Jobs › Abbott

Head of Enterprise Architecture

Abbott · Madison, WI · $129,300–$258,700 a year · Full time

Posted Sep 11, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about an architecture standard you set that teams pushed back on. How did you handle it?

What they are checking: Whether they can hold a standard firmly while listening for the cases where the pushback is actually right.

Give me an example of a decision you made that traded short-term delivery speed for long-term scalability. Was it worth it?

What they are checking: Whether they can explain technical debt choices in business terms and own how they turned out.

How do you develop the architects on your team? What does growth look like for a senior architect?

What they are checking: Whether they invest in people and can describe growth beyond simply handing out bigger projects.

What would you do

You'll chair the Architecture Review Board. How do you run it so teams see it as useful and not as a gate they try to get around?

What they are checking: Whether they can make governance something teams value, since a resented review board just gets bypassed.

Abbott's Cancer Diagnostics business came together from an acquisition. How would you approach rationalizing two sets of platforms and tools?

What they are checking: Whether they can lead integration after a merger with a clear plan rather than forcing one side's tools on everyone.

A product team wants to adopt a new cloud service that isn't on the approved list, and they're on a tight deadline. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they can find a path that respects both the deadline and the standards without making an exception the new rule.

About the work

How would you describe the difference between solution, application and technology architecture, and how do you keep the three aligned?

What they are checking: Whether they understand the layers of enterprise architecture well enough to lead architects working at each one.

The systems behind cancer diagnostics have to run reliably. How do you design for availability when a lab's results depend on them?

What they are checking: Whether they connect architecture choices to patient impact, where downtime delays real test results.

How do you build security into architecture decisions for systems that hold patient data?

What they are checking: Whether security and privacy are part of their design thinking from the start, not a review step added at the end.

How do you keep an architecture roadmap current and make sure leadership understands why it matters?

What they are checking: Whether they can translate architecture into business priorities that senior leaders will fund and support.

How do you measure whether your architecture function is actually improving things?

What they are checking: Whether they track real results like reuse, incidents or delivery speed rather than counting documents produced.

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The full job description

As published by Abbott.

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 122,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. JOB DESCRIPTION: Position Overview Abbott Cancer Diagnostics is driven by a clear purpose: to help eradicate cancer by preventing it, detecting it earlier, and guiding personalized treatment. Delivering on that purpose at enterprise scale depends on a strong technology foundation, and we are seeking a Head of Enterprise Architecture (known internally as Sr Manager, Enterprise Architecture) to guide the software ecosystem that powers our cancer diagnostics. Reporting into the IT Software Engineering function, this leader sets the architectural vision, standards, and governance that keep our platforms scalable, secure, and positioned for future growth, ensuring the systems behind our diagnostics operate reliably and at the level of performance the business requires. The role leads and develops a team of architects, aligning solutions, application, and technology around common standards, disciplined decision-making, and continuous improvement. As chair of the Architecture Review Board, this leader brings rigor and consistency to the decisions that shape our technical direction and serves as a critical partner in the IT Program Intake process, helping stakeholders evaluate options, risks, and trade-offs to prioritize investment effectively. Working closely with business and IT leadership, the Head of Enterprise Architecture defines the future-state platform, establishes the roadmaps to achieve it, and embeds architectural thinking across product teams to advance modern patterns and standards. The ideal candidate brings substantial technical depth, typically 10+ years in IT and 5+ years in an architecture or engineering leadership role, along with the business acumen to connect technology decisions to measurable outcomes and the executive presence to advise senior leaders. Strong collaboration, influencing, and communication skills are essential in a matrixed, cross-functional environment. This is an opportunity to apply enterprise architecture leadership to work that matters, supporting a mission with meaningful impact for patients and the broader fight against cancer. Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. Essential Duties Include, but are not limited to, the following: • Establish the mission and vision of the Enterprise Architecture organization to foster a business-oriented culture and mindset driven by continual innovation and improvement techniques. • Develop and control the annual operating expenditure and capital expenditure budgets for Enterprise Architecture to ensure that it’s consistent with the overall strategic objectives of IT and the enterprise and remains within plan. • Build, guide and motivate the Enterprise Architecture organization through coaching and mentoring to become a creative, collaborative and business outcomes focused technology team. • Partner with business and IT leaders to make investment decisions that balance and prioritize current operational demands, disruptions, and opportunities with the longer-term strategic vision of the organization. • Define the future-state technology platform needed to support new business models and services and establish the strategic technology roadmaps. • Refine and extend communication plans for architecture at the enterprise level. • Instill architectural thinking into product teams and provide mentoring and guidance; challenge the status quo and promote modern technologies and architectural patterns. • Advise senior leaders on options, risks, costs versus benefits, system impacts, and technology priorities. • Grow the architecture community, bringing together solution/application/technology architects from the engineering teams, with the goal of knowledge sharing, technology standardization, decision making and continuous improvement. • Maintain a strong business acumen and ability to translate technology to potential business impacts. • Supervise staff; including, but not limited to, organize and prioritize work, write/conduct performance reviews, train/develop, and manage work performance. • Communicate goals clearly to employees to ensure understanding and success in achieving them. • Motivate and inspire employees to do their best work through coaching. • Maintain morale and support employee engagement initiatives. • Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills with strong customer focus and executive presence. • Demonstrate a high degree of cross-functional agility using outstanding influencing and interpersonal skills. • Demonstrate excellent organizational and follow up skills with strong attention to detail. • Uphold company mission and values through accountability, innovation, integrity, quality, and teamwork. • Support and comply with the company’s Quality Management System policies and procedures. • Maintain regular and reliable attendance. • Ability to act with an inclusion mindset and model these behaviors for the organization. • Ability and means to travel between local Abbott Cancer Diagnostics locations. • Ability to travel 15% of working time away from work location, may include overnight/weekend travel. Minimum Qualifications • Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, or field as outlined in the essential duties; or High School Diploma/General Education Diploma and 4 years of relevant experience as outlined in the essential duties in lieu of Bachelor’s degree. • 10+ years of information technology experience or with increasing levels of responsibility for delivering transformative technology solutions and business capabilities. • 5+ years of experience in an architecture role or equivalent (e.g. engineering leader). • Demonstrated ability to get to the essence of a new concepts quickly. • Demonstrated ability to perform the Essential Duties of the position with or without accommodation. • Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship. Preferred Qualifications • Advanced degree. • Experience delivering innovative technology solutions or business capabilities in the life sciences or pharma industries. • Experience in supply chain/logistics. • Experience in physician or patient customer experience initiatives. The base pay for this position is $129,300.00 – $258,700.00 In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted. JOB FAMILY: IT Services & Solutions Delivery DIVISION: ONCO Cancer Diagnostics LOCATION: United States > Madison : 1 Exact Lane ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS: WORK SHIFT: Standard TRAVEL: Yes, 15 % of the Time MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE: No SIGNIFICANT WORK ACTIVITIES: Continuous sitting for prolonged periods (more than 2 consecutive hours in an 8 hour day), Keyboard use (greater or equal to 50% of the workday) Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer of Minorities/Women/Individuals with Disabilities/Protected Veterans. EEO is the Law link - English: http://webstorage.abbott.com/common/External/EEO_English.pdf EEO is the Law link - Espanol: http://webstorage.abbott.com/common/External/EEO_Spanish.pdf

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