Application Development Architect

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Illinois.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of application architecture for designated billable projects, which includes creating technical design documents, architecture diagrams, and making key implementation decisions, while remaining actively involved in the codebase when necessary.

• Assist Enterprise Cloud Architects during pre-sales activities by participating in discovery sessions, defining the scope of application development, producing effort estimates, making staffing suggestions, and drafting application development sections for SOWs and proposals.

• Convert SOW scope into an actionable implementation plan and backlog for the engineering team to execute, ensuring that delivery stays aligned with that scope.

• Identify architectural, delivery, or team practice issues across engagements and address them or facilitate their resolution proactively, without waiting for escalation.

• Prioritize the interests of stakeholders and customers when faced with competing demands regarding scope, quality, and timelines, escalating conflicts to Application Development leadership and Enterprise Cloud Architects promptly.

• Lead engineering teams by establishing technical direction, reviewing designs and code submitted by L3 and L4 engineers, and mentoring engineers.

• Establish and enhance the engineering standards within the department, including agent-driven delivery procedures, and implement them across various engagements.

• Maintain the billable utilization target as set by Application Development leadership while also fulfilling pre-sales responsibilities.

• Manage multiple customer engagements and pre-sales opportunities simultaneously, from initial project definition to final delivery.

⛳️ Requirements

• Proven experience in professional software engineering and architecture, demonstrating capability at a staff or principal level, with ownership of solution architecture for client engagements and guidance of delivery teams.

• Experience in production delivery on Google Cloud Platform.

• A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.

• Familiarity with application architecture for cloud-native systems, including microservices, API design, event-driven patterns, and data modeling.

• Extensive experience with Java and Spring Boot, alongside working knowledge of at least one other backend technology stack such as Node.js/TypeScript or Python.

• Experience with GCP application services, such as Cloud Run, GKE, Pub/Sub, Cloud SQL or AlloyDB, and IAM.

• Background in designing agentic AI systems on Google Cloud, including familiarity with Gemini models, Google ADK, and Vertex AI.

• Skills in pre-sales activities including facilitating discovery sessions, scoping solutions, estimating level-of-effort, and providing technical input for SOWs and proposals.

• Ability to draft technical design documents and create architecture diagrams.

• Proficiency in presenting and negotiating technical trade-offs with customer stakeholders.

• Experience leading engineering teams, setting technical direction, resolving issues independently, and developing engineers.

• Regular use of AI coding assistants and agentic development tools, with an aptitude for defining team usage standards.

• Awareness of security and compliance requirements for enterprise and public-sector environments.

• Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect certification and other relevant Google Cloud Professional certifications are advantageous.

• Familiarity with workflow or business rules engines such as Camunda or Flowable is a plus.

• Experience with frontend architecture using React is beneficial.

• Background in building reusable platform components or accelerators across engagements is advantageous.

• Experience in government or regulated environments is a plus.

• Previous professional services experience at a cloud partner is advantageous.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonuses.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.

• Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning.

• Flexible work hours and remote working options.

• Supportive and inclusive company culture.