Senior Software Architect

Description

The company is a billion-dollar global provider of in-store retail solutions, based in Research Triangle Park, NC, and works with large retailers.

This role is for a hands-on senior architect who leads solutions from client discovery through delivery on a major retail platform, while building the shared platform those solutions rely on.

You will work across architecture, platform development, client engagement, partner integrations, and AI-assisted development to deliver scalable, resilient, and maintainable systems.

The role runs on a Dual-Track model: a Discovery Track for prototyping, feasibility checks, and client alignment, and a Delivery Track for production builds with measurable results.

Responsibilities

• Own architecture for each solution from discovery and design through delivery and operational readiness, covering both platform and client work.
• Design and build new platform infrastructure for upcoming products and use cases.
• Build APIs, microservices, data pipelines, and shared services, and define patterns that let teams ship features quickly and extend the platform.
• Write production code for critical platform features and infrastructure, and build reference implementations and prototypes to test designs.
• Lead technical design for new product capabilities as business needs change.
• Serve as the technical lead and subject-matter expert in client engagements, running workshops, presenting solutions, and securing approvals.
• Turn discovery results into delivery backlogs that keep the design intent and standards intact, and trace every business requirement to what gets built.
• Design integrations with payment, loyalty, inventory, and cloud partners, including authentication (OAuth, SAML, API keys), error handling, and API versioning.
• Define and enforce integration patterns, API contracts, and data models so systems interoperate and scale.
• Govern design trade-offs for performance, security, and resilience, and assess risks such as compatibility, data integrity, scalability, partner dependencies, backward compatibility, and compliance.
• Produce and maintain architecture artifacts, including ADRs, interface contracts, data flow and sequence diagrams, infrastructure specs, migration and rollback plans, and traceability matrices.
• Run quality gates, take part in design reviews and release sign-offs, and own operational accountability after release.
• Mentor engineers and junior architects on design, infrastructure patterns, Dual-Track work, and AI-assisted development, and review their code.
• Identify reusable assets, shared APIs, and investment gaps as part of platform and portfolio strategy.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• At least 8 years of professional software development experience, including recent hands-on coding and prototyping with modern stacks.
• At least 5 years designing cloud-native, microservices, or event-driven architectures on Azure or an equivalent cloud platform.
• Strong record building platform infrastructure and scalable backend systems.
• Proven record of owning medium-to-large projects end to end, including design, implementation, and post-release operations.
• Experience with partner integrations involving payments, SaaS APIs, loyalty, inventory, or authentication providers.
• Experience building prototypes or reference implementations to validate architecture and feasibility.
• Expertise in API-first design using REST and OpenAPI.
• Experience with SQL and NoSQL databases.
• Solid understanding of containers, CI/CD, and Kubernetes-based delivery pipelines.
• Practical use of generative AI and AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, or Cursor.
• Strong communication skills for facilitating workshops, presenting technical solutions, and working across business and engineering teams.
• Proven leadership in mentoring engineers, conducting code reviews, and enforcing architecture governance.
• Preferred: Strong knowledge of retail platforms, including POS systems, store operations, and payment processing.
• Preferred: Certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect, AWS Solutions Architect, or an equivalent.
• Preferred: Experience with API gateways or integration platforms such as Azure APIM, Kong, Apigee, MuleSoft, or Boomi.
• Preferred: Solid grasp of API security and compliance, including OAuth 2.0, OIDC, JWT, and PCI.
• Preferred: Familiarity with OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and JSON Schema for contract-driven development.
• Preferred: Background in distributed systems, microservices, and infrastructure as code.
• Preferred: Experience leading Dual-Track Agile work across Discovery and Delivery Tracks and turning discovery outcomes into backlog items.
• Preferred: Experience shaping platform strategy, reusable assets, and API-first designs.

Conditions

Work must be done near or within the Cincinnati, OH area.

The company will not sponsor visas now or in the future, so you must be able to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship.

Designed to be a senior hands-on role that combines architecture leadership with active coding and client delivery.

Benefits

• Competitive salary.
• Group health coverage with medical, dental, and vision plans.
• Employee assistance programs.
• Pre-tax spending accounts.
• 401(k) plan with company match.
• Company-provided life insurance.
• Pet insurance.
• Employee discounts.
• Generous paid holiday schedule, paid vacation, and sick and personal days.