Head of Architecture- Spain

Employer:             DWS Group

Title:                      Head of Architecture- Spain

Location:               Madrid

About DWS:

Today, markets face a whole new set of pressures – but also a whole lot of opportunity too. Opportunity to innovate differently. Opportunity to invest responsibly. And opportunity to make change.

Join us at DWS, and you can be part of an industry-leading firm with a global presence. You can lead ambitious opportunities and shape the future of investing. You can support our clients, local communities, and the environment.

We’re looking for creative thinkers and innovators to join us as the world continues to transform. As whole markets change, one thing remains clear; our people always work together to capture the opportunities of tomorrow.

As investors on behalf of our clients, it is our role to find investment solutions. Ensuring the best possible foundation for our clients’ financial future. And in return, we’ll give you the support and platform to develop new skills, make an impact and work alongside some of the industry’s greatest thought leaders. This is your chance to achieve your goals and lead an extraordinary career.

This is your chance to invest in your future.

Read more about DWS and who we are here.

Team / division overview

In Solution & Data Architecture we focus on shaping architecture relevant patterns and guidelines and support delivery teams implementing their solutions aligned to these standards. We closely work together with Domain Architects, Security SMEs, Data SMEs and Delivery Teams to assure overall strategic and policy adherence of any solution we deliver into the organization. As such the team supports working closely with delivery teams to derive any functional and non-functional requirements and define the overall solution. This includes working with data architects to derive the best data strategy (ingest, transform, consume) as well as building services and applications on top. Solution architects also contribute to the strategic patterns, opinionated decision trees and do research and development with new technologies to help continuously improve the overall architecture and landscape of the organization.

Your responsibilities –

As our Head of Architecture- Spain you will:

• Build and lead the Spain architecture capability, growing the local team through clear priorities, coaching, succession planning, and targeted hiring.
• Serve as DWS’s senior architecture representative in Spain and a strategic peer to the CTO and CDO functions, shaping technology and data strategy, investment priorities, and transformation outcomes while providing independent challenge.
• Guide technology delivery in Spain from strategy through implementation, working with engineering and delivery teams to turn architecture into executable plans, remove impediments, and achieve measurable outcomes while contributing to global initiatives.
• Provide end-to-end leadership across enterprise, domain, solution, data, and technology architecture, defining coherent target architectures and transition roadmaps.
• Translate business strategy, client needs, market opportunities, and regulatory requirements into scalable, reusable capabilities that improve client outcomes and enable future business models.
• Drive the DWS architecture transformation, challenging established approaches and turning emerging technologies and target-state ambition into step-change improvements in simplification, modernization, scalability, resilience, and delivery effectiveness.
• Advance cloud and data architecture, particularly Snowflake and Google Cloud Platform, and establish proportionate, AI-enabled governance for secure, compliant, high-quality delivery.

We are looking for:

• Substantial senior architecture and people leadership experience in financial services, asset management, banking, or another highly regulated industry.
• Proven experience leading or materially contributing to end-to-end IT delivery, from strategy and design through engineering, implementation, and measurable business outcomes, with a pragmatic approach grounded in delivery reality.
• Broad, credible expertise across enterprise, domain, solution, data, and technology architecture, connecting strategy to implementable designs and platforms.
• Proven experience defining target architectures, transition roadmaps, principles, standards, patterns, and governance mechanisms.
• Strong knowledge of modern application, integration, platform, cloud, and data architecture, including distributed systems, APIs, event-driven architecture, and cloud-native design.
• Preferred architecture experience with Snowflake and Google Cloud Platform, and experience applying AI and automation to architecture governance or design assurance.
• Strong understanding of technology risk, cybersecurity, operational resilience, data governance, and financial-services regulatory expectations.
• Excellent executive communication, stakeholder management, influencing, and decision-making skills, with a pragmatic, outcome-oriented leadership style and confidence to challenge constructively.
• Experience with TOGAF or a comparable framework; relevant architecture or cloud certifications are advantageous
• Fluent in English and Spanish, written and spoken
• Proven ability to leverage AI tools to enhance productivity, optimise workflows to solve business problems, while applying critical judgment to ensure responsible and ethical use of data and AI outputs.

What we’ll offer you:

At DWS we’re serious about diversity, equity and creating an inclusive culture where colleagues can be themselves and it’s important to us that you enjoy coming to work - feeling healthy, happy and rewarded. At DWS, you’ll have access to a range of benefits which you can choose from to create a personalised plan unique to your lifestyle. Whether you’re interested in healthcare, company perks, or are thinking about your retirement plan, there’s something for everyone.

DWS’ Hybrid Working model is designed to find the right balance between in-person collaboration and engagement in the office, which is core to our working culture, and working from home. Each business group varies on the split between time spent in the office and at home, but this will be discussed and made clear as part of your application and interview process. We will continue to review and evolve our working environments and methods to ensure that we are working in the best way possible for our people.

If you require any adjustments or changes to be made to the interview process for any reason including, or related to a disability or long-term health condition, then please contact your recruiter and let them know what assistance you may need. Examples of adjustments include providing a change to the format of the interview, or providing assistance when at the DWS office. This will not affect your application and your recruitment team will discuss options with you

We at DWS are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, one that embraces dialogue and diverse views, and treats everyone fairly to drive a high-performance culture. The value we create for our clients and investors is based on our ability to bring together various perspectives from all over the world and from different backgrounds. It is our experience that teams perform better and deliver improved outcomes when they are able to incorporate a wide range of perspectives. We call this #ConnectingTheDots.