Principal Architect, Service Now

About Northern Trust
As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.
Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.
With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.
Platform Architect, ServiceNow Platform
Job Description
Position Summary
We are seeking an experienced Platform Architect for ServiceNow to lead complex, cross-functional technology programs within the Corporate Applications Technology business unit under Global Engineering, specifically driving the ServiceNow platform capabilities. This role will be responsible for the overall technical vision, architecture, and integrity of our ServiceNow platform. This role will work closely with Lead ServiceNow Platform Architect, IT leadership, business stakeholders, and engineering teams to ensure our ServiceNow instance is reliable, secure, scalable, and aligned with business objectives. You will set technical standards, lead platform governance, and design solutions that meet complex business requirements while maintaining compliance with industry regulations.
Experience Range: 15+ years Role Level: Principal, Arch Solutions
Responsibilities
Platform Architecture & Strategy
Define and evolve the ServiceNow platform architecture with the Lead ServiceNow Platform Architect, aligning technical decisions with enterprise architecture, technology strategy, and business objectives.
Translate complex requirements into secure, scalable, and maintainable solutions, establishing reusable architectural patterns across applications, data, integrations, security, and automation.
Provide architectural guidance across ITSM, ITOM, ITAM, IRM, SecOps, HRSD, DevOps, and custom applications.
Platform Modernization & Innovation
Evaluate new ServiceNow releases, features, products, and capabilities, recommending adoption based on business value, architectural fit, and risk.
Provide architectural leadership for platform upgrades and modernization, increasing adoption of strategic and native capabilities while reducing legacy customization.
Stay current with ServiceNow innovation and industry trends, contributing to the platform technology roadmap and its ongoing evolution.
Architecture Governance & Engineering Standards
Define and enforce architecture principles, technical standards, design patterns, and engineering guardrails through architecture and design reviews.
Champion configuration-first and out-of-the-box approaches, reducing unnecessary customization, technical debt, complexity, and architectural risk.
Promote consistent engineering practices and provide architectural guidance to internal teams and implementation partners.
Solution & Integration Architecture
Design ServiceNow solutions for complex business requirements while maintaining platform integrity, scalability, security, performance, and maintainability.
Define architecture for enterprise integrations, APIs, MID Servers, data flows, and automation, establishing reusable patterns that improve consistency and accelerate delivery.
Security, Risk & Compliance
Partner with Information Security, Risk, Privacy, and Compliance teams to embed security, privacy, resiliency, auditability, and regulatory requirements into platform architecture.
Assess security and architectural implications of new applications, integrations, plugins, and capabilities, ensuring alignment with enterprise technology and security standards.
Reliability, Scalability & Performance
Ensure platform architecture supports enterprise requirements for availability, reliability, scalability, performance, and recoverability.
Provide architectural direction for complex platform, integration, and performance challenges.
Partner with engineering and operations teams to continuously improve platform health, resilience, and maintainability.
Technical Leadership & Collaboration
Serve as a trusted technical advisor, working closely with the Lead ServiceNow Platform Architect and Platform Engineering Leads to maintain a cohesive enterprise-wide architectural direction.
Collaborate across Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, Infrastructure, Product Management, Engineering, and business teams.
Guide technical teams and clearly communicate architecture decisions, options, risks, and trade-offs to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Business, or a related field.
15+ years of IT experience, including significant ServiceNow architecture, engineering, or solution design experience.
5+ years as a ServiceNow Architect in a large enterprise environment.
Strong knowledge of ServiceNow architecture, configuration, application development, integrations, data, and security.
Experience with REST/SOAP APIs, MID Servers, and enterprise integrations.
Experience establishing architecture standards, design patterns, governance, and engineering guardrails.
Strong understanding of ITSM/ITIL, security, privacy, risk, and enterprise technology practices.
Ability to translate complex business needs into pragmatic, scalable technical solutions.
Strong communication and influencing skills across technology and business stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in financial services or another highly regulated industry.
Experience across ServiceNow products such as ITSM, ITOM, ITAM, IRM, SecOps, HRSD, and DevOps.
Experience with enterprise-scale ServiceNow modernization or transformation.
ServiceNow CSA certification; CIS, CAD, or CTA certifications preferred.
Working with Us
As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.
Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.
Reasonable Accommodation
Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com, or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.