Job Overview:
The IT Principal Architect - Retail provides end-to-end enterprise architecture leadership for the retail organization across merchandising, item, pricing, promotion, store operations, inventory, digital commerce, data, integration, security, and enabling technology capabilities.
The role translates retail strategy into business capability models, target-state architectures, investment roadmaps, and governable transition plans. The architect aligns initiatives such as Enterprise Advantage modernization with the broader retail target state, clarifies domain and system-of-record boundaries, simplifies the application and integration landscape, and ensures portfolio decisions collectively advance enterprise outcomes.
*This a Hybrid Position, requiring 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, on-site in Edina, MN*
What does it mean to be part of our Information Technology Team?
A role in Information Technology at UNFI involves being a part of the transformation of food for all through many innovative technology products such as myUNFI, our customer ordering platform or our warehouse management systems that optimize service. You will have an opportunity to be a part of the technology journey to transform food for all through collaboration and building solutions across teams that directly contribute to our OneUNFI strategy. Roles include network automation, infrastructure unification and modernization, data services and analytics, and digital offering.
Job Responsibilities:
- Lead the enterprise architecture strategy and target-state roadmap for merchandising, pricing, inventory, vendor, promotion, store operations, and related retail capabilities, ensuring alignment with business objectives and transformation priorities.
- Partner with executive leadership, product, business, and technology stakeholders to translate strategic goals into enterprise capabilities, technology investments, and architectural direction that drive measurable business outcomes.
- Define and govern the retail application portfolio strategy, including modernization, consolidation, replacement, and retirement of platforms, while minimizing complexity, risk, and technical debt.
- Establish enterprise architecture principles, standards, reference models, and governance processes that promote consistency, scalability, resilience, security, and operational excellence across the retail ecosystem.
- Lead current-state and target-state architecture development, ensuring clear traceability between business capabilities, processes, applications, data, integrations, and technology platforms.
- Drive enterprise integration and ecosystem modernization strategies by defining reusable patterns, service boundaries, data exchanges, and scalable integration approaches that support future growth and agility.
- Provide enterprise data architecture leadership by establishing data ownership, system-of-record boundaries, information governance standards, and alignment between operational, analytical, and AI-enabled business needs.
- Develop and oversee phased transformation, migration, and decommissioning roadmaps that enable seamless transition from legacy platforms to future-state capabilities while minimizing business disruption.
- Ensure enterprise solutions meet critical non-functional requirements, including security, availability, performance, resiliency, recoverability, observability, compliance, and operational sustainability.
- Serve as the senior architecture authority across business and technology functions, facilitating key decisions, managing architectural risk, mentoring architecture talent, and ensuring solution delivery remains aligned to enterprise strategy and long-term business objectives.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Job Requirements:
Education / Certifications:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, business technology, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
- Preferred: Relevant architecture certification, such as TOGAF, cloud architecture certification, or equivalent demonstrated experience.
Experience:
- Significant experience in enterprise, platform, domain, or solution architecture roles within large, highly integrated environments
- Demonstrated ownership of target-state architecture for a major platform modernization, ERP transformation, or legacy replacement.
- Experience developing domain architectures, capability models, platform roadmaps, and transition architectures.
- Strong architecture experience across applications, integration, data, security, infrastructure, and operations.
- Demonstrated ability to define architecture while requirements and future-state assumptions are evolving.
- Experience with batch, file, API, messaging, EDI, and event-driven integration patterns.
- Experience planning phased migrations, coexistence, cutovers, and legacy decommissioning.
- Experience defining measurable non-functional requirements and operational-readiness criteria.
- Experience with architecture governance, Architecture Review Boards, Design Authority processes, HLDs, and ADRs.
Preferred:
- Experience with grocery, retail, wholesale distribution, merchandising, or supply-chain environments.
- Experience with item, pricing, promotion, assortment, vendor, inventory, planogram, store, or location domains
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
- Demonstrated ability to define architecture while requirements and future-state assumptions are evolving
- Strong understanding of master and reference data, systems of record, ownership, lineage, and quality controls
- Ability to communicate architecture decisions, business value, and tradeoffs to senior leadership.
- Strong facilitation, negotiation, decision-framing, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Knowledge of cloud architecture, API management, event platforms, integration platforms, observability, and data-governance practices
- Good judgment is required for this position as there may be times when direct supervision may not be immediately available.
Work Environment:
Hybrid Role:
- This position follows a hybrid schedule working in office 2 days per week. The acceptable split between onsite and remote work is determined by the manager. Hybrid associates may choose to work from an office on a more frequent basis than required.
Physical Environment/Demands:
Office Roles:
- Most work is performed in a temperature-controlled office environment.
- Incumbent may sit for long periods of time at a desk or computer terminal.
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
- Incumbent may use calculators, keyboards, telephones, and other office equipment in the course of a normal workday.
- Stooping, bending, twisting, and reaching may be required in the completion of job duties.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of the work performed by the employees assigned to this job. All employees must comply with Company policy and applicable laws. The responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified may vary within each department and/or location.
About UNFI: We are North America's premier grocery wholesaler, delivering the widest variety of fresh, branded, and owned brand products to community grocers and retail chains alike. A pioneer in natural and organic foods, we are growing and transforming to meet the needs of an evolving workplace. Our 29,000+ employees work across America in our 50 Distribution Centers and corporate offices. Learn more: Organic, Natural and Conventional Food | Wholesale Food Distributors | UNFI
Benefits: Competitive 401k, Flexible PTO, Hybrid, Health benefits - first of the month following 30 days of employment, mentorship program/developmental opportunities.
UNFI is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive and respectful environment for all. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other protected ground. Accommodation is available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the job selection process. - Veteran/Disability. VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
Compensation: UNFI anticipates paying the above-referenced pay rate (or within the above-referenced pay range) for this position. Actual Pay, where applicable, will depend on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, education, experience, training, and any requirements under applicable collective bargaining agreements. UNFI is committed to transparency in pay in compliance with applicable state and local laws.
Benefits: For Washington positions (or positions that may be performed remotely from Washington), for Washington-specific paid time off details.
Candidates hired into this position will also be eligible to participate in the following benefits programs: Paid Time Off; Sick Time; paid holidays and parental leave; 401K Program; medical, dental, vision, life, and accidental death/dismemberment insurance; short-term and long-term disability insurance program, Flexible Spending Account and/or Health Savings Account, subject to meeting the eligibility requirements and the terms and conditions of these programs, and subject to any requirements under applicable collective bargaining agreements.
UNFI's compensation, benefits, and paid time off policies are subject to change in the Company's sole discretion, consistent with applicable law. This job posting should not be construed as an offer of employment with certain terms, nor should it be construed as a guaranteed minimum.
Qualified applications with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act .
