrated experience explaining complex technical topics clearly and accurately.
• Strong understanding of technology architecture concepts and the ability to engage credibly with senior architects and engineers.
• Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous or highly technical information into clear frameworks, narratives, and guidance.
• Experience creating technical strategy documents, architecture documentation, standards, patterns, white papers, or comparable technical content.
• Strong analytical and research skills, including the ability to rapidly understand unfamiliar technology domains.
• Experience developing executive-level technology presentations and written materials.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and confidence working directly with senior technical and executive audiences.
• Ability to balance technical precision with simplicity, readability, and practical usability.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with enterprise architecture concepts, including target-state architecture, reference architectures, architecture patterns, capability mapping, and technology standards.
• Experience working within enterprise architecture, CTO, engineering strategy, or technology governance organizations.
• Experience documenting cloud, data, AI/GenAI, software engineering, infrastructure, or platform architecture.
• Understanding of architecture governance and technology decision-making forums.
• Familiarity with diagramming, knowledge-management, and documentation platforms.
• Experience in Financial Services or another large, complex, regulated organization.

What You Can Expect from Morgan Stanley

At Morgan Stanley, we raise, manage and allocate capital for our clients – helping them reach their goals. We do it in a way that’s differentiated – and we’ve done that for 90 years.

Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries.

At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences.

We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste into your browser.

Pay and benefits

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $155,000 and $215,000 per year at the commencement of employment. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.

Our workforce reflects a broad cross-section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences.