HVW is in a decisive transformation phase. We are looking for a highly senior profile who can both establish the enterprise architecture and ensure the coherent execution of strategic programs. You connect long-term architecture with short-term realization, lead the roadmap across multiple projects, and increase the maturity of teams. In a compact government environment where people wear multiple hats, you make the difference through clear governance, strong coaching, and tangible results.

The Senior Enterprise Architect & Program Manager is responsible for:

• Defining, evaluating, and implementing an enterprise architecture that supports the organization in the long term.
• Creating and monitoring a roadmap for strategic projects, including dependencies, priorities, and resource planning.
• Increasing organizational maturity (architecture, business analysis, portfolio/project management) through coaching and governance.
• Advising the executive committee on the impact of choices and guiding the organization through change.

HVW is a smaller government organization with limited but highly committed teams. Employees often combine multiple roles. At the same time, HVW is temporarily gaining extra capacity to realize several essential projects.

The challenge for this role:

• Organize knowledge transfer and coaching so that temporary reinforcement quickly delivers results and knowledge is secured internally.
• Set up pragmatic governance suitable for a smaller organization (lightweight, clear, sustained).
• Safeguard roadmap coherence based on architectural principles, dependencies, and priorities.
• Build in quality assurance without losing speed and hands-on mentality.

Key Tasks:

Architecture Development

• Develop and maintain the enterprise architecture.
• Align with ICT architects and business stakeholders to ensure consistency and integration, both with application architecture, data architecture, and technical architecture.

Program and Roadmap Management

• Develop an integrated roadmap for projects that realize architectural objectives.
• Monitor dependencies, risks, and budgets.

Change & Maturity

• Train and coach internal teams in business architecture, analysis, portfolio, and project management.
• Create support for change and increase maturity within the organization.

Governance & Quality Assurance

• Implement governance processes and quality standards.
• Monitor architectural compliance in projects with the ability to make conscious trade-offs.
• Report to management on progress, risks, and strategic choices.

Stakeholder Management

• Advise executive/management; clear trade-off communication and decision preparation.
• Align with external partners/suppliers; contractual and technical alignment.

Profile & Criteria

Candidates must demonstrate to what extent they meet the following strict requirements:

Extensive Experience in Similar Contexts

• At least 15 years of relevant experience, of which at least 8 years in a role as Enterprise Architect or Program Manager in a complex organization (preferably government or regulated sector).

Enterprise Architecture Expertise

• In-depth knowledge of architectural principles and frameworks (TOGAF, …).
• Experience in creating reference models and governance frameworks.

Program and Portfolio Management

• At least 10 years of experience leading programs with multiple projects and dependencies.
• Experience with methodologies such as PRINCE2, Agile, …

Change Management & Coaching

• Demonstrable experience (min. 10 years) in guiding organizations through complex transformations.

Communication & Stakeholder Management

• Strong analytical and communication skills, including experience in advising executive and management.

Language Skills

• Fluent trilingual: Dutch, French, and English (spoken and written).

Academic Background

• Master's degree (preferably in computer science, engineering, business administration, or equivalent).

Certifications

• Relevant certifications such as TOGAF.

Collaboration with ICT & Business-ICT Bridge Function

At least 10 years of experience in intensive collaboration with/within ICT departments, demonstrating extensive knowledge of, among other things:

• Core ICT concepts & lifecycle insight.
• Impact on ICT of certain choices in the long term, for both Development and Operations.
• Demonstrable mastery of concepts such as SDLC, DevOps, non-functionals (performance, availability, security, privacy), cloud patterns (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS), API architecture and integration patterns (sync/async, event driven, messaging), data lifecycles (quality, DWH).
• Feasibility & workload estimation.
• Experience with high-level sizing and analyses (scenarios, complexity drivers, dependencies, critical paths) in collaboration with ICT teams.
• Track record in translating ideas into deliverable increments (MVP/MMF), with realistic effort and lead time estimation.
• Architecture & application landscape impact.
• Change and release policy.

Candidate Assignment

The candidate adds a short text describing how he/she would approach the assignment at HVW. Possible ideas that can be elaborated:

• Approach & Phases
• Core Principles
• Priorities
• Style & Collaboration
• Roadmap & Governance
• Knowledge Transfer
• Risks & Mitigation

To be delivered with application

• CV (max. 3-4 pages) with relevant projects and results.
• Candidate assignment (max. 1,000 words, see above).
• References (minimum 2) that substantiate the hard criteria.

Contract and Terms

• Duration: 6-12 months (possibility of extension).
• Commitment: preferably 4-5 days/week.
• Start: as soon as possible.
• Working method: hybrid; presence at key moments (steering groups, workshops, reviews).
• Reporting: to Director who is also responsible for the PMO.