Principal, Process Architect - Strategic Programs

Primary Role

The Finance Process Architect leads the design, governance, and optimization of finance processes within the AW2030 SAP S/4HANA transformation. Partnering with business and IT stakeholders, this role ensures alignment between finance objectives, value stream outcomes, and technology solutions while driving standardization, simplification, and automation. As a finance process subject matter expert, the architect validates key deliverables, guides integration across systems, and supports deployment to enable the successful delivery of the AW2030 roadmap.

The [Value Stream] Process Architect plays a pivotal role in designing and governing scalable, efficient, and integrated business processes that enable business transformation and operational excellence within a designated value stream for the American Water2030 (AW2030) program. This role ensures strategic alignment between business objectives, value streams, and technology solutions, supporting successful implementation of the AW2030 roadmap initiative waves. Key requirements include:

• Lead the end-to-end business process architecture across key enterprise systems and initiatives within a designated value stream.
• Ensure alignment between business processes, value stream outcomes, and enterprise objectives.
• Guide process owners and leads to maintain consistency with defined value stream models.
• Partner with value stream leaders and Subject Matter Advisors (SMAs) to align process decisions with organizational priorities.
• Validate and govern key process artifacts, including: Process Hierarchies, Business Process Documents (BPDs), Functional and Configuration Design Documents, Requirements Traceability Matrices (RTMs), and RICEFWs (Reports, Interfaces, Conversions, Enhancements, Forms, Workflows, Inventories).
• Participate in technology and solution architecture discussions to ensure business process compatibility and alignment.

Key Accountabilities

• Govern and maintain value stream process architecture documentation aligned with transformation governance and enterprise standards.
• Define, communicate, and enforce enterprise process design principles, frameworks, and best practices.
• Facilitate process discovery, design, and alignment workshops across business and IT stakeholders.
• Identify and drive opportunities for process improvement, simplification, standardization, and automation.
• Conduct impact assessments of proposed changes across processes and systems.
• Support readiness and deployment planning by ensuring process deliverables are complete, validated, and understood.
• Evaluate downstream and upstream impacts of proposed process changes.

Knowledge/Skills

Knowledge:

• Recognized as subject matter expert in own discipline/function.
• In-depth knowledge of American water’s organization, operating model, and business processes within a specific value stream, or expertise in equivalent business environment at other utilities.
• Understanding of current American Water systems used within the value stream and critical functionality provided by the current systems.
• Familiarity with customizations to current American Water systems used by the value stream, or knowledge of typical customizations to similar systems at other utilities.
• Familiarity with value stream mapping and cross-functional operational workflows.
• Awareness of regulatory, compliance, and risk management considerations for value stream process design.

Skills:

• Strong strategic thinking and holistic, systems-level problem solving.
• Analytical mindset with strong documentation and visual communication capabilities.
• Results-oriented mindset with ability to lead through ambiguity.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate competing priorities and maintain a big-picture focus.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement at all organizational levels.
• High integrity and ability to lead through challenging changes in business operating environments.

Experience/Education

• Typically requires 12= years of relevant experience, including 5+ in process design, process improvement and/or business transformation roles.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required. Master’s preferred.

Travel Requirements

Competencies