Senior Manager Modern Workplace Architecture

NOTE:  This role is hybrid requiring 3 days on-site to a local office.  Locations:  Allentown, PA; Louisville, KY or Providence, RI.  #LI-Hybrid    #INDPPL

The Senior Manager, Modern Workplace Architect is responsible for leading the strategy, architecture, and engineering of PPL’s modern workplace environment, ensuring delivery of a secure, scalable, and high-performing colleague technology experience. This role provides end-to-end ownership across workstation engineering, mobility, endpoint security, patching, and virtual desktop platforms, including AVD and VMware Horizon.

This leader drives standardization, integration, and automation across technologies such as Intune and Autopilot, while ensuring alignment with cybersecurity, infrastructure, and enterprise platforms. The role also plays a critical part in advancing AI-enabled productivity, embedding modern capabilities into everyday workflows to improve colleague efficiency and experience.

The Senior Manager acts as the bridge between strategy and execution, providing technical leadership, enforcing architecture standards, and delivering large-scale workplace modernization initiatives in a complex, highly matrixed environment.

• Lead and own the end-to-end modern workplace architecture and engineering strategy, ensuring delivery of a secure, scalable, and high-performing colleague technology experience aligned to business priorities.
• Serve as the single point of accountability for architecture and integration decisions across all colleague-facing technologies, including endpoint, mobility, and virtualization platforms.
• Lead cross-functional solution design and integration, ensuring alignment across colleague technology, infrastructure, cybersecurity, network, and ServiceNow platforms.
• Own and lead Workstation Engineering, including Windows endpoint architecture and lifecycle engineering, encompassing enterprise image engineering, configuration standards, build pipelines, and endpoint lifecycle management.
• Own and manage the Microsoft Intune platform and Windows Autopilot strategy and execution, including policy design, compliance frameworks, device configuration, zero-touch provisioning, and end-to-end device onboarding experience.
• Own and govern enterprise software packaging, distribution, and deployment processes, ensuring secure, standardized, and efficient delivery of applications across all endpoint platforms.
• Define, enforce, and continuously evolve enterprise hardware and operating system standards, ensuring consistency, lifecycle alignment, and compliance across all colleague devices.
• Establish and maintain endpoint configuration standards, including Group Policy, cloud-based policies, device baselines, and identity integration with Active Directory and Entra ID.
• Lead the development and execution of patch and release management strategy, ensuring timely deployment of OS and application updates, minimizing business disruption, and maintaining enterprise compliance.
• Own and lead Endpoint Security engineering, ensuring implementation and enforcement of enterprise security controls such as BitLocker, endpoint protection, compliance baselines, and adherence to cybersecurity standards.
• Own and lead Mobility Engineering, including mobile device strategy, platform management, secure access, and integration with enterprise identity and security controls.
• Own and lead virtual desktop platforms, including Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and VMware Horizon, ensuring platform stability, performance optimization, scalability, and alignment to future-state virtualization strategy.
• Own and drive the strategy, selection, and implementation of Digital Employee Experience (DEX) tools, including endpoint telemetry, experience monitoring, and proactive issue detection.
• Lead proof-of-concept initiatives and pilot programs for new technologies, ensuring structured evaluation, scalability validation, and alignment to enterprise architecture standards.
• Drive AI enablement for end users, including integration of AI capabilities into the workplace environment and identification of productivity-enhancing use cases to improve colleague experience.
• Define, implement, and enforce architecture standards, engineering patterns, and governance processes, establishing a consistent, scalable, and audit-ready operating model across the environment, including documentation of standards and engineered solutions.
• Define and monitor performance metrics for workplace engineering services, driving continuous improvement in reliability, user experience, and operational efficiency.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight for major initiatives, including Windows 11, endpoint modernization, virtual desktop transformation, and device lifecycle programs.
• Manage vendor relationships, managed service providers, contracts, and licensing for workplace technologies, ensuring alignment to architecture standards, delivery performance, and cost optimization.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex endpoint, virtualization, and workplace platform issues, ensuring rapid resolution through cross-functional coordination.
• Drive a customer-centric workplace technology experience, improving measurable colleague productivity, service reliability, and overall satisfaction with workplace tools and platforms.
• Lead and develop a high-performing modern workplace engineering organization, establishing clear roles, accountability, engineering rigor, and continuous improvement practices.
• Influence and alien with stakeholders across IT and business functions, driving accountability, adoption, and consistent execution in a highly matrixed environment.

Required Experience:

• 10 years experience in end-user technology engineering, architecture, or related IT infrastructure leadership, with at least 3–5 years in a management role.
• Proven success defining and implementing enterprise technology standards and roadmaps.
• Strong technical background in hardware standards, OS platforms, software distribution, and endpoint management.
• Experience with Office 365, plug-in management, and virtual client-side environments.
• Demonstrated ability to manage vendor relationships, budgets, and technology deployment projects.
• Excellent leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Preferred Experience:
• Experience in the utilities industry or other highly regulated environments.
• Relevant certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Endpoint Administrator Expert, ITIL, or equivalent.
• Experience with DEX tools, virtualization, and modern device management solutions (e.g., Intune, SCCM).

Required Education:

• Bachelors degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field required.