Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture - AI & Data

Overview

Great brands reflect culture. The best ones help shape it. At Foot Locker, we’re rooted in sport, powered by style, and driven by the communities that move both. From Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker to Champs Sports, WSS, and atmos, our brands sit at the intersection of sport, style, and self-expression.As part of the DICK’S Sporting Goods family, you’re backed by the resources, reach, and career opportunities of a world-class sports company. That unleashes Foot Locker to keep pushing forward with the agility and edge that define the brand. We’re looking for great people who want to influence culture and the generation that is shaping what’s next.Whether you’re building strategy, shaping innovations, or creating unforgettable customer moments, you’ll contribute to decisions and experiences that define our brands’ impact in the communities we serve.Come change the game with us. Apply today!

Fully Remote; US ONLY

At this time, Foot Locker will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization, or offer any immigration related support for this position (i.e. H1B, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, F-1 CPT, J-1, TN, or another type of work authorization.

The Senior Director, Enterprise Architecture (EA) leads a modern, AI-driven and execution-oriented enterprise architecture capability. This role focuses on translating business and technology strategy into working guardrails, reusable platform patterns, and measurable outcomes. The emphasis is on hands-on, practical architecture that accelerates delivery, reduces risk and complexity, and embeds architectural thinking directly into product and engineering workflows.

What Success Looks Like (Outcomes)

• Enterprise Architecture is embedded in delivery, not operating as an ivory-tower or documentation-only function.
• AI and platform decisions are standardized through enterprise reference architectures and paved roads.
• Architecture standards, guardrails, and decisions are enforced through automation and AI-enabled governance.
• Measurable improvements are realized in delivery rework reduction, modernization velocity, solution quality, cost optimization, and risk reduction.

Responsibilities

AI-Driven Enterprise Architecture

• Define and evolve the enterprise AI architecture across user experience, governance, agent orchestration, verification and safety, models and LLMOps, data and knowledge, and runtime layers.
• Establish responsible AI, security, privacy, observability, and cost controls as architectural defaults across platforms.
• Partner with engineering and product leadership to ensure AI solutions are scalable, reusable, governed, and enterprise-safe.

Executable Enterprise Architecture

• Drive adoption of executable EA practices where architecture is machine-readable, automatable, and enforceable.
• Establish architecture-as-code and policy-as-code patterns using version-controlled standards, ADRs, and automated CI/CD checks.
• Shift governance left into delivery pipelines, reducing reliance on manual review boards.

Applied Architecture & Delivery Enablement

• Work hands-on with product and engineering teams on priority initiatives.
• Participate directly in roadmap planning, backlog refinement, solution design, and architectural tradeoff discussions.
• Ensure modernization efforts leverage standard cloud-native, API-first, and event-driven patterns.

Standards, Guardrails & Architecture Community

• Own enterprise architecture standards delivered as practical assets: templates, reference implementations, and guardrails.
• Operate architecture through an inner-source model that encourages contribution from architects and engineers.
• Lead and mature the architecture community of practice to drive consistency, reuse, and continuous learning.
• Establish architecture governance frameworks and ensure adherence to security, privacy, and regulatory standards such as SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA
• Lead architecture governance forums and define principles, standards, and best practices to ensure consistency and compliance

Landscape Optimization & Value Realization

• Use architectural insight and AI-driven analysis to identify cost, risk, and simplification opportunities.
• Establish transparency into application lifecycle, dependencies, and modernization readiness.
• Translate architecture insights into tangible financial and operational outcomes.

Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Master’s degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in enterprise, platform, solution, or domain architecture roles within large-scale, complex organizations.
• Demonstrated leadership in AI-driven architecture, including enterprise AI platforms, generative AI, LLM-based systems, RAG, embeddings, prompt orchestration, or agent-based solutions.
• Strong understanding of modern AI system architecture, including model lifecycle management, LLMOps/MLOps, knowledge architectures, and human-in-the-loop decision patterns.
• Proven experience defining and operationalizing enterprise guardrails such as architecture standards, reference architectures, and automated governance.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms, data ecosystems, and modern integration patterns (API-first, event-driven, domain-oriented).
• Ability to translate AI and architecture tradeoffs into business outcomes including cost optimization, risk reduction, and delivery acceleration.

Leadership & Interpersonal Skills

• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders without formal authority.
• Build and mentor a high-performing architecture team, fostering innovation, collaboration, and alignment across the enterprise.
• Ability to translate complex technical, architectural decisions and trade-offs effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executive leadership.
• Collaborative, pragmatic, and delivery-oriented leadership style.
• Strong mentoring, coaching, and architecture community-building mindset.

At Foot Locker, we value innovation, authenticity, and integrity in all that we do.  To uphold the security and fairness of our hiring process, we ask that candidates refrain from using AI tools, including ChatGPT, during interviews and assessments.  To ensure a smooth and secure experience, please review the following guidelines:

• Cameras must be on for all virtual interviews.
• AI tools are strictly prohibited during interviews or assessments.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we work together to create a transparent and equitable hiring experience.

Benefits

The annual base salary range is $200,000 - $265,000. This range represents the anticipated low and high end of the salary for this position. This role is also eligible to receive short and long term incentives that align with individual and company performance. Salary will be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data. Salary is one component of the Foot Locker, Inc. total compensation package, which includes the below.

Foot Locker Benefits:

• Employee Discount
• Paid Time Off
• Medical | Dental | Vision Coverage
• 401(k) | Roth 401(k)
• Stock Purchase Plan
• Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• Opportunities for Advancement
• Tuition Reimbursement for Qualified Courses
• Strong Company Culture
• Employee Resource Groups

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