Job Description
Wells Fargo one of the world's leading financial institutions is seeking a Principal Architect to help shape and lead the next generation of Compliance Risk Technology architecture across the enterprise.
In this highly visible role you will provide architectural leadership and technical direction for modernization initiatives across Employee Compliance Regulatory Compliance Surveillance and the broader Compliance Risk landscape. These platforms are central to the firm's regulatory commitments and operational integrity and the architectural decisions made in this role will have impact across the enterprise.
You will partner closely with senior leaders across business risk and technology serving as a trusted advisor on architectural direction and long term strategy. You will translate complex regulatory and business requirements into clear defensible technology approaches while guiding how data analytics artificial intelligence and intelligent automation are thoughtfully and responsibly integrated into Compliance Risk operations at scale.
This role is well suited for a seasoned architect with deep experience in regulated environments a demonstrated ability to modernize complex technology ecosystems and the judgment to balance immediate regulatory needs with long range platform evolution that delivers lasting value to the organization.
In this role you will:
- Act as the architectural authority for Compliance Risk Technology defining and driving a cohesive target-state architecture across a complex landscape of legacy platforms vendor solutions and custom-built systems
- Provide architectural leadership for modernization and transformation initiatives ensuring solutions remain regulator-ready auditable and defensible
- Translate regulatory requirements and business objectives into clear actionable architectural designs and multi-year technology roadmaps
- Design and govern enterprise-scale application and microservices architectures aligned to Compliance Risk domains including surveillance investigations attestations issues management and regulatory change
- Define API-first contract-driven and event-driven integration patterns supporting near-real-time monitoring and alerting capabilities
- Architect modern data platforms that enable compliance analytics reporting lineage and auditability including object-storage-based data lake and lakehouse patterns
- Integrate structured and unstructured data into unified compliance data assets that support traceability reproducibility and evidentiary requirements
- Design and guide the implementation of AI-enabled architectures including ML-based risk scoring alert prioritization anomaly detection and NLP-driven regulatory and case analysis
- Architect intelligent and agentic automation solutions with appropriate human-in-the-loop controls aligned with Responsible AI and Model Risk Management expectations
- Establish architecture standards reference architectures and guardrails across application data AI integration security resiliency and privacy domains
- Engage directly with delivery teams by reviewing designs guiding implementation decisions and resolving complex architectural trade-offs
- Partner with leaders across Technology Risk Legal and Compliance to influence investment decisions platform consolidation efforts and long-term technology roadmaps
- Maintain awareness of emerging technologies industry best practices and regulatory trends recommending innovations that enhance operational effectiveness and compliance outcomes
- 7+ years of architecture experience or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience training military experience education
- 7+ years of experience as a Principal Lead or Enterprise Architect (or equivalent senior engineering leadership role)
- 7+ years of experience in Compliance Regulatory Surveillance Employee Compliance or Risk Management Technology architecture
- 5+ years of experience with microservices and domain-driven architecture approaches
- 5+ years of experience architecting modern data platforms including object storage and open technologies
- 5+ years of experience designing API-first and event-driven integration patterns
- 3+ years of experience designing and delivering AI/ML and NLP-based solutions in regulated compliance risk or financial environments
- Ability to operate with executive presence while remaining hands-on where it matters
- Comfort navigating complex legacy environments and regulatory constraints
- Bias toward simplification reuse and platform-based thinking
- Willingness to challenge legacy patterns to drive durable compliant long-term outcomes
- Proven ability to synthesize complex ecosystems into rationalized target-state architectures
- Demonstrated success modernizing large fragmented technology estates into integrated platforms
- Hands-on exposure to agentic frameworks orchestration engines or workflow-driven AI systems
- Experience supporting regulatory remediation programs consent orders or sustained examination cycles
- Experience architecting platforms across first-line second-line and audit use cases
- Strong understanding of enterprise data governance and model risk management frameworks
- Strong communication skills with the ability to influence engineers risk partners and executive stakeholders
- Ability to work onsite at one of the posted locations
- Willingness to travel up to 10% of the time
- Partner with senior technical and business leaders to drive modernization simplification and target-state strategies including detailed hands-on architectures and prototypes
Reflected is the base pay range offered for this position. Pay may vary depending on factors including but not limited to demonstrated examples of prior performance skills experience or work location. Employees may also be eligible for incentive opportunities.
$159000.00 - $305000.00
Benefits
Wells Fargo provides eligible employees with a comprehensive set of benefits many of which are listed below. Visit Benefits - Wells Fargo Jobs for an overview of the following benefit plans and programs offered to employees.
- Health benefits
- 401(k) Plan
- Paid time off
- Disability benefits
- Life insurance critical illness insurance and accident insurance
- Parental leave
- Critical caregiving leave
- Discounts and savings
- Commuter benefits
- Tuition reimbursement
- Scholarships for dependent children
- Adoption reimbursement
2 May 2026
* Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
We Value Equal Opportunity
Wells Fargo is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability status as a protected veteran or any other legally protected characteristic.
Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit Market Financial Crimes Operational Regulatory Compliance) which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring governance risk identification and escalation as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business unit's risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements.
Applicants with Disabilities
To request a medical accommodation during the application or interview process visit Disability Inclusion at Wells Fargo .
Drug and Alcohol Policy
Wells Fargo maintains a drug free workplace. Please see our Drug and Alcohol Policy to learn more.
Wells Fargo Recruitment and Hiring Requirements:
a. Third-Party recordings are prohibited unless authorized by Wells Fargo.
b. Wells Fargo requires you to directly represent your own experiences during the recruiting and hiring process.
Top Skills
What We Do
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $2.1 trillion in assets. We provide a diversified set of banking investment and mortgage products and services as well as consumer and commercial finance through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending Commercial Banking Corporate and Investment Banking and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 33 on Fortune’s 2025 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Our technology professionals drive innovation information security and big data analytics while maintaining a network that handles more than 12 billion customer interactions a year. Join us! Are you looking for more? Find it here. At Wells Fargo we're more than a financial services leader – we’re a global trailblazer committed to driving innovation empowering communities and helping our customers succeed. We believe that a meaningful career is much more than just a job – it’s about finding all of the elements to help you thrive in one place. Living the Well Life means you’re supported in life not just work. It means having robust benefits competitive compensation and programs designed to help you find work-life balance and well-being. You’ll be rewarded for investing in your community celebrated for being your authentic self and empowered to grow. And we’re recognized for it – Wells Fargo once again ranked in the top three – making us the #1 financial services employer – on the 2025 LinkedIn Top Companies list of best workplaces “to grow your career” in the U.S. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability status as a protected veteran or any other legally protected characteristic. © 2026 Wells Fargo Bank N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC.
Why Work With Us
We're known for our “Well Life” approach to supporting employees’ career aspirations work-life balance and mental and physical health. We ranked in the top 3 on the 2025 LinkedIn Top Companies list – and #1 among financial services companies – as the best workplace “to grow your career” in the U.S.
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Date Posted
04/27/2026
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