Architecture & Design Director - Digital Products

Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Full-timeFindlay, United States

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Architecture & Design Director - Digital Products

Company: Marathon Petroleum Corporation

Location: San Antonio, TX; Findlay, OH; Houston, TX; Louisiana, United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Technology Leadership / Enterprise Architecture

Date Posted: 2026-06-09T00:00:00

Experience Level: 10+ Years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

  • Leads the architectural vision and design for all critical digital initiatives and products, ensuring interoperability, scalability, and alignment with enterprise strategy.

  • Manages and develops a team of Solution Architects, System Architects, and UI/UX designers, fostering a high-performing culture focused on design excellence and continuous improvement.

  • Collaborates with senior leadership and stakeholders to provide strategic guidance on technology direction, architectural risks, and opportunities, influencing key decisions.

  • Drives the definition and evolution of architectural standards, patterns, and reference models to ensure consistent, high-quality solution design across product teams.

  • Oversees architectural reviews and manages technical decision-making processes, ensuring alignment across multiple projects and teams for long-term sustainability and operational efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Architecture & Design Director - Digital Products," the core responsibilities and required experience strongly indicate a role within Enterprise Architecture or a senior Solution Architecture leadership function, with a significant focus on digital transformation and product development lifecycles. The emphasis on "AI/Agentic orchestration design" suggests a forward-looking role integrating advanced technologies.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

  • Lead and mentor managers and individual contributors within the architecture and design teams, aligning their work with organizational goals and the enterprise architectural vision.

  • Drive the recruitment, development, retention, and performance management of architectural talent, with a specific focus on enhancing capabilities in solution architecture, system architecture, UI/UX, and AI/agentic orchestration.

  • Partner with key stakeholders and senior leadership to offer strategic technology direction, identify architectural risks, and present opportunities, thereby influencing decisions for long-term scalability.

  • Define, implement, and govern architectural standards, patterns, guardrails, and reference models to ensure consistent, high-quality solution design across all digital product teams.

  • Oversee the development and application of architecture strategies and frameworks across various domains, ensuring end-to-end coherence and alignment with enterprise guardrails.

  • Manage architectural review boards and technical decision-making forums, providing oversight on critical design choices and ensuring cross-project and cross-team alignment.

  • Ensure all digital solutions are designed to meet business objectives, prioritizing user experience through robust architecture principles and governance, while enabling scalability, security by design, and adaptability.

  • Collaborate with business leadership to align architectural initiatives with strategic business goals, ensuring solutions are designed for long-term sustainability, reusability, and optimal user experience quality.

  • Establish and govern architecture decision frameworks and review processes, ensuring consistency, transparency, and alignment with enterprise standards across all initiatives and value streams.

  • Foster innovation by evaluating and guiding the adoption of emerging technologies, focusing on architectural fit, business value, reduction of technical debt, operational efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

  • Drive a high-performing culture within the architecture team, centered on design excellence, robust governance, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of technical leadership, strategic planning, team management, and governance. The emphasis on "AI/Agentic orchestration design" and "digital products" suggests a role that is modernizing IT infrastructure and embracing new technological paradigms within a large, established energy corporation.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or another computer-related degree is required. Experience:

  • A minimum of twelve (12) years of diversified IT experience is required.

  • At least five (5) years of direct experience managing professional staff is required.

  • Five (5) or more years of experience in enterprise architecture, specifically in defining and enforcing architecture principles and standards, is preferred.

  • Proven experience leading architecture reviews and making critical technical decisions across multiple projects is required.

  • Experience in developing and implementing user-centered design processes is essential. Required Skills:

  • Strategic Planning & Vision: Ability to develop and articulate a long-term architectural vision and strategic roadmap for digital products, aligning with overall business objectives.

  • Enterprise Architecture Principles: Deep understanding and practical application of enterprise architecture frameworks (e.g., TOGAF principles, though not explicitly required) and best practices for defining and enforcing standards.

  • Team Leadership & Management: Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing teams, including managers and individual contributors, focusing on talent development and performance management.

  • Technical Decision Making & Governance: Experience in leading architectural reviews, facilitating technical decision-making processes, and establishing effective governance frameworks to ensure quality and alignment.

  • User-Centered Design (UCD): Solid understanding and experience in developing processes that prioritize user needs and experience in digital product design.

Preferred Skills:

  • Agile, DevOps, CI/CD: Deep understanding and practical experience with Agile methodologies, DevOps practices, and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment pipelines to drive efficient software delivery.

  • Emerging Technology Evaluation: Demonstrated ability to evaluate, pilot, and adopt new technologies, tools, and frameworks to enhance performance, security, and maintainability.

  • API & Microservices Management: Experience in managing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), microservices architectures, and data platform interfaces to facilitate seamless enterprise-wide data exchange.

  • Performance Optimization & Security: Proven track record of monitoring and optimizing software performance, reliability, and security, including familiarity with secure coding practices and monitoring/alerting systems.

  • AI & Agentic Orchestration: Experience or strong understanding of architectural considerations for designing and implementing AI-driven solutions and agentic orchestration systems.

  • Certifications: ITIL®, TOGAF®, Agile, SAFe®, PMI®, Organization Change Management, and Lean Six Sigma certifications are preferred, indicating a broad understanding of IT best practices and methodologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirements are substantial, indicating a senior leadership role. The preference for certifications like TOGAF and SAFe suggests the company values structured architectural approaches and scaled agile frameworks. The blend of required and preferred skills emphasizes both foundational architecture expertise and a forward-looking approach to digital innovation, including AI.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

  • Architectural Vision & Strategy: Showcase examples of developing and articulating comprehensive architectural visions and strategic roadmaps for digital products or initiatives, demonstrating alignment with business goals.

  • Solution Design & Patterns: Present case studies or documentation of significant solution designs, highlighting the architectural patterns, principles, and standards applied, and how they ensured scalability, security, and interoperability.

  • Team Leadership & Development: Include examples of how you have led, mentored, or developed architecture teams, detailing your approach to fostering talent, managing performance, and driving team excellence.

  • Governance & Decision-Making: Provide evidence of your experience in establishing and managing architecture governance processes, including examples of architectural reviews and how technical decisions were made and enforced across projects.

  • User-Centered Design Implementation: Demonstrate your experience in developing and implementing user-centered design processes within a product development lifecycle, showing how user needs were integrated into architectural decisions.

Process Documentation:

  • Architecture Review Frameworks: Examples of established or improved architecture review processes, including criteria, methodologies, and documentation standards used.

  • Standards & Guardrails Development: Documentation outlining architecture principles, design standards, patterns, and guardrails implemented to ensure consistency and quality across digital solutions.

  • Technology Adoption Frameworks: Processes for evaluating, piloting, and adopting new technologies, including risk assessment, business value justification, and integration strategies.

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration Workflows: Documentation illustrating how architectural teams collaborate with development, product management, security, and business stakeholders to ensure alignment and successful delivery.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a director-level role, a portfolio should emphasize strategic contributions, leadership impact, and the establishment of robust processes and governance. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their role in shaping architectural direction and driving adoption of best practices, particularly in the context of digital transformation and modern technology stacks.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Based on industry benchmarks for a Director-level Architecture role in major US tech hubs like San Antonio, Houston, and Findlay, and considering the extensive experience (12+ years IT, 5+ years management), the estimated salary range for this position is $180,000 - $250,000 per year. This estimate accounts for the significant responsibilities, leadership scope, and the specialized nature of digital product architecture within a large corporation.

Benefits:

  • Comprehensive Health Coverage: Access to medical, vision, and dental insurance plans.

  • Retirement Savings: 401k plan with a matching program, enhancing long-term financial security.

  • Work-Life Balance: Paid Time Off (PTO) for vacation, personal time, and holidays.

  • Family Support: Paid parental leave to support new parents.

  • Professional Development: Educational reimbursement for continued learning and skill enhancement.

  • Performance-Based Rewards: Eligibility for a discretionary company-sponsored annual bonus program, recognizing contributions to company success.

  • Additional Perks: Detailed benefit information is available at https://mympcbenefits.com.

Working Hours:

The standard working hours are 40 hours per week, typical for a full-time exempt position. Given the senior leadership nature of the role, there may be an expectation for flexibility to address critical business needs or project deadlines, especially during key implementation phases or for urgent architectural decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate based on typical compensation for Director-level technology leadership roles in the US energy sector, considering location, experience, and responsibilities. The benefits listed are directly from the job description and are standard for large corporations. The working hours are typical, but senior roles often require flexibility.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Energy (Oil & Gas / Petroleum Refining). Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is a leading integrated downstream energy company, refining and marketing more than 3 million barrels of crude oil per day. This industry context implies a focus on operational efficiency, safety, regulatory compliance, and increasingly, digital transformation to optimize complex processes and enhance customer experiences.

Company Size: Large enterprise. MPC is a Fortune 500 company with tens of thousands of employees, indicating a structured environment with established processes, significant resources, and opportunities for large-scale impact. For operations and technology professionals, this means working within a complex ecosystem, potentially with legacy systems alongside cutting-edge digital initiatives, requiring strong collaboration and change management skills.

Founded: Marathon Petroleum Corporation was formed in 2011 as a spin-off from Marathon Oil. Its history and evolution as a major player in the energy sector mean it's likely balancing tradition and innovation, with a growing emphasis on digital strategies to maintain a competitive edge.

Team Structure:

  • Architecture & Design Team: This role leads a team comprising Solution Architects, System Architects, UI/UX designers, and specialists in AI/agentic orchestration. The team likely operates within a broader IT or Digital Transformation division.

  • Reporting Structure: The Director will likely report to a VP of Architecture, CTO, CIO, or a senior leader within Digital Products or Technology Strategy. The team itself will consist of managers and individual contributors.

  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Essential collaboration will occur with Product Management, Engineering/Development teams (Agile/DevOps), Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Data Analytics, and various business units across the enterprise to ensure digital products are integrated, secure, and meet business needs.

Methodology:

  • Data-Driven Decision Making: The company emphasizes using real-time data, analytics, and insights to optimize operations, improve safety, and enhance the competitive edge, suggesting that architectural decisions will be informed by data.

  • Agile & DevOps Integration: The preference for Agile, DevOps, CI/CD, and automated testing indicates a commitment to modern software development lifecycle practices for efficient and iterative product delivery.

  • Strategic Planning & Execution: A focus on developing future scenarios, creating long-term plans, and ensuring alignment of functional strategies with MPC's overall business strategy.

Company Website: https://www.marathonpetroleum.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Operating within the energy sector means that architectural decisions must consider not only business value and user experience but also safety, reliability, compliance, and environmental impact. The company's large size suggests a need for robust governance and change management processes.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a senior leadership position, a Director-level role within the technology and digital product domain. It signifies a significant level of responsibility, strategic influence, and management oversight. The role is critical for shaping the technical direction of digital products and ensuring architectural integrity across the organization.

Reporting Structure: The Director will likely report to a Vice President or Senior Director of Technology, Architecture, or Digital Transformation. They will manage a team of architects and designers, including potentially other managers, and will interact extensively with C-suite executives and senior business leaders on strategic initiatives.

Operations Impact: The role has a direct impact on Marathon Petroleum's ability to innovate and compete in the digital space. By ensuring scalable, secure, and interoperable digital product architectures, this Director enables the company to:

  • Enhance operational efficiency through digital solutions.

  • Improve customer engagement and experience.

  • Drive new revenue streams or optimize existing ones via digital platforms.

  • Reduce technical debt and improve system maintainability, leading to cost savings.

  • Facilitate the adoption of new technologies like AI to gain a competitive advantage. Growth Opportunities:

  • Executive Leadership: Potential progression to VP-level roles in Architecture, Digital Transformation, or broader technology leadership positions within MPC or other large enterprises.

  • Specialization & Innovation: Opportunities to deepen expertise in emerging areas like advanced AI/agentic orchestration, cloud-native architectures, or specific digital product domains.

  • Strategic Influence: Increased scope of influence on enterprise-wide technology strategy, digital transformation initiatives, and long-term business planning.

  • Mentorship & Thought Leadership: Opportunity to mentor emerging architects and designers, and to act as a thought leader within the company and potentially the industry on digital architecture best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a significant platform for impacting a major corporation's digital future. Growth will likely involve expanding strategic influence, leading larger and more complex initiatives, and potentially moving into broader executive technology leadership roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The job posting lists "On-site" work, indicating a primary requirement to work from one of the specified office locations. This suggests a traditional corporate office environment designed for collaboration and focused work.

Office Location(s):

  • San Antonio, Texas

  • Findlay, Ohio

  • Houston, TX

  • Louisiana (general)

The presence of multiple potential locations indicates flexibility in where the candidate can be based, though they will be expected to work from an office in one of these regions.

Workspace Context:

  • Collaborative Environment: As a Director role, expect a workspace that facilitates collaboration with direct reports, peers, and senior leadership. This may include access to meeting rooms, project spaces, and shared work areas.

  • Technology & Tools: Access to standard corporate IT infrastructure, including high-performance computing, networking, and relevant software tools for architecture, design, project management, and communication. The company's emphasis on digital transformation suggests a modern technology stack will be available.

  • Team Interaction: Frequent opportunities for in-person interaction with the architecture and design teams, as well as cross-functional partners, to drive alignment and accelerate decision-making.

Work Schedule:

The standard work schedule is 40 hours per week. However, given the leadership responsibilities, there may be an expectation for flexibility to attend meetings, address critical issues, or ensure project milestones are met, potentially involving work outside of standard business hours during peak periods.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "On-site" requirement is key. Candidates should be prepared for a traditional office-based role, emphasizing in-person collaboration, which is often valued for senior leadership positions. The multiple location options offer some flexibility in geographic placement.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

The interview process for a Director-level role at Marathon Petroleum Corporation is likely to be multi-stage and rigorous, designed to assess technical expertise, leadership capabilities, strategic thinking, and cultural fit.

  1. Initial Screening: A review of your resume and application by HR/Talent Acquisition to ensure basic qualifications are met. This may be followed by a brief phone screen.

  2. Hiring Manager Interview: A detailed discussion with the hiring manager (likely a VP or Senior Director) focusing on your experience, leadership philosophy, strategic approach to architecture, and alignment with the role's core responsibilities.

  3. Technical/Architectural Deep Dive: Interviews with senior architects, peers, and potentially key technical stakeholders. This will likely involve discussing your approach to complex architectural challenges, your understanding of enterprise architecture principles, and your experience with specific technologies (e.g., cloud, microservices, AI).

  4. Portfolio Review: A dedicated session where you present your portfolio. This is a critical step to demonstrate your past work, strategic contributions, leadership impact, and problem-solving abilities. Be prepared to walk through specific case studies, architectural designs, and team development initiatives.

  5. Cross-Functional & Leadership Interviews: Interviews with leaders from business units or other IT departments (e.g., Cybersecurity, Product Management) to assess your ability to collaborate, influence, and align architectural strategies with broader business objectives.

  6. Final Executive Interview: A meeting with a senior executive (e.g., CIO, CTO, VP of Digital Transformation) to discuss your strategic vision for digital architecture at MPC and assess overall fit for the company's leadership team.

Portfolio Review Tips:

  • Curate Strategically: Select 2-4 of your most impactful projects that best showcase your leadership, strategic thinking, and architectural accomplishments relevant to digital products and enterprise architecture.

  • Focus on Impact & ROI: For each case study, clearly articulate the business problem, your architectural solution, the processes you implemented or improved, and the measurable outcomes (e.g., cost savings, efficiency gains, improved performance, scalability achieved). Quantify results wherever possible.

  • Highlight Leadership: Demonstrate your role in leading teams, mentoring individuals, establishing governance, and influencing stakeholders. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your examples.

  • Showcase Process Improvement: Detail how you've established or refined architectural processes, standards, or decision-making frameworks, emphasizing efficiency and quality improvements.

  • Prepare for Questions: Anticipate questions about trade-offs, risk management, handling technical debt, adoption of new technologies, and managing diverse architectural needs across an enterprise.

  • Visual Aids: Use clear, concise slides or diagrams to illustrate complex architectures and design concepts.

Challenge Preparation:

  • Architectural Design Challenge: You might be given a hypothetical scenario or a business problem and asked to outline an architectural approach, considering scalability, security, cost, and user experience. Focus on your thought process, decision criteria, and risk assessment.

  • Team Management Scenario: Be prepared to discuss how you would handle team conflicts, performance issues, or motivate a team to adopt new architectural practices.

  • Strategic Vision Exercise: You may be asked about your vision for digital architecture in the energy sector or how you would approach modernizing MPC's digital landscape.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process for a Director role is designed to be comprehensive. Emphasis will be placed on strategic thinking, leadership, and the ability to translate technical vision into tangible business outcomes. A well-prepared portfolio is crucial for demonstrating past success and potential future contributions.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

  • Enterprise Architecture Tools: Proficiency with tools for modeling enterprise architecture, defining standards, and managing architectural artifacts (e.g., ArchiMate, Sparx EA, LeanIX, or similar).

  • Solution Design & Diagramming: Expertise in tools like Lucidchart, Draw.io, Visio, or dedicated architecture modeling tools for creating comprehensive system and solution diagrams.

  • Collaboration Platforms: Familiarity with tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Confluence, Jira for team communication, documentation, and workflow management.

  • Project Management Software: Experience with tools such as Jira, Asana, or MS Project for tracking project progress and architectural roadmap timelines.

Analytics & Reporting:

  • BI & Data Visualization Tools: Experience with platforms like Tableau, Power BI, or QlikView for analyzing performance metrics, identifying trends, and presenting architectural impact data.

  • APM Tools: Familiarity with Application Performance Monitoring tools (e.g., Dynatrace, AppDynamics, New Relic) for monitoring and optimizing software performance, reliability, and security.

CRM & Automation:

  • While not directly managing CRM, understanding how architectural decisions impact CRM systems and related sales/marketing automation workflows is beneficial.

  • API Management Platforms: Experience with platforms like Apigee, MuleSoft, or Postman for designing, managing, and securing APIs.

  • Cloud Platforms: Deep understanding and experience architecting solutions on major cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, or GCP, including their services for compute, storage, networking, and AI.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role requires a broad understanding of the technology landscape relevant to digital product development and enterprise architecture. While specific tool proficiency is not always mandated, familiarity with industry-standard tools for architecture modeling, collaboration, cloud platforms, and performance monitoring is expected. The emphasis on "AI/Agentic orchestration" suggests a need to be conversant with AI/ML platforms and architectures.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

  • Strategic Outlook: A commitment to examining issues, generating forward-thinking ideas, creating future scenarios, and developing plans that align short-term actions with long-term company strategy.

  • Business Acumen: Applying in-depth knowledge of MPC's business, the energy industry, and the marketplace to advance organizational goals, ensuring decisions and recommendations are strategically linked to MPC's success.

  • Results Driven: A focus on driving operational and process excellence through empowering others, fostering collaboration, taking calculated risks, making timely decisions, and holding individuals accountable for achieving desired outcomes.

  • Continuous Improvement Mindset: Proactively identifying and leading opportunities for both incremental and large-scale continuous improvement and value creation within architectural practices and digital product development.

  • Digital Awareness: A proactive approach to exploring, learning, and implementing emerging digital tools, technologies, and trends, demonstrating openness to change and adapting to the evolving digital landscape to create value and improve processes.

Collaboration Style:

  • Cross-Functional Integration: A collaborative style that emphasizes integrating architectural efforts with development, product management, cybersecurity, and business stakeholders to ensure holistic solutions that meet diverse needs.

  • Data-Informed Dialogue: Engaging in constructive dialogue and decision-making supported by real-time data, analytics, and insights to optimize operations and enhance the company's competitive edge.

  • Transparent Governance: Fostering a culture of transparency in architectural reviews and decision-making processes, ensuring consistency, clarity, and alignment with enterprise standards across initiatives.

  • Mentorship & Knowledge Sharing: A style that encourages continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and the development of talent within the architecture and design teams, promoting a culture of design excellence.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture values strategic thinking, results, and continuous improvement, with a growing emphasis on digital literacy and data-driven decision-making. Collaboration is key, especially in aligning technology strategy with business objectives.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

  • Modernizing Legacy Systems: Navigating the complexities of integrating modern digital solutions and architectural patterns (like microservices, cloud, AI) with existing, potentially monolithic, legacy systems within a large energy corporation. This requires strategic planning and careful execution to avoid introducing new technical debt.

  • Balancing Innovation with Stability: Driving adoption of cutting-edge technologies (e.g., AI, agentic orchestration) while ensuring the stability, security, and reliability of critical digital products in a highly regulated industry like energy.

  • Cross-Functional Alignment: Gaining consensus and driving adoption of architectural standards and strategic directions across diverse business units and technical teams, each with potentially competing priorities and existing practices.

  • Talent Acquisition & Development: Attracting and retaining top-tier architectural talent, especially in specialized areas like AI architecture, and developing existing teams to meet evolving technological demands.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

  • Advanced Technology Exploration: Opportunities to lead evaluations and implementations of emerging technologies, particularly in AI, machine learning, and advanced agentic systems, deepening expertise in these cutting-edge fields.

  • Enterprise-Wide Strategic Impact: The chance to influence and shape the digital transformation strategy for a Fortune 500 company, gaining broad exposure to business operations and executive decision-making.

  • Leadership Development Programs: Access to company-sponsored leadership training, executive coaching, and mentorship to further develop management and strategic capabilities.

  • Industry Conferences & Certifications: Support for attending industry events, obtaining advanced certifications (e.g., advanced TOGAF, cloud architecture specializations, AI/ML certifications), and engaging with the broader technology community.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for a senior architecture role in a large, established company undergoing digital transformation. The growth opportunities are substantial, offering significant career advancement and skill development in high-demand areas.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

  • "Describe your philosophy for building and scaling an enterprise architecture function that supports digital product innovation while maintaining governance and stability." (Focus on balancing innovation with control, team structure, and process enablement).

  • "How would you approach assessing and integrating new technologies like AI or agentic systems into an existing enterprise architecture? Walk us through your evaluation and adoption process." (Prepare a structured approach covering business value, technical feasibility, risk assessment, and integration strategy).

  • "Discuss a time you had to influence senior leadership or multiple stakeholders to adopt a significant architectural change. What was your strategy, and what was the outcome?" (Use the STAR method, highlighting your communication, negotiation, and change management skills).

  • "How do you ensure architectural decisions align with business objectives, particularly in a complex industry like energy? Provide an example." (Emphasize understanding business drivers, ROI, and translating technical benefits into business language). Company & Culture Questions:

  • "Based on your understanding of Marathon Petroleum and the energy industry, what do you see as the biggest architectural challenges and opportunities for digital products in the next 3-5 years?" (Research MPC's digital initiatives, industry trends, and potential applications of technology).

  • "How would you foster a culture of continuous improvement and design excellence within your architecture team, and how would you collaborate with development teams practicing Agile and DevOps?" (Discuss your leadership style, feedback mechanisms, and integration strategies).

  • "What are your thoughts on 'governance' in an architecture context? How do you balance enforcing standards with enabling agility and innovation?" (Demonstrate a pragmatic approach to governance that facilitates, rather than hinders, progress). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

  • Narrative Arc: Structure your portfolio presentation with a clear narrative for each case study: the business context, the architectural challenge, your strategic approach, the solutions implemented, the team's role, and the quantifiable business impact.

  • Visual Clarity: Use clean, professional diagrams and visuals that clearly illustrate architectural concepts. Avoid overly complex or cluttered slides. Focus on the 'why' and 'how' behind your design choices.

  • Quantify Impact: Be ready to discuss metrics and KPIs related to performance, scalability, cost savings, security improvements, or user adoption. If exact numbers aren't available, discuss the type of impact and how it was measured.

  • Leadership Emphasis: For each project, highlight your leadership role, how you mentored your team, managed stakeholders, and drove decision-making.

  • Interactive Engagement: Be prepared to pause for questions and engage in a discussion rather than just delivering a monologue. Demonstrate your ability to think on your feet and adapt your explanation.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic leadership, a deep understanding of architectural principles, and the ability to drive digital transformation within a large, complex organization. Be ready to articulate your vision and provide concrete examples of past success.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Architecture & Design Director position at Marathon Petroleum Corporation:

  • Submit your application through the provided Workday career portal link.

  • Customize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, digital product development, team leadership (especially managing architects), and any experience relevant to the energy industry or digital transformation initiatives. Use keywords from the job description.

  • Prepare Your Portfolio: Curate a concise portfolio showcasing 2-4 of your most impactful projects. Focus on architectural strategy, leadership, process implementation, and quantifiable business results. Be ready to present this clearly and effectively.

  • Research Marathon Petroleum: Understand the company's business, its position in the energy market, its stated values, and any recent digital initiatives or news. This will help you tailor your responses during interviews and demonstrate genuine interest.

  • Practice Interview Questions: Prepare answers to common leadership, strategic, and technical questions, focusing on using the STAR method for behavioral questions and clearly articulating your thought process for architectural challenges. Practice presenting your portfolio.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

Application Requirements

Requires a bachelor's degree in a computer-related field with at least 12 years of IT experience and 5 years of professional staff management. Preferred qualifications include experience in enterprise architecture, deep knowledge of DevOps/Agile, and certifications such as TOGAF or SAFe.