VP Chief Architect

At 2U we are all in on purpose. We are motivated by our mission to eliminate the back row in education and connected by our shared passion to deliver worldclass digital education at scale. As the parent company of edX the worlds leading online learning platform 2U powers more than 4000 online higher education offerings from free courses to full degrees. Together with more than 230 colleges universities and corporate partners we are helping to unlock human potential.

What Were Looking For:

The Chief Architect role provides the overall technology architecture strategy to support 2Us business vision and growth objectives. Reporting directly to the CTO this VPlevel position is responsible for defining the enterprisewide architectural framework standards and roadmap that will drive technological innovation across the organization.

The Chief Architect works closely with a team of domain architects and collaborates crossfunctionally with product engineering and business leaders to ensure our technology stack remains scalable secure and aligned with business goals. This role serves as the principal technical authority balancing cuttingedge solutions with pragmatic implementation approaches to support 2Us evolving business needs in the education technology space.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with learning management systems marketing technology modern data platforms the latest development frameworks and emerging AI capabilities to help drive our market growth platform consolidation and global technology workforce transformation initiatives.

Responsibilities Include But Are Not Limited To:

• Define and implement the enterprisewide architectural vision strategy and roadmap that aligns with and enables 2Us business objectives and digital transformation initiatives.
• Work closely with domain architects across various technology disciplines (application data infrastructure security integration) to execute on the strategy.
• Lead architectural oversight for major initiatives including platform consolidation across lines of business and technology solutions to grow market share.
• Partner with senior leadership to translate business strategy into architectural decisions that drive competitive advantage and operational excellence.
• Establish architecture governance processes review boards and standards to ensure consistency and quality across all technology initiatives.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends to identify opportunities for innovation and improved efficiency with particular focus on AI capabilities including LLMs RAG architectures and machine learning.
• Provide technical leadership in evaluating strategic vendor solutions partnerships integration opportunities & buy vs. build decisions
• Architect solutions that effectively leverage open source technologies while meeting enterprisegrade requirements for security scalability and performance.
• Drive the creation and maintenance of enterprise architecture documentation reference models and patterns for use across the organization.
• Lead technology standardization efforts across global teams to enable efficient collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Leverage technology capabilities across 2Us business segments to create bespoke solutions for corporate partners.
• Partner with InfoSec & SRE teams to design secure endtoend solutions evaluate threat surface area and develop mitigation plans aligned with best practices.

Things That Should Be In Your Background:

• Masters degree in Computer Science Information Technology or related field required.
• 15 years of progressive experience in technology with at least 8 years in architecture roles of increasing responsibility.
• Minimum 5 years of direct experience in education technology with deep understanding of learning management systems such as Moodle Canvas and Open edX.
• 5 years of experience in a senior architecture leadership role preferably in SaaS education technology or similarly complex environments.
• 5 years of experience working with cloud platforms (AWS Azure GCP) distributed systems architectures modern development frameworks and data platforms (particularly Snowflake).
• 3 years of experience in designing & delivering multitenant solutions with focus on data segregation & balancing isolation & costperformance implications.
• 3 years of experience working with Salesforce CRM including Apex custom development & enterprise integrations.
• Experience leading teams of senior technical architects.
• Demonstrable track record of successfully designing and implementing enterpriselevel architectural transformations.
• Proven expertise in evaluating adapting and deploying enterprisegrade solutions based on opensource software.
• Experience architecting solutions leveraging modern AI capabilities including LLMs Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) machine learning applications.
• Experience delivering AIpowered solutions for enterprise use cases such as content creation customer service & marketing automation.
• Strong understanding of marketing technology stacks including Google Search Ads 360 and Google Analytics.
• Prior experience working directly with Clevel executives and translating business strategy into technology architecture.

Other Attributes That Will Help You In This Role:

• Strategic thinking with the ability to balance longterm vision with practical implementation across global technology teams.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Deep understanding of the open source ecosystem and ability to evaluate the sustainability and enterprise readiness of open source projects.
• Experience driving platform consolidation while maintaining business continuity.
• Collaborative approach to problemsolving with a focus on business outcomes particularly market growth strategies.
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to provide clarity in rapidly evolving business environments.
• Passion for education technology and its potential to transform learning experiences at scale.
• Experience leading geographically distributed teams through significant technological change and transformation.
• Expertise in balancing innovation with standardization to create efficient scalable technology solutions.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to build credibility with senior leadership.

While this position is open to remote candidates across the U.S. we will prioritize those who live in the WashingtonBaltimore metropolitan area and who are available to come into our Headquarters in Arlington VA two days a week.

Benefits & Culture

Our global employee base is a diverse collection of innovators dreamers and doers working together to transform lives through higher education. We believe that every employee can advance our shared purpose and that life at 2U should be fun and meaningful. If youre excited by the opportunity to provide over 40 million learners and counting with access to worldclass online higher education then join us and do work that makes a difference. #NoBackRow

We offer comprehensive benefits (unique per country) and excellent work/life balance.
Fulltime include:

• Medical dental and vision coverage
• Life insurance disability and 401(k) employer match
• Free snacks and drinks inoffice
• Generous paid holidays and leave policies including unlimited PTO
• Additional time off benefits include: volunteer days parental leave and a companywide winter break

The anticipated base salary range for this role is ($240000 $285000) with potential bonus eligibility. Salary offers are made based on the candidates qualifications experience skills and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position budget for the position and cost of labor in the market in which the candidate will be hired.

2U Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At 2U we are committed to building and sustaining a culture of belonging respect and inclusion. We are proud of the steps weve taken to bring together an employee base that embodies diverse walks of life ideas genders ages races cultures sexual orientations abilities and other unique qualities. We strive to offer a workplace where every employee feels empowered by what makes us different as well as by how we are alike.

2U is committed to providing reasonable accommodations during our recruitment process. If you need assistance or accommodations please reach out to us at: .

About 2U LLC

For more than a decade 2U Inc. has been the digital transformation partner of choice to great nonprofit colleges and universities delivering highquality online education at scale. As the parent company of edX a leading global online learning platform 2U provides over 45 million learners with access to worldclass education in partnership with more than 230 colleges universities and corporations. Our people and technology are powering more than 4000 digital education offerings from free courses to full degrees and helping unlock human potential. To learn more: visit .

About edX

edX is the education movement for restless learners and a leading global online learning platform from 2U LLC. Together with the majority of the worlds topranked universities and industryleading companies we bring our community of over 45 million learners worldclass education to support them at every stage of their lives and careers from free courses to full degrees. And were not stopping there were relentlessly pursuing our vision of a world where every learner can access education to unlock their potential without the barriers of cost or location. Learn more at .

Learn more at
#NoBackRow

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by individuals assigned to this position and are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities duties and skills required. All employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time as needed.

2U is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against applicants or employees and ensures equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of their race creed color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity pregnancy national origin age marital status disability citizenship military or veterans status or any other classifications protected by applicable federal state or local laws. 2Us equal opportunity policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including but not limited to recruiting hiring training promotion job benefits and pay.