Principal Architect - Intelligent Automation

About the context

The Principal Architect - Intelligent Automation drives the strategic technology roadmap and high-level design for Intelligent Automation (Low Code, Digital Automation, Conversational AI and Agentic AI) within the global corporate domains. In addition, they will play a key role in animating the global community of Intelligent Automation practitioners, to encourage collaboration, cooperation and innovation.

The role will act as a trusted technology advisor to the corporate business domains (i.e. Finance, HR, Legal and ESG), working with them to determine the most appropriate strategic technology landscape to fulfil current and future digital transformation demands. They will operate and continuously enhance the standards and governance frameworks for professional solution delivery activities related to Intelligent Automation, as well as providing advice on best practices to the burgeoning citizen development community.

Additionally, the role will be responsible for driving technological innovation in Intelligent Automation, identifying opportunities for new and advanced utilisation of the existing tools - including emerging paradigms such as Agentic AI and Vibe Coding - as well as evaluation of additional best-in-class technology capabilities from the market.

As the senior technical authority within the Global Intelligent Automation team, this role serves as the ultimate point of escalation for all technical issues across the entities supported.

Your role @ Chanel

Enterprise Architecture & Roadmap Development

• Work with global IT and business domain stakeholders to identify Intelligent Automation technology requirements to fulfil current and future opportunities for process improvement and digital transformation
• Develop and maintain medium- and long-term technology roadmap for Intelligent Automation, encompassing:
  • Low Code Application Platforms (LCAP)
  • Digital Process Automation (DPA) & Workflow Orchestration
  • Conversational Interfaces (chatbots, virtual assistants, copilots)
  • Cognitive Capture & Computer Vision
  • Intelligent Decisions & Automated Machine Learning
  • Generative AI & Large Language Models (LLMs)
  • Agentic AI (multi-agent orchestration, autonomous workflows, agent-to-agent protocols)
  • Vibe Coding & AI-Assisted Development
• Work with strategic technology partners - including Microsoft (Power Platform, Azure) - to understand their product roadmaps, communicate key developments internally and align with the Chanel roadmap
• Collaborate with wider Enterprise Architecture community across regions and divisions to maintain alignment to emerging standards and manage dependencies
• Collaborate with Information Security, Privacy and Data Governance teams to ensure alignment and compliance of roadmap to global standards, with particular focus on responsible AI principles, AI governance frameworks and agent guardrails
• Manage the risk of the Intelligent Automation technology portfolio, including identification and remediation of any misalignment to requirements and standards
• Conduct market & vendor assessments for new technology capabilities identified as required to fulfil business requirements, including evaluation of emerging vibe coding platforms and agentic AI tooling

Solution Architecture

• Operate and continuously enhance the framework for Intelligent Automation Solution Architecture, enabling the delivery of robust and compliant high-level solution designs covering business, data, application & technology domains
• Define and maintain architecture patterns and reference architectures for Agentic AI solutions, leveraging Azure AI Foundry as the pro-code platform - including multi-agent orchestration, tool integration (MCP, A2A, OpenAPI), agent memory, and enterprise knowledge grounding (RAG)
• Assess opportunities for Intelligent Automation based on technical feasibility and business value, to enable prioritisation of the backlog
• Evaluate opportunities against alternative internal solution options (e.g. direct integration, other enterprise application functionality, agentic AI vs. traditional automation) to ensure that the most appropriate solution approach is selected
• Define the appropriate use of vibe coding within the Intelligent Automation landscape, establishing guardrails for its enterprise adoption - including code quality standards, security scanning, and governance protocols - to balance rapid prototyping with production readiness
• Oversee project architecture & design teams to ensure quality and compliance
• Monitor & govern the delivery lifecycle for Intelligent Automation, to ensure that solutions are built as designed

Global Collaboration Framework & Governance

• Operate and continuously enhance the Global Intelligent Automation collaboration framework, leading on technology design, build and run elements across the entities supported
• Act as the ultimate point of technical escalation within the Global Intelligent Automation run model, ensuring rapid diagnosis and resolution of complex technical issues across all supported entities
• Operate and enhance the defined operating model, including roles & responsibilities for Citizen & Professional Development across the suite of Intelligent Automation technologies
• Chair solution/technical design authorities as defined within the operating model, ensuring architectural consistency and standards compliance across all entities
• Define and monitor SLAs, operational KPIs, and continuous improvement initiatives for the Intelligent Automation estate

Innovation

• Understand emerging technology trends and disruptions - particularly in Agentic AI, multi-agent systems, and AI-assisted development - and their practical application to enable new and evolving business and operating models; determine their potential implications
• Lead the evaluation and controlled adoption of vibe coding approaches, assessing tools and platforms for suitability within the enterprise context, balancing innovation velocity with security, maintainability and governance requirements
• Explore agentic AI design patterns, including autonomous workflow execution, human-in-the-loop orchestration, and self-learning agent capabilities, to identify high-value use cases for the corporate domains
• Develop and run proof-of-concept initiatives to demonstrate value of potential new & innovative solutions to business stakeholders

Delivery Management

• Manage portfolio of 3rd party vendors and consultants to deliver Intelligent Automation solutions end to end
• Manage and communicate key business & technical dependencies between projects
• Act as point of escalation for project risks and issues related to the technical solution
• Operate and enhance agile ways of working and reporting mechanisms to ensure that a sustainable and scalable delivery framework is in place

You are energized by…

• Working in a highly collaborative environment
• Navigating multi-cultural environments and a broad scope
• Understanding business problems and designing efficient & innovative solutions to solve them
• Guiding business teams to identify transformation opportunities
• Solving technical challenges and building solutions at the intersection of traditional automation and AI
• Staying at the forefront of rapidly evolving AI technologies and translating them into practical enterprise value
• Getting the job done

What you can bring to the team…

• Process-driven and pragmatic approach to supporting the business
• Understanding of the business domains and their core business processes (e.g. Finance, HR, Legal, ESG)
• Tools and methodologies to industrialise solution & process design (lean, problem-solving approaches, design thinking) and to propose measurable action plans
• Project management and prioritisation skills
• Ability to connect with the business teams to ensure alignment with technology initiatives
• Ability to drive team-wide initiatives and high accountability for results
• A forward-looking mindset that balances innovation with enterprise governance and operational excellence
• Energy, enthusiasm and critical thinking to do things better

Requirements

Education

• Undergraduate Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field

Work Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of IT experience with at least 5 years hands-on experience in end-to-end solutions architecture and delivery, with successful implementation references
• A minimum of 5 years of exposure to Intelligent Automation (i.e. Low Code, Digital Automation, Conversational AI and AI)
• Demonstrable experience with AI and/or Agentic AI technologies, including design or delivery of solutions leveraging large language models, AI agents, or multi-agent architectures
• Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies, platforms, and processing environments
• Experience in an international context and culture
• Experience in consumer goods, retail, hospitality or luxury retail is an advantage

Functional / Technical Expertise

• Deep understanding of business processes: A comprehensive understanding of business processes to design automation solutions that can improve efficiency and productivity

• Knowledge of Automation Tools: Extensive knowledge of intelligent automation tools such as Low Code Application Platforms (LCAP), Digital Process Automation (DPA), Conversational AI, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Agentic AI & Multi-Agent Systems: Understanding of agentic AI concepts including autonomous agent design, multi-agent orchestration, agent-to-agent (A2A) protocols, Model Context Protocol (MCP), tool use, agent memory, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and human-in-the-loop patterns
• Azure AI Foundry: Knowledge and experience of Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry platform (formerly Azure AI Studio), including Foundry Agent Service, model catalog, agent observability, and enterprise governance capabilities
• Vibe Coding & AI-Assisted Development: Awareness of the emerging vibe coding paradigm and enterprise AI-assisted development tools (e.g. Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot), with the ability to evaluate their applicability, risks, and governance requirements in an enterprise context
• Project Management Skills: Ability to plan, manage, and deliver intelligent automation projects within agreed timeframes and budgets
• Solution Design: Ability to design comprehensive automation solutions that meet business requirements and deliver value, spanning both traditional automation and AI-powered approaches
• Change Management: Experience in managing change in complex business environments to ensure smooth transition and adoption of new automation solutions
• Communication Skills: Ability to effectively communicate the benefits, challenges, and impacts of automation and AI to stakeholders at all levels
• Programming Skills: Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Java, or C# is essential to design and implement automation solutions, with Python being particularly relevant for AI/ML workloads
• Microsoft Power Platform: Knowledge and experience of Microsoft Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, Power BI, Power Pages) is required
• Machine Learning and AI: Knowledge of ML and AI algorithms, large language models (LLMs), prompt engineering, and AI evaluation/testing methodologies to design intelligent automation solutions
• Database Management: Understanding of database management systems and SQL to manage, retrieve, and store data effectively
• Cloud Computing: Familiarity with cloud platforms, particularly Microsoft Azure, to deploy and manage automation and AI solutions - including Azure AI services, Azure OpenAI Service, and Azure AI Search
• System Integration: Skills in integrating different systems and applications through APIs, web services, MCP servers, or other methods
• Service Management: Understanding and knowledge of IT service management (ITSM) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), with experience operating a run model across multiple entities
• Cybersecurity & Responsible AI: Understanding of cybersecurity principles, AI safety, responsible AI frameworks, and data privacy requirements to ensure automation and AI solutions are secure, trustworthy, and compliant

Lines of report

You will report to the Head of Technology & Operations.

At Chanel, we are focused on creating an inclusive culture that nurtures personal growth, contributing to collective progress. We believe the uniqueness of each individual increases the diversity, complementarity and effectiveness of our teams. We strongly encourage your application, as we value the perspective, experience and potential you could bring to Chanel.