Head of Architecture

Our Opportunity Zurich Insurance Group is a globally recognized insurance provider headquartered in Switzerland, offering innovative and reliable insurance solutions to individuals, businesses, and institutions. With a presence in over 200 countries and territories, Zurich leverages its extensive international experience and strong local knowledge to protect customers worldwide. The Group’s commitment to sustainability, customer-centricity, and delivering results reflects its purpose of building a brighter future together. We are looking for a passionate and skilled Head of Architecture - Insurance Core Suite  to join our dynamic Zurich Guidewire Team (ZGT). ZGT is hub for innovation, expertise development and services delivery, supporting Guidewire platform and related tech-stack globally within Zurich. With the mandate to service Zurich’s business units which use Guidewire products, this team brings together talented professionals focused on developing & delivering digital capabilities, core platform solutions, integrate AI, build reusable assets & components – both on-prem and Guidewire cloud versions. We operate from multiple technology delivery centres spread globally to service our business units. This position is based in Barcelona Technology Delivery Center (TDC). Established in Barcelona in 2006, the TDC operates as an integral part of Zurich Insurance Group, providing cutting-edge technological solutions and support to Zurich's local and global business units. If you have experience with Guidewire technologies, a drive for continuous learning, and want to be part of a global company that values diversity, growth and customer focus, we’d love to hear from you. What Can You Expect? We are seeking a visionary Head of Architecture - Insurance Core Suite  to lead the enterprise-wide governance and architectural strategy for our Guidewire platforms in collaboration with all business units. This role will be instrumental in aligning technology architecture with organizational strategy, driving modernization, and ensuring consistency, compliance, reuse, and performance across our diverse Guidewire ecosystem. To be successful in this role, you will need to have experience in defining enterprise-wide architecture for Guidewire technology stack, have worked in a multi-site, matrixed team setups and in both multi-country, multi-tenant implementations, while driving innovation and operational excellence across regions. You’ll need to bring an broad enterprise execution mindset —someone who is motivated to establish governance by building consensus with architecture teams from business units, build & lead architecture teams, collaborate closely with service delivery teams & Guidewire to ensure architectural prudence is upheld. This role demands a strong grasp of delivery capability setup for insurance SaaS platforms like Guidewire. You will be instrumental in defining architectural standards, building playbooks, and deploy toolsets into Zurich marketplace across geographies. Equally important is your ability to build impactful relationships with local architecture owners, application owners, and regional stakeholders. You’ll serve as a trusted advisor and strategic partner, ensuring alignment between Zurich's IT strategy and local execution needs of packaged product implementation, support and innovation. Your influence will span continents, and your leadership will shape how we deliver value to Zurich's clients at scale. As a Head of Architecture - Insurance Core Suite, you will: Architectural Governance & Strategy Define and ensure adherence to enterprise architecture principles and standards for Guidewire platforms. Lead solution design oversight to ensure scalable, secure, and maintainable implementations. Rationalize technology stacks, promote component and integration reuse across business units. Own the lifecycle management of Guidewire components, including roadmap planning and decommissioning. Drive instance upgrade and migrations to Guidewire Cloud. Cross-Functional Coordination Collaborate with architects and technical leads across business units to ensure alignment and adoption of architectural standards. Facilitate architecture review boards and governance forums. Compliance & Regulatory Oversight Ensure contractual compliance and alignment with regulatory requirements across all Guidewire implementations. Environment & Resource Management Govern environment provisioning, usage, and capacity planning to optimize resource utilization and cost efficiency. Performance & Service Management Define and monitor SLAs for Guidewire services. Oversee production performance monitoring and incident response frameworks. Security & Access Governance Establish identity and access control policies across environments. Implement centralized audit trails and logging for compliance and operational transparency. Qualifications Required: Proven experience in enterprise architecture leadership. Deep expertise in Guidewire platforms & products, exposure to both retail & commercial implementations and cloud transformation. Strong understanding of architectural governance, compliance frameworks, and performance management. Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills. Experience leading architectural teams and embedding teams to delivery frameworks. What do we offer? At Zurich, we are proud of our culture. We are passionate about Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging (DEIB). We want you to bring your whole self to work, and we want our employees to be reflective of the communities in which we live and work. Our DIEB initiatives are creating an environment where everyone feels welcome. We have a collaborative culture where diversity of thought is valued. We value your input and strive to give our employees the tools they need to make an impact. We care about our employees’ well-being and offer a comprehensive health/benefits plan with varying levels of coverage to suit your specific needs and a competitive total compensation package. In addition to competitive total compensation package which includes your salary  and a yearly bonus , we offer: To support your work-life balance, we have adopted a flexible working model. Option to work abroad up to 25 days yearly. Over 300 euros to set up your home office and additional monthly home office allowance. Wide range of internal and external trainings, including English, German and Spanish classes depending on the needs. Ticket restaurant and Health Insurance with the flexibility to exchange it for other benefits. Life and accident insurance. Collective Life retirement Plan. 2000 referral bonus if you bring other talented people like you to the company. Special banking and insurance conditions plus Exclusive Employees discounts.   Functional diversity benefits.  Stock options and mortgage benefits. Visa sponsorship if needed. #Li-hybrid Where Are We Located? Barcelona, Poblenou. We Are Waiting for You. At Zurich, we are an equal opportunity employer. We attract and retain the best-qualified individuals available, regardless of race/ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability. You are the heart & soul of Zurich    At Zurich, we like to think outside the box and challenge the status quo. We take an optimistic approach by focusing on the positives and constantly asking What can go right?  Let’s continue to grow together Location(s): ES - Barcelona  Schedule: Full Time Recruiter name: Marta Perez Llonch