Senior AI Platform Architect
Job ID: 54387
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Department: IT Cyber Collaboration Svcs
Salary/Grade: ITS/83
Target hiring range for this position will be between $125,220-165,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant s education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.
Job Summary:
We are seeking a senior-level engineer to shape Northwestern s strategy, architecture, and governance for AI services within the campus collaboration suite, with a primary focus on Microsoft 365 Copilot and related AI capabilities. While Microsoft 365 will be the central area of responsibility, the role will also evolve to provide architectural guidance, governance, and strategic direction for AI capabilities across other campus collaboration platforms as institutional needs mature, while ensuring strong security, privacy, and compliance across the environment.
In this role, the successful candidate will serve as a senior technical lead and individual contributor, guiding the secure adoption of AI-powered capabilities including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, agents, connectors, and other AI services that are part of or integrate directly with the M365 tenant in support of Northwestern s academic and research mission. While the initial emphasis will be on Microsoft 365, the role is also expected to help shape architectural patterns and governance approaches that can inform institutional use of AI across other campus collaboration platforms over time.
This individual will define the roadmap, architecture, and operating standards for integrating AI capabilities across the M365 tenant and will work closely with the team responsible for day-to-day tenant administration and Level 3 support. In parallel, the role will help establish governance models and architectural guidance that may be extended, where appropriate, to other institutionally supported AI-enabled collaboration platforms.
This position does not have direct reports, but it requires strong leadership through influence guiding standards, architectural decisions, governance practices, and adoption models across the institution. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise in M365 cloud services, identity, security, and compliance, along with the strategic ability to develop governance models, rollout strategies, and architectural standards for emerging AI technologies in a research-focused, mission-driven environment.
Specific Responsibilities:
- Microsoft 365 Copilot & AI Strategy and Governance: Develop and maintain a multi-year strategy and roadmap for adopting Microsoft 365 Copilot and related AI capabilities across the institution. Define organizational goals, success metrics, and phased rollout plans in coordination with the IT@NU community, while informing broader institutional standards for AI-enabled collaboration services beyond M365 as appropriate.
- Advance and formalize governance practices for responsible AI use, licensing allocation, and adoption monitoring. Provide architectural and governance oversight for enterprise AI services, including agent intake and approval, publishing standards, lifecycle management, and usage reporting, with Microsoft 365 as the primary platform and with governance patterns that can inform other institutionally supported collaboration environments as needed. Monitor the evolution of Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities and incorporate relevant changes into institutional standards, policies, and implementation guidance.
- Tenant Architecture & AI Feature Integration: Lead tenant-wide architectural and design decisions for integrating Copilot and AI capabilities across M365 services. Evaluate, govern, and support Copilot extensibility through connectors, agents, and tools across the platform. In addition to this core M365 responsibility, help define architectural patterns and governance considerations that may be applied to other institutionally supported AI-enabled collaboration tools over time.
- Ensure the tenant is technically prepared for AI capabilities, including configuration readiness, content accessibility, permissions alignment, and platform dependencies. Assess emerging integrations for architectural, security, privacy, and compliance implications before production deployment.
- Define architectural guardrails for AI-enabled services within the M365 tenant, including approved integration patterns, identity and access controls, permissions, connector and agent governance, and review requirements for third-party applications that interact with Copilot or M365 data.
- Security, Privacy & Compliance: Provide direction, and when appropriate lead the security, privacy, and compliance planning required for Microsoft 365 Copilot and related AI capabilities. In partnership with the Information Security Office, implement and refine governance controls including sensitivity labels, data loss prevention (DLP), retention, and related safeguards. Ensure AI-related architecture, configuration, and deployment decisions align with institutional security, privacy, and data governance requirements.
- Conduct AI-specific risk assessments to evaluate how Copilot, agents, connectors, and related AI services interact with existing permissions, data classifications, external sharing settings, and tenant controls, using M365-native and approved third-party tools as appropriate.
- Partner with identity, security, and compliance teams to define governance for privileged access, administrative roles, app consent, delegated and application permissions, and external or guest access patterns that affect AI capabilities in the M365 tenant.
- Standards & Operational Guidance: Serve as the organization s subject-matter expert for Microsoft Copilot and AI within M365. Develop standards, architectural patterns, operational runbooks, and support procedures for monitoring service health, managing AI-related incidents, administering tenant-wide AI configurations, and guiding support teams on escalation paths and operational ownership. Help define standards and guidance that may extend, where appropriate, to other institutionally supported AI collaboration platforms.
- Define support and escalation procedures for AI-related issues, and build dashboards that track adoption, usage patterns, control effectiveness, and measurable outcomes.
- Establish testing and evaluation practices for AI-enabled solutions, including pilot criteria, validation of grounding sources, review of agent behavior, and go/no-go recommendations before broader production release.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary liaison for M365 AI initiatives, partnering with the Information Security Office, compliance stakeholders, research leadership, data owners, and other institutional partners to align AI capabilities with academic, administrative, and research needs. As institutional needs evolve, also serve as a key advisor on AI governance and architecture for other campus collaboration platforms.
Miscellaneous
Performs other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Seven or more years of enterprise IT experience delivering solutions within Microsoft 365 environments, including hands-on responsibility for architecture, design, governance, or engineering in at least two of the following areas: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams, Entra ID, Purview, or related services.
- Strong working knowledge of Entra ID, identity and access management, Microsoft Graph permission models, and M365 security and compliance tooling.
- Experience with Microsoft 365 Copilot and emerging AI capabilities in M365, including the ability to design or govern AI solutions within institutional workflows, with consideration for data flows, Graph API usage, permissions, extensibility models, and user adoption.
- Demonstrated experience implementing security controls, privacy safeguards, or compliance frameworks in a cloud environment, and assessing risk and designing mitigations for emerging technologies, including AI-enabled services.
- Working knowledge of AI governance frameworks, model and platform risk monitoring concepts, and compliance best practices for enterprise AI adoption.
- Experience implementing standards or governance for enterprise platform integrations, including app registrations, connectors, delegated or application permissions, and third-party services interacting with tenant data, with the ability to apply those governance patterns across Microsoft 365 and adjacent enterprise collaboration ecosystems.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work independently and across cross-functional teams while translating complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Direct experience deploying, governing, or supporting Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities, including extensibility through connectors, APIs, actions, and agents, using tools such as Agent Builder, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, and related Microsoft tooling.
- Experience evaluating or governing AI platforms such as Claude, ChatGPT, or similar services, particularly where they integrate with institutional data, enterprise identity, or collaboration platforms.
- Experience in a higher education or research institution IT environment, with an understanding of decentralized governance, academic collaboration patterns, research data sensitivities, and compliance obligations in academia.
- Professional certifications in Microsoft 365, Azure, or information security (e.g., Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert; Azure Solutions Architect; CISSP).
Please apply online by clicking Apply Now.
Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful and competitive benefits. The available benefits package for this position will include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; paid medical/sick and parental leave; tuition benefits for the employee and dependents; pre-tax and flex spending accounts for commuting and dependent care; generous retirement savings options; and wellness programs. For a comprehensive overview of available benefits, including eligibility details, visit us at to learn more.
Work-Life and Wellness: Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life s challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at to learn more.
Professional Growth & Development: Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you re interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at to learn more.
Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern s . Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View .
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