The Senior Manager, Architecture at Lithia Home Office is responsible for defining and evolving architectural standards, leading a team of architects and engineers, and ensuring that system designs meet security and scalability requirements. Additionally, they manage architectural planning for major initiatives, oversee DevOps and core engineering, and collaborate with various teams to align technical solutions with business goals.

To be considered for the Senior Manager, Architecture position at Lithia Home Office, candidates should have a minimum of 2 years in engineering management and 4 years in hands-on engineering, along with 3 years in enterprise digital architecture. A Bachelor’s in Computer Science or a related field is required, with a Master’s preferred. Certifications like Azure Solutions Architect and TOGAF are also advantageous.

Lithia Home Office emphasizes career development for the Senior Manager, Architecture, through established onboarding processes, mentorship, and development programs. The company encourages continuous learning and innovation, ensuring that leaders within the organization are well-supported in their career paths.

The Senior Manager, Architecture at Lithia Home Office will work predominantly with cloud platforms like Azure, containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes, and will also engage with APIs, SQL databases, and tools including Snowflake and Salesforce in developing enterprise digital architecture solutions.

At Lithia Home Office, the Senior Manager, Architecture can expect competitive pay along with a comprehensive benefits package. This includes medical, dental, and vision plans, paid holidays and PTO, short and long-term disability, paid life insurance, a 401(k) retirement plan, employee stock purchase benefits, and wellness programs.

When answering this question, focus on your leadership style, how you nurture team dynamics, and your approach to mentoring engineers. Include examples of how you have successfully built high-performing teams and the strategies you used for professional development.

Discuss your methodology for establishing architectural standards, emphasizing collaboration with other departments to ensure alignment with business goals. Provide examples of previous frameworks you have implemented and their impact on system performance and security.

In your response, highlight your understanding of compliance regulations relevant to the industry, and how you incorporate security best practices into the architectural design process. Share specific instances where you successfully addressed compliance challenges.

Here, demonstrate your communication skills by providing a clear example of how you simplified technical information for non-technical stakeholders. Discuss techniques you used and the positive outcomes that resulted from your effective communication.

Discuss your knowledge of emerging technologies and trends, such as cloud-native architecture or advanced data management solutions. Explain why these technologies are important and how you plan to implement them in future projects.

Emphasize your commitment to continuous learning through methods such as attending conferences, obtaining certifications, and engaging with professional communities. Detail how your learning has influenced your practice as an architect.

Provide a specific case study where your architectural decision had a positive impact—be it increased system performance, reduced costs, or enhanced scalability. Focus on measurable outcomes to emphasize the effectiveness of your decision.

Talk about specific projects where you utilized Azure, detailing the tools and services used. Explain the advantages Azure offered for the projects and how it contributed to achieving the overall architectural goals.

Explain your strategy for assessing project significance, stakeholder impact, and resource availability. Discuss how you use these assessments to create a roadmap that aligns with organizational objectives.

Highlight the importance of collaboration with various departments in your work as a Senior Manager, Architecture. Share strategies that facilitate effective communication and teamwork to achieve architectural goals.