Director of Architecture, Advisory Technology, Chicago, Illinois, USA / Dallas, Texas, USA / New York, New York, USA

Job Title

Director of Architecture, Advisory Technology

Job Description Summary

Cushman & Wakefield is hiring a Director of Advisory Architecture to lead architecture for its advisory business, improve the tools and processes that speed up development, and champion forward deployed engineering (FDE). The Director is an architect first, and the role has three parts: sound architecture for advisory solutions, ongoing optimization of development tools and processes (including accelerators such as AI Studio), and championing the FDE model of embedded, prototype-first delivery.

Job Description

The role combines deep solution and cloud architecture, including platforms such as Salesforce, with hands-on experience in agentic architecting and rapid, embedded development. The goal is for fast prototypes and AI-assisted work to be promoted into production by Engineering without rework, and for the architecture behind them to hold up.

The Director reports to the Head of Architecture and partners closely with Product, Business Analysis, Solution Architecture, and Engineering. Our customers are internal: brokers, other employees, and contractors who need technology that fits how they work.

What you will do

Own architecture for the advisory business. Set the target architecture, standards, and roadmap for advisory solutions, and make sure designs are sound, secure, and consistent with company architecture standards.
Optimize tools and processes. Continuously improve the tools, templates, and ways of working that shorten the development lifecycle from idea to production, including accelerators such as AI Studio.
Practice agentic architecting. Define how AI agents are used to draft requirements, design solutions, and generate code, with human review, clear patterns, and quality controls at each step.
Champion FDE. Lead and grow an embedded team that works with brokers and delivery teams to build working solutions quickly, iterate live on feedback, and decide with the business sponsor whether each effort is productized, handed off, or retired.
Protect the path to production. Work with peer architecture leaders and Engineering on the guardrails prototypes are built within, a promotion gate to production, and shared source control, environments, and standards.
Triage with Product. Agree on criteria for which requests enter the FDE lane and which follow the standard requirements, design, and build path, and cap FDE capacity so it does not become a help desk.
Close the loop to the roadmap. Identify patterns the team sees repeatedly and bring them to Product as candidates for roadmap features.
Measure outcomes. Track broker adoption, time from idea to release, time saved, the share of prototypes that reach production, and how much rework they need.
Be a visible advocate. Show the business what is possible, and help Engineering and Architecture colleagues see these accelerators and the FDE lane as partners that remove ambiguity and delay from their work.

Leadership and team

You will lead a team of about four to six, made up of forward deployed engineers, architects, and UI/UX designers, with room to grow as the model proves out.

People leadership matters as much as technical depth in this role. You will hire for judgment and range rather than narrow specialty, coach builders to work comfortably with non-technical users, and set clear expectations so the team can move quickly without creating work for others.

You will work alongside peer architecture leaders who cover the other business lines. Together you share common standards and a joint view of what moves from prototype to production.

Key partners include:

Product leadership, for intake, triage, and the roadmap
Business analysts, who turn validated prototypes into formal requirements
Solution architects, who set patterns and run the promotion gate
Engineering leadership, who own hardening, release, and support

What you bring

The role blends two skill sets: traditional solution architecture on cloud platforms, and the rapid, embedded building style of forward deployed engineering. We expect real depth in the first and demonstrated experience in the second.

Architecture foundation

Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
10 or more years in solution or software architecture or engineering, including delivery of production systems at a large organization
Experience architecting cloud-based business solutions, with hands-on knowledge of a CRM platform such as Salesforce, including its data model, flow automation, integrations, and security model
Working knowledge of core architecture disciplines such as integration, data, security, and governance, and the discipline to keep fast work inside those guardrails
3 or more years leading and developing people, ideally including managers or senior individual contributors

Forward deployed and rapid development

Experience prototyping with business users, showing working software early and changing it on the spot
Hands-on experience using AI-assisted development and agentic coding tools to build quickly, and designing AI-enabled workflows such as agent orchestration and tool use, with a clear view of their limits and risks
Comfort with modern rapid-build approaches, including low-code, AI-assisted coding, and lightweight deployment, and the ability to learn new tools quickly as they change
Strong communication with non-technical audiences, including senior leaders and revenue-generating teams
The judgment to say no, prioritize, and explain trade-offs to stakeholders who want everything now

Nice to have

Experience in commercial real estate, professional services, or another broker- or advisor-driven business
Background as a forward deployed engineer, solutions engineer, or similar customer-embedded role
Hands-on use of AI-assisted coding and rapid build-and-deploy tools, such as Claude Code, Cursor, Replit, or Railway (examples only; we value the ability to pick up new tools over any single product)
Salesforce depth beyond the basics, such as Flow, Lightning Web Components, Apex, or Salesforce certifications
Experience partnering with UX and design teams to shape broker-facing tools
Familiarity with CI/CD and source control practices for CRM platforms
Experience building a new team or capability inside an established enterprise

Cushman & Wakefield also provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a variety of benefit programs, generally including health, vision, and dental insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life, and disability insurance programs, and paid and unpaid time away from work. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, Cushman and Wakefield provide eligible employees with competitive pay, which may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, total hours worked, job type, business line, and applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

The compensation that will be offered to the successful candidate will depend on factors such as whether the position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the geographic area in which the work will be performed, market pay rates in that area, and the candidate’s experience and qualifications.

The company will not pay less than minimum wage for this role.

The compensation for the position is: $ 161,500.00 - $190,000.00

Cushman & Wakefield is an Equal Opportunity employer to all protected groups, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. Discrimination of any type will not be tolerated.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to apply for a position at Cushman & Wakefield, please call the ADA line at 1-888-365-5406 or email Accommodations@cushwake.com. Please refer to the job title and job location when you contact us.

INCO: “Cushman & Wakefield”