This position is with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning -- your application will be submitted directly to their hiring team for review.

The GIS Architect defines CMAP's enterprise geospatial strategy, architecture, governance, standards, platform roadmap, authoritative regional layers, and service model. The role treats GIS as shared enterprise infrastructure that supports planning, research, modeling, applications, analytics, public engagement, and regional data publication rather than as disconnected project-specific technology.

Salary Range: $88,000-$115,000

Location: CMAP is located in Downtown Chicago with easy access to Metro Trains. Preference will be given to those in the area or willing to relocate, but all remote candidates will also be considered within the USA.

Organizational Stewardship:

• Positions enterprise GIS as a core TDA capability and strengthens CMAP's stewardship of trusted regional spatial information.
• Establishes authoritative regional layers and repeatable publication practices that improve consistency, reuse, interoperability, and public trust.
• Reduces duplicative geospatial tools, layers, services, applications, and file-based workflows across the agency.
• Aligns geospatial investments, licensing, platforms, and services with CMAP mission priorities, regional partner needs, and enterprise architecture.
• Ensures continuity, accessibility, security, quality, and sustainable support for mission-critical GIS platforms and products.

Communications/People:

• Leads GIS governance and architecture discussions with internal stakeholders.
• Translates enterprise GIS strategy, standards, risks, platform decisions, and service expectations for technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Provides technical direction, mentoring, and reusable guidance to internal stakeholders.
• Works with external stakeholders to improve interoperability, data sharing, platform design, and ownership of deliverables.
• Builds consensus on authoritative layers, spatial definitions, publication standards, platform priorities, and cross-divisional GIS needs.

Execution/Project Management:

• Develops and maintains the enterprise GIS strategy, target architecture, standards, service catalog, roadmap, governance model, and modernization plan.
• Prioritizes GIS platform, data, integration, application, service, and modernization initiatives based on mission value, risk, demand, technical debt, and capacity.
• Reviews proposed GIS solutions and documents architecture decisions, standards compliance, exceptions, dependencies, and remediation needs.
• Coordinates platform upgrades, migrations, licensing, hosting, security remediation, backup, recovery, monitoring, and continuity planning with internal and external stakeholders.
• Establishes service tiers, intake, support, publishing, ownership, and lifecycle processes for enterprise, program, analytical, and public-facing GIS capabilities.
• Tracks roadmap delivery, platform health, authoritative-layer coverage, standards adoption, duplication reduction, quality, and service performance.

Subject Matter Expertise/Technical Skills:

• Develops and maintains CMAP's enterprise GIS architecture, governance model, standards, platform roadmap, and spatial-service strategy.
• Designs the target architecture for ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, spatial databases, GIS servers, portals, web services, APIs, applications, and integrations.
• Defines platform topology, environment separation, identity integration, user roles, permissions, publishing practices, backup, recovery, monitoring, and capacity requirements.
• Establishes standards for enterprise geodatabases, spatial schemas, coordinate systems, projections, topology, geometry validation, naming, versioning, and authoritative layers.
• Defines the process for designating, maintaining, publishing, versioning, and retiring authoritative regional spatial datasets.
• Establishes geospatial metadata and quality requirements consistent with applicable agency, FGDC, ISO, or comparable practices.
• Defines approved patterns for feature services, map services, vector tiles, imagery, geocoding, routing, spatial APIs, editing workflows, field applications, and public maps.
• Guides integration of GIS with data platforms, BI tools, applications, APIs, modeling environments, open-data platforms, and partner systems.
• Reviews GIS solution designs for scalability, interoperability, security, maintainability, accessibility, data quality, performance, and enterprise fit.
• Evaluates GIS licensing, hosting models, cloud options, extensions, vendor proposals, and platform investments.
• Establishes GIS continuity, backup, disaster-recovery, patching, upgrade, monitoring, and lifecycle requirements.
• Develops reusable GIS templates, architectural patterns, publishing standards, service models, and implementation guidance.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Ability to use clear communication to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to work collaboratively with internal and external partners, agencies, and communities and maintain effective harmonious relationships.
• Ability to work effectively in a hybrid environment promoting resourcefulness and efficient practices.
• Knowledge of common productivity and collaboration tools, including Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 products.
• Ability to efficiently manage work, projects, and multiple responsibilities to meet deadlines and agency expectations.
• Demonstrated experience presenting technical analysis to non-technical audiences
• Proficient with enterprise GIS platforms including Esri, ArcGIS Enterprise and spatial data management.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing, with technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Ability to document decisions, requirements, processes, risks, and technical work in a clear and maintainable manner.
• Demonstrated expertise in enterprise GIS architecture, geospatial platform design, spatial data management, GIS governance, and authoritative data services.
• Advanced knowledge of ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Online, spatial databases, web GIS, APIs, geospatial standards, and system integration.
• Strong architecture, systems-thinking, facilitation, documentation, technical-leadership, and cross-functional planning abilities.
• Ability to evaluate GIS investments and balance mission value, usability, interoperability, security, performance, cost, and supportability.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in geography, urban planning, computer science, information systems or related field, 6 years professional experience, master’s degree preferred.
• GISP certification preferred.