Our Story & Purpose:
We’re Vancity, a member-owned credit union built on the principles of inclusion and social justice. Since 1946, our relentless commitment to these values has helped us challenge the status quo and break down barriers. We’ve made bold commitments to become net-zero by 2040 across all mortgages and loans, and we’re actively pursuing strategies in Indigenous banking and financial resilience for our members.
As the largest private sector Living Wage Employer in Canada, we’re proud to be consistently recognized as one of the country’s Top Employers. If you’re ready to join our team of 2,700 diverse individuals, access competitive rewards and benefits, and be part of a greater movement - apply today!
Your Role in Supporting Our Members:
As a Principal Technology Architect, you will play a critical role in shaping our organization's technology and business strategies. This role will be responsible for designing and implementing enterprise-level solutions, ensuring they align with our long-term goals and objectives. Your expertise in technology architecture, innovation, and leadership will drive our success in this dynamic and evolving industry.
This is a full-time, permanent role and will report directly to Director, Enterprise Architecture. Our head office is based in Vancouver, but we are open to candidates in BC and Ontario. While this position provides a hybrid work arrangement, you will be expected to be on-site for events and business demands when needed.
How You'll Make an Impact:
- Providing sound solutions and architecture for key business initiatives
- Defining, building and maintaining architecture standards, patterns, and best practices
- Understanding business drivers and business capabilities (future and current state) and determining corresponding enterprise system design and change requirements to drive the organization's targeted business outcomes
- Guiding and influencing product owners, solution/data/security/infrastructure architects, designers, and developers in implementing sound architecture choices (Buy vs. Build, or Real-time vs. Batch)
- Providing guidance to Enterprise architecture in establishing standards and evaluate products and contribute to enterprise architecture initiatives
- Designing and leading the implementation of solutions across all business applications or technologies based on enterprise business strategy, business capabilities and business requirements
- Managing and developing the enterprise architecture for a broad scope of projects, working closely with solutions and application architects that manage and design architecture for a single project or initiative
- Providing consulting support to architects within projects to ensure the project is aligned with the proposed solution and overall enterprise architecture
- Monitoring the current-state solution portfolio to identify deficiencies through aging of the technologies used by the application, or misalignment with business requirements
- Understanding technology trends and practical application of existing, new, and emerging technologies (ex. AI, automation) to enable new and evolving business and operating models
- Analyzing the technology industry, competitors, and market trends, and determine their potential impact on the enterprise
What You’ll Bring to the Team:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
- 10+ years of software development experience as a solutions and enterprise architect, ideally within financial services or banking environments
- Experience in cloud architecture - preferably Azure
- Have in depth knowledge in integration patterns and expertise in developing RESTful APIs with a good understanding of microservices architecture
- Experience with modern core banking systems and awareness of fintech landscape.
- Excellent knowledge of enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman) and methodologies
- Extensive knowledge of software architecture, application development and technical processes with considerable in-depth knowledge in one or more technical disciplines e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, cloud computing, etc.
- Proficiency in evaluating and recommending emerging technologies and best practices
- Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders
- Intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and integrity, with a proven ability to evolve alongside new technologies and industry trends
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, paired with attention to detail and a commitment to delivering high-quality solutions
- Familiarity with software development methodologies, such as Agile or Scrum
You’ll Thrive Here If You Are:
- Big-picture systems thinker – you can translate complex business strategies into practical, scalable enterprise architectures.
- Trusted technical leader and collaborator – You guide architects, product owners, and developers toward sound, future-ready design decisions.
- Fluent in both business and technology – you are able to connect business drivers, capabilities, and outcomes to architectural choices.
- Energized by complexity and change – You have a genuine curiosity for emerging technologies like AI, automation, and modern cloud platforms.
We value lived experience, so if you are interested in this role, we encourage you to apply even if you feel your skills don't perfectly align with those listed.
What You’ll Earn:
This role offers a salary range of $163,300 to $202,000 per year. The base pay offered may vary depending on factors such as relevant qualifications, skills, previous experience, and internal equity. As part of our total rewards package, employees may also be eligible for our annual incentive program, subject to program eligibility requirements.
Why You’ll Love Working Here:
A career at Vancity is more than just a job, you’re joining a tradition of change-makers who are creating lasting change for our communities. Beyond base pay, we offer a comprehensive total rewards package to ensure our employees are empowered to thrive:
- Living Wage Employer: We’re the largest private-sector Living Wage Employer in Canada and consistently ranked among Canada’s Top Employers.
- Customizable Benefits: Permanent employees receive flexible benefit packages that can be tailored annually to meet evolving needs.
- Generous Vacation: New employees start with 3-4 weeks of vacation per year, with additional days earned over time.
- Extra Stat Holidays: In addition to BC’s 11 statutory holidays, we offer 2 extra days, plus care days for personal or family illness.
- Immediate Health Coverage: Health and dental benefits begin on your hire date, with three levels of coverage to choose from.
- Defined Benefit Pension: Our retirement plan provides a guaranteed income for life, recognizing that retirement looks different for everyone.
Vancity Talent Programs:
Vancity supports an inclusive hiring process for candidates who self-identify as Indigenous, Black, or Trans. With special permission from the BC Human Rights Commissioner, this initiative provides access to career development opportunities, prioritized job screening, and feedback. Any information you choose to share will be stored securely and used only for recruitment and career development connected to this initiative, in line with the BC Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). For details, please see our dedicated Talent Programs job posting.
This role is an open vacancy, and our hiring process is grounded in fairness, transparency, and inclusion. We are committed to an inclusive, barrier-free and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates. If you require any accommodations or support at any stage of the recruitment process (including the application stage), we encourage you to let us know by contacting our Talent Acquisition team at recruitment@vancity.com. We’re here to work with you to ensure your needs are met promptly and effectively. All requests will be handled with the utmost respect and confidentiality, so you can participate fully in the process.
