Enterprise Architect

ABOUT US We're an independent European digital product studio with a strong track record of delivering market-defining strategies and products for enterprises and governments. With about 200 talented people across three countries, premium AI capabilities and a diverse portfolio of international clients, we define, design and ship high-quality digital products, strategies and software. From global cloud-based platforms and large-scale apps to medical devices, banking software and augmented reality experiences. In a nutshell: if it lives and breathes digital, it’s what we do best. BECOME A PART OF OUR TEAM At In The Pocket, you join a multidisciplinary team of designers, engineers, strategists and data specialists who care about the work as much as the people they work with. We work in small, autonomous teams that stay close to our clients and their users, and we give everyone the space to take ownership, speak up and grow. You’ll learn from colleagues across our studios, ship products that reach thousands or even millions of people and help shape what digital can do for leading organisations in Europe. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT YOU’LL DO  As an Enterprise Architect, you act as the strategic bridge between business vision and technology delivery, ensuring the organization's technology landscape perfectly aligns with its long-term goals. Operating with a "big picture" perspective, you will play a key role in our Business Design tracks, helping clients transition from current inefficiencies to future-proof ecosystems while guiding them through the complexities of digital and AI transformation. DESIGN THE ENTERPRISE BLUEPRINT * You will develop and maintain organization's overarching architecture framework, covering business, data, application, and technology layers. * You will craft the high-level architecture for complex buy vs. build challenges by analysing the existing technology landscape and understanding business, and user functional and non-functional requirements, to ensure secure and compliant solutions. ALIGN STRATEGY WITH EXECUTION * You will translate business strategies into actionable, evolutionary IT roadmaps. * By utilizing Business Design tools like Capability Maps and Value Streams, you ensure that technology and AI investments are focused exactly where they create the most value and competitive advantage. ESTABLISH ARCHITECTURE & DATA GOVERNANCE * You will define, implement, and enforce architectural principles and standards. * You will also guide organizations in building solid data foundations and establishing governance structures (such as AI Centres of Excellence), ensuring teams can innovate and experiment safely within technical and regulatory guardrails. EVALUATE & DRIVE INNOVATION * You will continuously assess the external environment and emerging technologies to determine their fit within the existing architecture. * You will guide organizations from discovering opportunities to deploying production-ready solutions (including Applied AI), accelerating their digital maturity. COLLABORATE ACROSS DOMAINS * You will partner with business leaders, AI transformation experts, Product Managers, and Solution Architects to facilitate cross-domain decision-making. WHO YOU ARE  * You have 7+ years of professional experience with a background in engineering, with at least 3 years in consulting, digital strategy or transformation roles serving enterprise or public-sector clients. * You have a solid background in IT architecture and a holistic mindset. * You are capable of stepping back from individual systems to understand complex organizational structures, and you know how to safely integrate new paradigms, whether that is cloud modernization or AI integration, into core operations. * You are a "bridge-builder" who fluidly translates complex technical concepts into simple terms for non-technical executives, while successfully relaying business requirements to engineering teams. You don't have to be the smartest person in the room; your goal is to make everyone else smarter. * You possess strong business acumen and understand that architecture is highly context-dependent and exists to serve business value. * You are familiar with business design concepts like capability mapping, value streams, and operating models, and can link technology investments directly to new value propositions. * You are comfortable with formulating a substantiated opinion and defending it to executives. * You are comfortable leading organizations through the ambiguity of change, digital evolution, and AI readiness. * You excel in stakeholder management, effortlessly navigating conflicting agendas and fostering alignment from the C-suite to the teams "in the trenches". * You have practical experience with enterprise architecture frameworks (such as TOGAF) and modeling languages. * You combine this with a strong understanding of data governance, security by design, and the compliance requirements needed to deploy technology responsibly at an enterprise scale. * You possess full professional proficiency in Dutch and English, enabling you to articulate complex ideas with clarity. The ability to engage stakeholders in French is considered a plus. WHAT WE OFFER   Joining In The Pocket means becoming part of a team that shapes the future of our clients’ businesses across Europe. Here’s what you can look forward to: * You’ll start with a permanent contract in a role that comes with responsibility and the opportunity to make a real impact from day one. * We offer a competitive salary that reflects your experience and the value you bring. * Our benefits package has you covered with hospitalisation and group insurance, meal vouchers, a phone subscription, and more. * You’ll have a mobility budget that lets you decide how to get around, your way.  * Life at In The Pocket isn’t just about work, we host team events throughout the year to celebrate, connect, and have fun together. * Learning never stops here, so after six months, you’ll receive a dedicated learning and development budget to keep growing your skills and exploring new horizons.

The key word is change. Technology is no longer a support function. Agents are becoming active participants in workflows. New entrants are reshaping the SaaS landscape and turning multi-year contracts into strategic liabilities. Governance demands around data sovereignty, security, and responsible use of AI are expanding. And velocity mismatches between strategy, architecture, and governance remain the largest source of wasted IT investment today. We are seeking an Enterprise Architect to design and govern the holistic blueprint that connects business strategy, applications, data, and technology across our clients’ organisations. Someone who can see the whole picture and make it coherent. WHO IS UMAIN? We were founded with a heritage in digital product development and engineering. This background gives us a unique perspective, ensuring that our strategic advice is always grounded in technical feasibility and execution excellence. We are now expanding our focus to help clients at the C-level, linking core technology strategy directly to business outcomes. Umain is proudly part of Eidra, a consultancy collective driven by the conviction that business transformation requires a combination of management consulting and best-in-breed expertise in creativity, engineering, and data. This partnership means that while you focus on strategic IT-Management and enterprise architecture, you have full access to orchestrate common capabilities from the best specialized companies within the collective. Our team consists of individuals with experience from the largest consulting firms, but with the flexibility, speed, and entrepreneurial drive that characterize a modern, flat organization. At Umain, we highly value collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit. Here, you are not only expected to lead demanding client assignments; you are also expected to actively contribute to our internal development, whether it involves shaping new service offerings in AI/Data or mentoring our junior talent. We reward those who take ownership and drive us forward. THE ROLE: WHAT WILL YOU DO? As an Enterprise Architect within Eidra’s Tech Advisory & IT Management practice, you are the structural backbone of our client engagements. You work across assessment, design, and transformation, ensuring that architectural decisions hold up from boardroom to codebase. Your assignments will involve: * Architecture Assessment & Scoring: Evaluating client technology estates for maturity, composability, technical debt, and swap-readiness. Producing actionable findings that connect directly to business outcomes and sourcing decisions. * Enterprise Architecture Design: Designing composable, API-first architectures that replace rigid target-state blueprints with modular, swap-ready designs. Guiding major technology decisions on platforms, integration patterns, and cloud strategy. * AI Readiness & Data Architecture: Assessing and designing the data and platform foundations needed for AI adoption. Designing model-agnostic AI layers that enable provider flexibility and reduce lock-in. * Strategic Communication: Translating architecture decisions into business impact language for CIOs and boards. Connecting architecture findings to investment priorities, sourcing strategy, and risk posture. * Internal Leadership: Actively contributing to Eidra’s business development, mentoring colleagues, and developing our architecture competency pool. WHO ARE YOU? We are looking for someone who: * Has 7+ years of relevant experience in enterprise architecture, technology strategy, or IT transformation. Typical backgrounds include Enterprise Architect, Solution Architect, CTO, or Technology Advisor. * Is driven by a deep passion for making complex technology landscapes coherent, composable, and aligned with business strategy. * Has a documented ability to assess, design, and govern enterprise architecture across diverse industries and technology estates. * Has a natural ability to structure and communicate complex architectural concepts to both engineering teams and C-suite stakeholders. REQUIRED COMPETENCIES * Enterprise Architecture Practice: Deep expertise in enterprise architecture frameworks adapted for modern, AI-era contexts. Experience maintaining architectural principles as standing policies and governing technology decisions across the enterprise. * Platform & Integration Design: Hands-on experience with enterprise platforms and business-critical systems (e.g. ERP, CRM, modern data stacks), combined with strong expertise in integration architecture, API strategy, and cloud architecture. * Composable Architecture: Ability to design modular, API-first architectures and assess technology components for swap-readiness, lock-in risk, and technical debt. * Strategic AI: Solid understanding of how to design AI-ready platforms, including model-agnostic AI layers, data architecture for AI/ML workloads, and the implications of AI on enterprise architecture. * Business-Technology Alignment: A proven ability to connect architecture decisions to business outcomes, investment cases, and sourcing strategy. * Collaborative Mindset: A collaborative and open approach, with a genuine commitment to continuous development, team building, and long-term client relationships. * Language: Fluency in English, both written and spoken, is essential. Do you want to help build the future digital backbone for our clients? Background check Umain conducts a background check for final candidates in accordance with our internal policies. The check is carried out only with your consent and is ordered by our CISO through our approved screening partner. The scope of the check depends on the role level. This step is performed late in the recruitment process and is used solely to support a secure and fact‑based hiring decision.