ServiceNow Architect

Job Title: ServiceNow Architect – Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) / IT Business Management (ITBM)

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Role/Job Summary:
We are looking for a senior ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) Architect who will act as the senior-most technical authority for the organisation's SPM ecosystem, designing scalable, enterprise-grade solutions that connect business strategy to execution. The role owns the enterprise SPM and Enterprise Architecture (EA) blueprint, the multi-year platform roadmap, and the embedding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities such as Now Assist and Agentic AI into portfolio workflows. Equally important, this person must be an outstanding communicator and presenter who can evangelise the SPM product suite and influence Portfolio Management Office (PMO), Finance, Information Technology (IT) and business leadership on getting maximum value from the platform.

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Key Responsibilities:

• Platform architecture and design: Lead end-to-end architecture and implementation of the ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) suite across demand, project, portfolio, resource and financial management; define and maintain the enterprise SPM architecture and multi-year technology roadmap aligned to business strategy and investment priorities.
• Enterprise Architecture (EA) alignment: Position SPM within the wider enterprise architecture landscape, aligning business capabilities, application portfolio and technology services to the Common Service Data Model (CSDM) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) so that strategy, spend and technology assets remain traceable end to end.
• Governance and standards: Minimise customisation, drive out-of-the-box (OOTB) adoption, enforce architectural governance and design standards across the implementation lifecycle, and ensure every solution is scalable, secure and upgrade-safe.
• Portfolio and strategic planning: Connect Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), investment funding and execution outcomes; configure Investment Funding, Strategic Planning Workspace, Alignment Planner and Business Planning Portal; architect Agile delivery capabilities including sprint planning, epic and story hierarchy, and backlog management integrated with the project and portfolio layers.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) enablement: Design and embed Now Assist and Agentic AI use cases into SPM workflows, such as demand summarisation and conversational demand creation, project status and insight generation, story generation from epics, and autonomous monitoring of critical-path project tasks.
• Integration and technical delivery: Define integration strategies with financial and delivery systems including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms such as Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) and Oracle, Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tools such as Planview, Clarity and Microsoft Project, Agile tools such as Jira and Azure DevOps, and IT Service Management (ITSM) modules; architect Representational State Transfer (REST), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Management, Instrumentation and Discovery (MID) Server and IntegrationHub spokes for SPM data flows.
• Evangelisation and stakeholder influence: Act as the product evangelist for the SPM suite, running executive briefings, value-realisation sessions and roadmap presentations that influence senior stakeholders on the best use of the platform and improve Return on Investment (ROI) visibility and portfolio decision quality.
• Workshops and advisory: Lead SPM workshops, design sessions and architecture reviews with the Portfolio Management Office (PMO), Finance, IT and business stakeholders; act as trusted advisor on portfolio governance and digital transformation initiatives.
• Mentoring and quality: Mentor SPM developers and consultants, conduct code and design reviews, and set development standards across the delivery team.
• Pre-sales support: Support solution design, product demonstrations, effort estimation and responses to Requests for Proposal (RFP) and Requests for Information (RFI).

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Must-Have Skills:

• ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) / IT Business Management (ITBM) modules: Demand Management (idea intake, scoring, approvals), Project Management (Work Breakdown Structure, milestones, baselines), Portfolio Management (investment prioritisation, scenario planning), Resource Management (capacity, allocation, utilisation), Financial Planning (budget versus actuals, cost tracking, Financial Operations or FinOps), Agile Development, Test Management, Innovation Management, Strategic Planning (Objectives and Key Results or OKRs, investment funding, Alignment Planner) and Time Management.
• Architect-level solution ownership: Proven accountability for solution design, design authority and delivery governance on enterprise-scale SPM programmes.
• Platform and scripting: Business Rules, Client Scripts, Script Includes, User Interface (UI) Policies, Flow Designer and IntegrationHub; scoped applications, domain separation, Access Control List (ACL) design and security model configuration.

• Data model: Common Service Data Model (CSDM) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) alignment, service mapping and control-to-asset accuracy.
• Reporting and experience layer: Performance Analytics, SPM dashboards, Workspaces and UI Builder.
• Integrations: Representational State Transfer (REST), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Management, Instrumentation and Discovery (MID) Server and IntegrationHub spokes; Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Agile toolchains, Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) and identity platforms such as Active Directory, Okta and SailPoint.
• Certification (mandatory): ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist – Strategic Portfolio Management (CIS-SPM).
• Enterprise Architecture (EA) capability: Ability to link business capabilities, application portfolio, technology services and investment decisions into a single architecture narrative.
• Communication and presentation (A++ requirement): Exceptional verbal, written and presentation skills, with the ability to evangelise the SPM product suite, facilitate executive workshops, and influence Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Portfolio Management Office (PMO) level stakeholders.

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Good-to-Have Skills:

• Now Assist and Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) for SPM (highly desired): Hands-on exposure to Now Assist skills and AI agents for SPM use cases such as demand summarisation, conversational demand creation, project insights and status generation, story generation from epics, and autonomous project task monitoring.
• Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) (highly beneficial): Working knowledge of policies and controls, control attestation, risk registers, audit management and regulatory compliance, and how these connect to portfolio and investment governance.
• Advanced Common Service Data Model (CSDM) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) (highly beneficial): Deep CSDM knowledge to support Enterprise Architecture (EA) use cases, including business capability mapping, application portfolio rationalisation and technology lifecycle management.
• Additional certifications: ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA), Certified Technical Architect (CTA), Certified Application Developer (CAD); Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI); Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Agilist or Scrum Master; Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 4 Foundation.
• Enterprise Architecture frameworks: The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), ArchiMate modelling or equivalent.
• Domain exposure: IT Financial Management (ITFM), FinOps, Application Portfolio Management (APM) and Enterprise Agile Planning.
• Education: Master's degree such as Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Master of Science (MSc), particularly for Portfolio Management Office (PMO) transformation or IT Financial Management scope.

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Experience Required:
10–12+ years of total professional Information Technology (IT) experience, including a minimum of 7 years of hands-on ServiceNow experience, 3+ years of dedicated Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) / IT Business Management (ITBM) implementation experience, and 2–3 years in a lead or architect capacity with accountability for solution design and delivery governance. Must have led, as lead or architect, a minimum of 2 enterprise-scale SPM implementations. Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration or Engineering is required.

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Any Other Important Notes:

• Communication screening: This is a client-facing, board-visible role. Shortlisting must include a live presentation or whiteboard round to validate A++ communication, storytelling and executive presence, in addition to the technical evaluation.

• Certification priority: ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist – Strategic Portfolio Management (CIS-SPM) is mandatory; Enterprise Architecture (EA) credentials and Now Assist / Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) exposure are strong differentiators during shortlisting.
• Industry preference: Prior delivery in regulated industries is strongly preferred, including Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Healthcare and Life Sciences, Manufacturing and Retail, and Energy and Utilities.
• Stakeholder engagement: Expect regular interaction with Portfolio Management Office (PMO), Finance, IT leadership and business executives, including workshop facilitation, architecture review boards and value-realisation reviews.
• Pre-sales contribution: Participation in solution design, demonstrations, effort estimation and responses to Requests for Proposal (RFP) and Requests for Information (RFI) is an expected part of the role.
• Location, shift and travel: To be confirmed by the hiring manager, including base location, overlap hours with client or global stakeholders, and any onsite or travel expectation for workshops and go-live milestones.
• Continuous learning: The candidate is expected to track ServiceNow SPM product evolution, AI capabilities, agile delivery practices and portfolio governance trends, and to bring these into the platform roadmap.

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