Principal Software Architect

We are looking for an experienced Principal Architect to shape the long-term technical direction of enterprise applications and shared platform capabilities in New Jersey. This role combines strategic architecture leadership with hands-on technical contribution, helping teams modernize complex systems and align product development with a scalable, secure, and unified technology landscape. The position works closely with engineering, product, data, security, and infrastructure leaders to create practical architecture standards and drive adoption across multiple teams.Responsibilities:• Set the architectural vision for enterprise platforms and translate that vision into a clear future-state roadmap across products and engineering groups.• Design a centralized data and shared services platform that supports identity and access capabilities, integration services, master data management, search, APIs, analytics, governance, and reusable platform components.• Create reference architectures, technical patterns, and phased implementation plans that enable teams to adopt new capabilities incrementally.• Guide the modernization of legacy and mission-critical applications through staged architectural approaches that protect operational continuity.• Reduce duplication across systems and processes by defining scalable shared services, streamlined integrations, and consistent data flows.• Build and validate key technical components, proofs of concept, and prototypes to support architectural decisions.• Partner with engineering teams to ensure solution design and delivery choices are aligned with enterprise standards, security expectations, and long-term platform goals.• Establish effective architecture review practices, decision frameworks, and engineering standards that improve reliability, observability, maintainability, performance, and scalability.• Encourage thoughtful adoption of AI-assisted development practices and AI-enabled technical solutions where they provide measurable value.• Advise and mentor senior engineers while clearly communicating architectural direction and tradeoffs to both technical and executive stakeholders.Qualifications:• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or comparable practical experience.• At least 10 years of experience in software engineering with a strong record of designing enterprise applications, platforms, or large-scale modernization programs.• Demonstrated ability to define technical strategy across multiple products, platforms, or business domains.• Strong hands-on background developing, reviewing, and guiding implementation of critical platform and application components.• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders without direct managerial authority.• Solid understanding of enterprise data platforms, APIs, search technologies, integration patterns, master data management, and data governance practices.• Experience with modernization approaches such as domain-driven design, service-oriented architecture, event-driven systems, and phased migration strategies.• Familiarity with technologies such as .NET, Oracle, JavaScript, React, Python/FastAPI, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, message queues, observability tools, and cloud or hybrid environments.