Ascensus

Application Architect

Ascensus$170K — $200K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of Software Engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a leadership role.
  • Strong passion for mentoring and coaching team members.
  • Excellent communication skills for influencing architectural direction.
  • Deep technical expertise in development tools and technologies, especially .NET and JavaScript.
  • Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies and modern DevOps practices.
  • Proficiency in designing microservices and understanding of event-driven architecture.
  • Experience with AI-assisted engineering tools and practices.

Responsibilities

  • Provide technical oversight and direction for scrum teams, ensuring quality and scalability.
  • Collaborate with Product Owners to align software solutions with business roadmaps.
  • Lead and mentor technical staff while establishing standards for development practices.
  • Design and prototype innovative solutions, integrating security and compliance considerations.
  • Conduct evaluations of AI tools and methodologies for software development.
  • Participate actively in project discussions, contributing to design and removing impediments.
  • Support scrum teams with complex tasks and proof of concepts as needed.

Benefits

  • 401(k) matching contributions.
  • Comprehensive healthcare packages including Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage.
  • Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) policy for work-life balance.
Full Job Description

       

Position Summary

The Application Architect role is positioned between the Platform Architect and the Principal Software Engineer and is responsible for providing technical direction and oversight across scrum teams within a program. Works closely with the Platform Architect to understand business needs and identifies technical solutions. Collaborates with other Platform Architects and Application architects to promote innovation, reusability, stability, scalability, and consistency across programs. Provides technical direction for scrum teams for specific initiatives and assists with initial proof of concepts and template builds. Provides ongoing technical oversight and mentoring across scrum teams to ensure they are progressing in accordance with established architecture direction. Some participation as an individual contributor to assist scrum teams with complex tasks and POCs.  Researches new technologies and tools—including AI-assisted engineering, intelligent automation, and related platforms—to stay current and identify innovation opportunities that align with security, privacy, and enterprise governance. Passionate about quality and continuous delivery.

Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities

  • Relies on extensive experience and sound judgment to prioritize workload and engagement with teams.
  • Establishes strong alignment with Product Owners to understand, influence, and deliver on roadmaps.
  • Sets technical direction and provides proactive oversight to scrum teams so solutions are secure, scalable, efficient, and stable.
  • Leads, coaches, and mentors technical staff.
  • Establishes standards, proofs of concept, and templates that enable teams to deliver high-quality software efficiently.
  • Designs, prototypes, and guides implementation of agent-based solutions (e.g., tool-using workflows, orchestration, retrieval, and guardrails) within approved platforms and enterprise standards, partnering with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as needed.
  • Defines and promotes standards for responsible use of AI and automation across the software lifecycle—including approved tools, data-handling expectations, human review for high-risk decisions, and patterns for integrating AI, model-based, or agent-based capabilities—in partnership with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as applicable.
  • Evaluates AI-enabled tools and practices (e.g., code generation, review support, refactoring, testing, documentation, operations, and agent-based workflows where appropriate) for fit, risk, cost, and maintainability; drives adoption through reference implementations, guardrails, and templates
  • Participates in project discussions to remove technical impediments and assists in establishing estimates.
  • Performs design and development for complex work as an active contributor to the project pipeline.
  • Collaborates with other Application Architects and Platform Architects to identify, socialize, and confirm the best possible solutions.
  • Holds a high degree of responsibility for application architecture and technical execution within a program.
  • Takes ownership and provides technical leadership when production issues require software engineering expertise.
  • Protects, secures, and handles all confidential Ascensus data appropriately to prevent unauthorized access, improper transmission, or unapproved disclosure that could harm Ascensus or our clients.
  • Assists with other tasks and projects as assigned.
  • Demonstrates our I-Client service philosophy and Core Values of People Matter, Quality First, and Integrity Always® in daily actions and supports our organizational culture.

Supervision  

  • Leadership, mentoring, and coaching
  • No HR responsibilities        

Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements

  • Minimum 8 years of Software Engineering experience with a minimum of 2 years in a lead role
  • Passion for leadership, mentoring, and coaching to help others succeed
  • Excellent communication and teamwork skills with ability to explain and influence architectural direction
  • Excellent technical skills with deep knowledge of development technologies and tools
  • Excels in a results focused organization
  • Experience with Agile/Scrum, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and related DevOps tooling and practices.
  • Expertise in server configuration, pipeline automation, and software engineering practices (code quality, branching, releases, operational readiness).
  • Innovative and change-oriented, balanced with pragmatic delivery and risk awareness.
  • Experience with multiple database platforms (e.g., MS SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, or similar).
  • Expert-level proficiency in the .NET ecosystem.
  • Strong knowledge of JavaScript and modern front-end frameworks.
  • Experience designing and evolving microservices-style architectures, including service boundaries, APIs/contracts, resilience patterns, and operational considerations (deployment, monitoring, scaling).
  • Experience with event-driven architecture, including messaging/eventing, asynchronous integration patterns, and reliability considerations (e.g., idempotency, ordering, observability).
  • Experience with test-driven development (TDD) and automated testing frameworks.
  • Demonstrated proficiency with AI-assisted engineering tools for implementation, code review support, refactoring, and technical research, including clear human review habits and compliance with data/security policies.
  • Practical experience designing, prototyping, or delivering agent-based or model-assisted application capabilities (e.g., orchestration, tool/API integration, guardrails, observability, and production support considerations).
  • Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in complex production and delivery environments.

Nice to Have Skills

  • Experience with Container technology
  • Experience with networking, load balancing, clustering
  • Experience with cloud development
  • Experience with Mobile apps

       

The national average salary range for this role is $170-200k in base pay, exclusive of any bonuses and benefits. This base salary range represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salary offered will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, performance, and internal pay alignment. We do not anticipate that candidates hired will begin at the top of the range however, from time to time, it may occur on a case-by-case basis.  Other rewards and benefits may include: 401(k) match, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid-Time-Off, etc.  For more information, please visit careers.ascensus.com/#Benefits. 

Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.

About Ascensus

Ascensus is a financial services company that provides retirement, health, and education savings plans to individuals and businesses. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Dresher, Pennsylvania. Ascensus has over 4,000 employees and serves more than 12 million customers nationwide. The company offers a wide range of retirement plan solutions, including 401(k), 403(b), and IRA plans. Ascensus is committed to helping its customers save for retirement and achieve their financial goals. The company has received several awards for its excellent customer service and innovative products.
Learn more about Ascensus
Size
4,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1980

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