Architecture Manager - Hawthorn East
We’ve been proudly serving Australian communities since 1914 and have grown to become a top 30-listed company on the ASX with a portfolio of iconic homegrown brands. At the heart of our continued success is over 115,000 team members working across the country, all contributing to bringing our customers smiles. You’ll not only get to see your work make a difference, you’ll be part of a team working together to help Australians eat and live better every day.
About the team
Our Technology team is the backbone of the business, building and maintaining the information technology infrastructure that support Coles Group. As a part of the Technology team, you get the opportunity to work through complex, challenging, meaningful problems using large data sets and new technologies to expand your skills and experience.
About the role
The Architecture Manager for Customer Experience Technology is responsible to ensure the Architecture team deliver high‑quality, strategically aligned solutions across supermarkets, liquor, and group platforms. The role provides people leadership, architecture governance, and workforce planning to ensure the team operates as a high‑performing, engaged, and technically strong architecture function.
Working closely with the Group Domain Architect and partnering with Product, Delivery, Engineering, and Program teams, the Architecture Manager drives consistent application of architecture standards, patterns, and governance across initiatives. The role oversees architectural governance, technical debt management, and the evolution of reusable patterns, while maintaining strong stakeholder relationships to ensure architectural outcomes support strategic priorities and long‑term value.
The role ensures the Portfolio has the right architecture capability, capacity, skills, and governance to execute on its technology roadmap. It focuses on resource planning, effective workforce allocation, and uplifting delivery capability through mentoring, coaching, and embedding consistent principles and practices.
Experience
- At least 2 years of senior or managerial experience
- 10+ years of enterprise/domain/solution architecture experience within large, complex organisations
- Proven experience in a leadership role within a technology architecture or similar function
- Proven experience in designing end to end solutions in two or more of the Domains: Point of Sale (POS) solutions, eCommerce, Customer Order Management, Loyalty Programs, Payments, Digital Channels, Martech, Composable Architectures
- Leads with integrity, empathy, and accountability
- Builds capability and engagement through coaching, feedback, and empowerment
- Strong understanding of technology trends, architecture discipline, architecture frameworks and best practices
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills
- Proven track record in effective collaboration with various stakeholders, including executive leadership, to drive technology adoption
- Fosters collaboration and connection across domains and teams with Coles Group
- Demonstrated ability to manage and develop large high-performing teams
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
- By building a skilled, scalable, and future‑ready architecture workforce, the Architecture Manager enables successful delivery of initiatives that drive customer and business value across the Customer Experience Technology Portfolio
Key Responsibilities
People Leadership
- Lead and develop the team of Customer Experience Technology Architects, ensuring technical excellence and career growth
- Individually manage direct reports applying Coles P&C and performance frameworks, including performance evaluations, goal setting, and performance improvement plans for team members. Provide regular feedback and coaching to foster individual and team success
- Provide mentoring and feedback to build a high-performing architecture team
Workforce Planning
- Work alongside Product & Delivery in the planning & prioritisation of delivery components for Customer Experience portfolio in alignment with the roadmap
- Partner with Product, Delivery, Program, and Project leaders to plan and forecast workforce demand, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities
- Act as the primary engagement point, alongside the Group Domain Architect, for the Customer Experience Technology architecture team
- Oversee workforce allocation to optimise utilisation, capability, and engagement across delivery teams
- Attract, develop, and retain high-performing professionals to build sustainable delivery capability
- Uplift capability through targeted mentoring, coaching, and professional development initiatives
Architecture Leadership
- Lead and govern overall architecture delivery towards the defined Customer Experience Technology target state
- Consultation on Strategy, Roadmaps & Blueprints with the Group Domain Architect
- Develop and embed Customer Experience architecture principles within the Portfolio’s architecture practice
- Overseeing the “day to day” running of inflight initiatives, getting regular updates from the architects and providing support to the team where required
- Develop and publish dashboards and reports to communicate key dimensions of architecture team performance and demand
Architecture Practice Development
- Maintain and uphold the Customer Experience Architecture practice by embedding patterns, principles, guardrails and governance into delivery
- Maintain a comprehensive repository of architectural deliverables, including reference architectures, methodologies, and guidelines
- Develop processes for the optimised assessment of Customer Experience use cases that promote accelerated realisation of sustainable value
- Coach and mentor team members to uplift capability and delivery excellence
- Foster a culture aligned with organisational values and ways of working
- Collaborate with broader Customer Experience teams in Business and Technology to lift awareness of Customer Experience architecture principles, standards, and patterns
- Contribute and collaborate in practice knowledge uplift through structured and ad hoc learning and team development
Architecture Delivery Governance
- Accountable for the effective and efficient running of the Customer Experience Technology Architecture governance function including but not limited to the following tasks:
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- Triaging of all topics for all forums
- Agenda prep and distributing
- Minutes and output
- Communication of outcomes
- Responsible for the continual uplift and development of governance, aligning and working with Enterprise Technology
- Responsible for the management and reporting on Tech debt
- Work with Product, Heads of Tech and Engineering to actively reduce technical debt, ensuring the continual evolution of our technology landscape
- Responsible for the monitoring and reporting of the Customer Experience Inventory completeness within LeanIX
- Support the team to ensure solutions are inline with enterprise, technology, and Customer Experience architecture principles, standards, and pattern libraries
- Support the team to define new patterns in response to novel needs or emergent best practice and capability, enabling efficient reuse of architecture and design
- Define best practice examples of Customer Experience architecture governance to guide execution
What's in it for you?
- Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.
- Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.
- Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hotdeals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.
- Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks’. You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.
- Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.
- Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.
- Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.
About the recruitment process
We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.
We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email inclusionrecruitment@coles.com.au
Job ID: 183961
Employment Type: Full time
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