Principal Architect - Manufacturing and Quality

Career Area:
Technology, Digital and Data
Job Description:
Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.
When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do - but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here - we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.
The Principal Architect for Manufacturing & Quality is a senior enterprise architecture leader responsible for defining and governing the technology architecture that enables modern manufacturing across global operations for over 200 facilities.
This role partners with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and digital platform leaders to architect scalable solutions that support smart factories, advanced analytics, predictive quality, automation and digital twins.
The role ensures that the manufacturing technology ecosystem, including ERP, MES, manufacturing applications, data platforms and industrial IoT, evolves toward a simplified, interoperable, and future-ready architecture capable of enabling AI-driven operations and next generation manufacturing innovation.
The mission of this role is to enable a digital manufacturing architecture that supports smart factories transformation, predictive and autonomous quality systems, real-time operational visibility, digital twin simulation environments, event-driven manufacturing operations, and scalable data platforms supporting AI and advanced analytics.
This role ensures that manufacturing systems evolve into a high-velocity digital platform supporting operational excellence, quality leadership, and business flexibility.
What You Will Do:
Manufacturing Architecture Leadership:
• Define target state for modern manufacturing platforms including MES, plant integration, Industrial IoT, and manufacturing analytics.
• Establish architecture frameworks enabling digitally connected factories and standardized manufacturing platforms.
• Guide the evolution of manufacturing systems toward scalable, composable and event driven architectures.
Quality Systems Architecture
• Architect next-generation quality management systems supporting predictive quality, defect analytics, and automated inspection.
• Enable integration of quality data across design, manufacturing, and supplier ecosystems.
• Support adoption of AI-driven quality insights and closed-loop quality management
Enterprise Integration & Data Architecture
• Define architecture patterns that integrate: MES, ERP, quality systems, Industrial IoT, and manufacturing analytics.
• Ensure manufacturing data flows through standardized data contracts and event streams supporting enterprise data platforms and digital twins.
Technology Standardization & Simplification: Drive rationalization of landscapes and enable global scale while support plant-level flexibility
Cross-functional Architecture Alignment: Partner across a broad range of stakeholders to ensure architectural alignment.
Architecture Governance: Serve as the architecture authority for manufacturing and quality domains.
What You Have:
• Experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture or manufacturing systems architecture.
• Deep experience with manufacturing systems integration and plant technology environments.
• Proven ability to architect solutions across MES, ERP, quality systems, and industrial data platforms. • • • • Experience supporting large-scale manufacturing transformation programs.
• Strong understanding of industrial manufacturing processes and plant operations.
• Expertise in integration architecture and enterprise platform design
• Business Assessment: Knowledge of the activities, tasks, practices and deliverables for assessing and documenting business opportunities; ability to assess the benefits, risks, and success factors of potential applications.
• Analytical Thinking: Knowledge of techniques and tools that promote effective analysis; ability to determine the root cause of organizational problems and create alternative solutions that resolve these problems.
• Architecture Modelling: Knowledge of Architecture Modelling; ability to develop and modify enterprise architecture through conceptual, logical and physical approaches.
• Core Application Systems: Knowledge of major production application systems used for delivery of services to internal and external clients; ability to leverage major production application systems in diverse situations.
• Software Product Design/Architecture: Knowledge of software product design; ability to convert market requirements into the software product design.
• Application Modernization: Knowledge of the concepts, processes and technologies of application modernization; ability to design, develop and deploy modernized applications in various business scenarios.
• System and Technology Integration: Knowledge of the features and facilities of systems; ability to integrate and communicate among applications, databases and technology platforms.
Top Candidates Will Also Have:
• Qualification in Architectural Framework e.g. TOGAF
• Experience supporting smart factory or Industry 4.0 transformations
• Exposure to digital twins, advanced manufacturing analytics, or simulation platforms
• Familiarity with event driven architectures and modern data platforms
• Experience operating in global, complex industrial manufacturing organizations
• Direct Leadership Experience would be beneficial
Additional Info:

• The ideal location for this role is East Peoria-IL, Irving-TX
• This position may require 20% travel.

About Caterpillar -
For more than a century, Caterpillar has helped build a better, more sustainable world. With 2025 sales and revenues of $67.6 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is shaping the future as the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Backed by one of the largest independent global dealer networks and financing services through Cat Financial, the company's primary business segments: Power & Energy, Construction Industries and Resource Industries are solving customers' toughest challenges through commercial excellence and advanced technology, driven by a highly skilled, dedicated global team. Learn more at www.caterpillar.com.
Summary Pay Range:
$172,630.00 - $258,950.00
Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.
Benefits:
Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits*
• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*
• 401(k) savings plans*
• Health Savings Account (HSA)*
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
• Health Lifestyle Programs*
• Employee Assistance Program*
• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
• Career Development*
• Incentive bonus*
• Disability benefits
• Life Insurance
• Parental leave
• Adoption benefits
• Tuition Reimbursement

* These benefits also apply to part-time employees
Posting Dates:
March 17, 2026 - March 30, 2026
Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.
Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.
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