The API First Platform (APIF) team designs, builds, and operates the shared systems infrastructure powering Verizon's commercial and internal API products. This includes the high-scale, multi-region authentication, network routing, and authorization backbone that every API consumer passes through on every request.
We are seeking a Distinguished Systems Architect to define the overall platform architecture, technical strategy, system reliability, and security controls across our identity and platform services. This is a top-tier individual contributor role. You will architect large-scale end-to-end platforms, design prototypes to test viability, establish architectural blueprints, and serve as the paramount subject matter expert when critical production incidents require deep system-wide diagnosis under pressure.

• System & Platform Architecture: Working with internal and external stakeholders to determine business and technical requirements for system performance, security, reliability, scalability, and sustainability. Design, document, and maintain design blueprints for complex, large-scale systems infrastructure, virtual application topologies, multi-region data persistence, and inter-network API gateways.

• Prototypes & Technical Benchmarking: Designing and implementing First Office Applications (FOA), proof-of-concept models, and benchmarks to test the viability, cost, and feasibility of new technology combinations before deploying them into production environments.

• Production Reliability & Environment Stability: Partnering with technology operations to lead production environment changes, ensuring platform stability. Act as the primary escalation point for severe, system-wide production outages, diagnosing bottlenecks across the entire stack—including cloud networks, Kubernetes orchestration (EKS), distributed SQL databases (CockroachDB), and IAM services.

• Security, Privacy & Infrastructure Governance: Maintaining structural ownership over security posture, compliance frameworks, and infrastructure lifecycle management. Conduct technical reviews of cloud environments (AWS IAM, KMS, CloudTrail), manage system cost optimizations, and proactively resolve vulnerabilities across virtual and physical environments.

• Roadmap Vision & Stakeholder Alignment: Providing technological vision for platform and network transformation. Lead cross-functional engineering teams to support system architectures, alleviate upstream/downstream impacts, and manage technology lifecycle planning across various internal and external stakeholders.

This is a home-based role in the continental US.

You’ll need to have:

• Bachelor's degree or four or more years of work experience.

• Eight or more years of relevant experience required, demonstrated through one or a combination of work and/or military experience, or specialized training.

• Experience in systems architecture, with demonstrated scope leading large-scale enterprise system designs.

• Experience in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), cloud-native platform blueprints, API gateway design, and cross-system protocol design (OAuth2, OIDC, PKCE, JWT, CIBA).

Even better if you have one or more of the following:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field (MS, MBA, or equivalent experience is preferred).

• Advanced fluency in Cloud Computing and AWS ecosystems (EKS, IAM, KMS, CloudTrail, Cost Explorer, networking), alongside multi-region system deployment and infrastructure-as-code principles.

• Deep understanding of distributed systems topologies, distributed databases (CockroachDB, Spanner), data replication, transaction isolation behavior, and storage architectures.

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional architecture reviews, perform requirements analysis, conduct system benchmarking, and mentor engineering teams using Agile methodologies.

If Verizon and this role sound like a fit for you, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every “even better” qualification listed above.

Our benefits are designed to help you move forward in your career, and in areas of your life outside of Verizon. From health and wellness benefit options including: medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, AD&D insurance, identity theft protection, pet insurance and group home & auto insurance. We also offer a matched 401(k) savings plan, up to 8 company paid holidays per year and up to 6 personal days per year, paid parental leave, adoption assistance and tuition assistance, plus other incentives, we’ve got you covered with our award-winning total rewards package. Depending on the role, employees have the opportunity to receive compensation in the form of premium pay such as overtime, shift differential, holiday pay, allowances, etc. Newly hired employees receive up to 15 days of vacation per year, which grows with additional service. For part-timers, your coverage will vary as you may be eligible for some of these benefits depending on your individual circumstances.