Jobs › Northern Trust

Solution Architect, Enterprise HR & Tech Tools

Northern Trust · Chicago, IL · $114,500–$194,700 a year · Full time

Posted Sep 8, 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 a time a pipeline you owned broke in production. What did you change afterward?

What they are checking: Ownership of reliability and a habit of adding monitoring and safeguards after failures.

Tell me about a time you influenced the architecture direction of a team you weren't leading.

What they are checking: Ability to contribute to platform modernization through evidence and persuasion.

What would you do

A business team gives you a vague request for a new report. How do you turn it into a production-ready data product?

What they are checking: Translating business needs into data requirements, definitions and quality checks before building.

An analyst says your numbers don't match their spreadsheet. How do you resolve it?

What they are checking: Patience and method in tracing data lineage and agreeing on definitions with users.

About the work

Walk me through a data pipeline you built with Azure Data Factory and Databricks, from source to a production data product.

What they are checking: Hands-on depth across ingestion, transformation, storage and serving on the Azure stack the posting names.

How do you organize data in Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 so it stays usable as it grows?

What they are checking: Thinking about zones, partitioning, naming, access control and formats like Delta for long-term health.

How do you tune a Spark job that is slow or running out of memory?

What they are checking: Practical knowledge of partitioning, shuffles, skew, caching and cluster sizing.

How do you secure sensitive Corporate Services data across Azure services?

What they are checking: Understanding managed identities, role-based access, encryption and masking in a regulated setting.

How do you build data quality checks into a pipeline so bad data doesn't reach reports?

What they are checking: Whether they treat validation, alerting and quarantine as part of the design, not an afterthought.

How do you apply software engineering practices like testing and CI/CD to data work?

What they are checking: Bringing version control, automated tests and deployment pipelines to data engineering.

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The full job description

As published by Northern Trust.

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. Position Summary Northern Trust is seeking an experienced and visionary Solution Architect to lead technology strategy, architecture, and transformation initiatives supporting our Human Resources and Workforce technology ecosystem. This role will play a critical part in advancing Northern Trust's HR Talent Transformation journey while providing architecture leadership across key Human Resources, Workplace Services, and Enterprise Technology platforms. This role serves as a strategic technology leader responsible for defining and executing the future-state architecture, application portfolio strategy, and multi-year technology roadmap that enable Northern Trust's HR transformation objectives. The Architect will partner with business leaders, product owners, architects, engineers, security teams, and vendors to ensure technology investments align with business priorities, enterprise standards, and long-term modernization goals. The successful candidate will combine solution architecture, portfolio management, technology strategy, and organizational leadership to drive innovation, simplify technology landscapes, and deliver scalable business capabilities across the enterprise. Key Responsibilities • Define and execute technology strategies and roadmaps supporting Northern Trust's HR Talent Transformation initiatives and workforce technology portfolio. • Lead architecture and technology direction for strategic HR Talent Transformation initiatives, including Workday and related workforce technology platforms. • Partner with business leaders, product owners, and technology teams to align technology investments with business priorities and enterprise objectives. • Drive application portfolio rationalization, modernization, and consolidation efforts to reduce complexity, improve user experience, and optimize costs. • Define and govern enterprise architecture standards, solution patterns, and technology principles across applications, integrations, data, AI, security, and cloud platforms. • Evaluate new technologies, vendors, and platforms, providing recommendations that support long-term strategic goals and operational excellence. • Lead architecture and technical governance activities for major initiatives, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards, risk requirements, and regulatory obligations. • Champion the adoption of shared capabilities, reusable services, automation, analytics, and AI-enabled solutions across the portfolio. • Serve as the primary architecture advisor for senior business and technology leaders, providing strategic guidance on investments, roadmaps, and technology decisions. • Provide technical leadership and mentorship across architects, engineers, consultants, and application owners while fostering innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Required Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline. • 10+ years of experience in solution architecture, enterprise architecture, technology consulting, or related technology leadership roles. • Experience developing technology roadmaps, architecture strategies, and modernization plans for enterprise applications. • Experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives involving multiple business and technology stakeholders. • Strong communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills. • Experience working with SaaS platforms, cloud technologies, integrations, and enterprise application ecosystems. • Demonstrated ability to influence technology and business decisions across senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders. Preferred Qualifications • Experience supporting Human Resources, Workplace Services, Corporate Functions, and other large-scale enterprise SaaS platforms within complex global organizations. • Experience leading application portfolio management, technology modernization, or large-scale SaaS transformation initiatives. • Experience with Workday, Microsoft technologies, cloud architectures, enterprise SaaS platforms, and data and analytics ecosystems. • Knowledge of AI technologies, intelligent automation, workforce analytics, and digital experience platforms. • Experience developing enterprise technology strategies, roadmaps, and architecture standards within complex organizations. • Experience within financial services or other highly regulated industries. Salary Range: $114,500 - 194,700 USD Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component. Work Authorization Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa). 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.

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