Strategy Innovation Manager Jobs in Iowa (NOW HIRING)

Industry/Sector

Not Applicable

Specialism

Product Innovation

Management Level

Senior Manager

Job Description & Summary

At PwC, our people in software and product innovation focus on developing cutting-edge software solutions and driving product innovation to meet the evolving needs of clients. These individuals combine technical experience with creative thinking to deliver innovative software products and solutions.
Those in software engineering at PwC will focus on developing innovative software solutions to drive digital transformation and enhance business performance. In this field, you will use your knowledge to design, code, and test cutting-edge applications that revolutionise industries and deliver exceptional user experiences.
Growing as a strategic advisor, you leverage your influence, expertise, and network to deliver quality results. You motivate and coach others, coming together to solve complex problems. As you increase in autonomy, you apply sound judgment, recognising when to take action and when to escalate. You are expected to solve through complexity, ask thoughtful questions, and clearly communicate how things fit together. Your ability to develop and sustain high performing, diverse, and inclusive teams, and your commitment to excellence, contributes to the success of our Firm.
Examples of the skills, knowledge, and experiences you need to lead and deliver value at this level include but are not limited to:
Craft and convey clear, impactful and engaging messages that tell a holistic story.
Apply systems thinking to identify underlying problems and/or opportunities.
Validate outcomes with clients, share alternative perspectives, and act on client feedback.
Direct the team through complexity, demonstrating composure through ambiguous, challenging and uncertain situations.
Deepen and evolve your expertise with a focus on staying relevant.
Initiate open and honest coaching conversations at all levels.
Make difficult decisions and take action to resolve issues hindering team effectiveness.
Model and reinforce professional and technical standards (e.g. refer to specific PwC tax and audit guidance), the Firm's code of conduct, and independence requirements.
The world runs on data. It flows between machines, platforms, clouds, and people - and the organizations that harness it intelligently win. At PwC's Digital Integration & Architecture practice, we're the architects of that future. We help the world's most ambitious companies reimagine how their technology talks, thinks, and acts - and we're looking for exceptional people to help us lead that charge.
What We Do:
We sit at the intersection of technology strategy and real-world execution. Our team designs and delivers the integration fabric and platform architectures that power modern enterprises - from cloud-native API ecosystems and event-driven architectures to AI-infused data pipelines and intelligent automation.
But this isn't just engineering. It's vision. We advise C-suite leaders and technology executives across every major industry on how to think differently about their architecture - how to move from legacy monoliths to composable, AI-ready platforms that can adapt at the speed of business.
We bring the latest thinking in Artificial Intelligence to every engagement. We challenge clients to ask bigger questions: How can AI reshape your integration strategy? How do you architect systems that don't just connect machines - but enable machines to think alongside humans? These are the conversations we live for.
The Role:
As a Senior Manager in our Digital Integration & Architecture practice, you'll be an enterprise-scale change agent - shaping vision with executives, governing complex delivery, and building the capabilities clients need to sustain change.
You'll lead multi-track programs end to end, orchestrating strategy, architecture, and execution across platforms, teams, and partners. You'll own key client relationships, collaborate with Partners on origination, and ensure our work delivers measurable business value, not just technical excellence.
Key Responsibilities
Lead assessment, planning, and execution of full stack application migrations to AWS.
Analyze existing application portfolios for cloud readiness, dependencies, and modernization opportunities.
Architect end-to-end migration solutions including re-hosting, re-platforming, and refactoring of front-end, back-end, and data components.
Design AWS-native architectures using Lambda, EC2, ECS/EKS, API Gateway, RDS, DynamoDB, S3, CloudFront, Cognito, and IAM.
Develop Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, CloudFormation, or AWS CDK.
Implement CI/CD pipelines incorporating AI-powered code quality gates, automated security scanning, and AI-assisted deployment validation.
Define and drive AI-native engineering strategy across teams, establishing standards for AI tool adoption, measuring productivity gains, and reporting efficiency metrics to leadership.
Lead and mentor engineering teams on modern development frameworks (React, Angular, Vue.js) and backend technologies (Node.js, Java, Python) with AI-augmented workflows as the default.
Design applications with AI agent integration points, evaluating and architecting agentic AI solutions within modernization and migration initiatives.
Implement AWS security best practices and govern identity, compliance, and networking.
Collaborate with DevOps, Security, QA, and business teams for delivery excellence.
Use CloudWatch, X-Ray, and CloudTrail for observability and performance optimization.
Evaluate emerging AI development tools and platforms; set adoption strategy and measure ROI for the engineering organization.
Maintain architecture and migration documentation.
AI-Native Engineering Expectations
Use AI coding assistants (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Kiro) as your default development workflow and define the AI-native engineering strategy for the organization.
Evaluate emerging AI development tools and platforms; set adoption strategy and measure ROI.
Establish organization-wide standards for AI-assisted development, code review, testing, and deployment.
Drive measurable efficiency gains through AI tool adoption and report metrics to leadership.
Architect applications with AI agent integration points, leveraging agentic AI frameworks (LangChain, Claude Agent SDK, Bedrock Agent SDK).
Mentor engineering leaders and teams on AI-native practices as the standard operating model.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
15+ years of experience in software engineering and architecture.
6+ years of hands-on AWS experience including modernization or migration.
Daily proficiency with AI coding assistants (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, or Kiro) with a track record of establishing AI-native engineering practices across teams.
Experience evaluating and adopting new AI development tools and platforms for engineering organizations.
Hands-on experience with agentic AI frameworks including LangChain, Claude Agent SDK, and Bedrock Agent SDK.
Experience designing applications with AI agent integration points and understanding how agentic AI intersects with the application layer.
Ability to measure and report AI-driven efficiency metrics to leadership.
Proficiency in front-end frameworks such as React, Angular, or Vue.js.
Strong back-end development skills with Node.js, Java, Python, or equivalent.
Experience migrating legacy applications to AWS using methodologies like lift-and-shift, re-platforming, and refactoring.
Hands-on experience with AWS services including Lambda, S3, RDS, DynamoDB, API Gateway, CloudFront, Cognito, IAM.
Strong knowledge of Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, CDK).
Familiarity with containerization and orchestration tools (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS/EKS).
Strong understanding of application security, identity management, and cloud governance in AWS.
Strong communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
Proven track record leading cloud migration or modernization projects.
Knowledge of Agile methodology and practices.
Prior experience with microservices architecture, serverless patterns, and event-driven design.
Preferred Qualifications
AWS Professional or Associate certifications.
DevOps experience (CI/CD pipelines using CodePipeline, GitHub Actions, Jenkins).
Experience with AWS migration tools (DMS, SCT, Migration Hub).
Experience working in enterprise multi-account AWS environments.

Travel Requirements

Up to 80%

Job Posting End Date

The salary range for this position is: $124,000 - $280,000. Actual compensation within the range will be dependent upon the individual's skills, experience, qualifications and location, and applicable employment laws. All hired individuals are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. PwC offers a wide range of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, 401k, holiday pay, vacation, personal and family sick leave, and more. To view our benefits at a glance, please visit the following link: https://pwc.to/benefits-at-a-glanceAs PwC is anequal opportunity employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment at PwC without regard to race; color; religion; national origin; sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity); age; disability; genetic information (including family medical history); veteran, marital, or citizenship status; or, any other status protected by law.PwC does not intend to hire experienced or entry level job seekers who will need, now or in the future, PwC sponsorship through the H-1B lottery, except as set forth within the following policy: https://pwc.to/H-1B-Lottery-Policy.Learn more about how we work: https://pwc.to/how-we-workFor only those qualified applicants that are impacted by the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, San Diego County Fair Chance Ordinance, and the California Fair Chance Act, where applicable, arrest or conviction records will be considered for Employment in accordance with these laws. At PwC, we recognize that conviction records may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship to responsibilities such as accessing sensitive company or customer information, handling proprietary assets, or collaborating closely with team members. We evaluate these factors thoughtfully to establish a secure and trusted workplace for all.Applications will be accepted until the position is filled or the posting is removed, unless otherwise set forth on the following webpage. Please visit this link for information about anticipated application deadlines: https://pwc.to/us-application-deadlines