Principal Architect

Seeking a Principal Architect to define and drive the technical vision for our Client's platform. This role is ideal for a seasoned architect who combines deep technical expertise with strategic thinking, and who is passionate about building systems that are stable, resilient, and built to scale. You will be the technical cornerstone for our engineering organization - shaping architecture decisions, championing engineering excellence, and mentoring teams to deliver world-class solutions.

• Define and own the technical architecture for the product platforms
• Lead the design and documentation of comprehensive technical designs and architectural blueprints before development begins
• Architect and evolve enterprise-grade APIs that are secure, performant, and scalable
• Design systems with stability, reliability, and resiliency as first‑class concerns—including fault tolerance, graceful degradation, and disaster recovery
• Drive architectural decisions for distributed systems, event‑driven architectures, and cloud‑native solutions (AWS preferred)
• Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies, including AI‑powered development tools and assistants, to enhance engineering productivity and code quality
• Ensure architectural patterns support horizontal and vertical scalability to meet growing business demands

• Champion and establish best practices, coding standards, and engineering processes across the organization
• Define and enforce architectural principles, design patterns, and technical guidelines
• Create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation including architectural decision records (ADRs), API specifications, and system design documents
• Lead architecture review boards and provide governance for technical decisions across teams
• Drive adoption of modern development practices including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and automated testing strategies

• Serve as the senior technical authority, guiding and mentoring engineers across multiple teams on architectural and technical matters
• Conduct design reviews and provide hands‑on guidance to ensure technical solutions meet architectural standards
• Foster a culture of engineering excellence, continuous learning, and technical curiosity
• Collaborate with engineering leadership to build team capabilities and develop technical talent
• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to stakeholders at all levels, from engineers to executives
• Partner with product and business teams to translate requirements into robust technical solutions

• Contribute to critical system components, demonstrating technical leadership through code when appropriate
• Prototype and validate architectural approaches for complex technical challenges
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues in distributed environments
• Maintain deep technical knowledge through continued hands‑on involvement with the codebase and systems

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with 3+ years in an Architect or similar technical leadership role
• Strong proficiency in C#, Python, or PHP (experience with multiple languages preferred)
• Extensive experience with PostgreSQL
  , including performance optimization, schema design, and scaling strategies
• Proven track record of designing and building enterprise‑grade APIs at scale
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, event‑driven architecture (Kafka, Rabbit
  
  MQ, or similar), and microservices patterns
• Experience designing and operating cloud‑based systems (AWS preferred)
• Strong understanding of system reliability engineering principles—including high availability, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery
• Demonstrated experience establishing and evangelizing engineering best practices, standards, and processes
• Experience with caching strategies and technologies (Redis or equivalent)
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical direction and mentor engineers

• Experience with multiple languages across C#, Python, and PHP
• Familiarity with both Postgre
  
  SQL and MySQL
• Experience leveraging AI coding assistants (e.g., Git Hub Copilot, Claude, Cursor) to enhance development workflows
• Track record of building tools, frameworks, or platforms for internal developer productivity
• Experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, Cloud Formation) and modern CI/CD practices
• Background in financial services or data‑intensive applications