Job title: Principal AWS Architect

Reports to: VP, Infrastructure & Operations

Division: Central Services

Location: Remote

Grade: 21

About the Role:

The Principal Cloud Architect plays a critical role in defining and governing cloud architecture standards across the organization. This position ensures that AWS-based solutions are scalable, secure, and aligned with enterprise best practices by driving consistency in design, documentation, and implementation. The role requires deep technical expertise, strong influence, and the ability to guide engineering teams toward high-quality architectural decisions. You'll collaborate closely with Infrastructure, Engineering, and Product teams to enable reliable, cost-effective, and compliant cloud solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Architectural Governance: Review all existing and proposed architecture diagrams to ensure technical validity, scalability, and adherence to company standards.
• Documentation Standardization: Establish and enforce a centralized location and standardized format for all engineering documentation and architectural artifacts.
• Quality Advocacy: Participate in developer design meetings to advocate for high-quality AWS designs, pushing for the adoption of pre-certified, secure, and cost-effective components.
• Stakeholder Negotiation: Act as the primary representative for the Infrastructure team in design discussions, negotiating with development teams to resolve technical conflicts.
• Strategic Influence: Use strong communication and persuasion skills to "sell" technical solutions to various stakeholders, including those with challenging or resistant personalities.
• Standards Development: Structure and maintain the library of Priority certified components and architectural best practices. Drive education and adoption across the development community.
• Compliance & Frameworks: Embed TOGAF principles and AWS Well-Architected Framework best practices into the infrastructure team's workflows.
• Mentorship & Support: Provide ongoing guidance and architectural leadership to engineering teams to improve their application designs over time.

What Success Looks Like:

• Cloud architectures are consistent, scalable, secure, and aligned with enterprise standards.
• Engineering teams adopt standardized patterns and certified components across solutions.
• Architecture reviews improve design quality and reduce technical risk across the platform.
• Documentation is centralized, structured, and consistently used across teams.
• Stakeholders align on architectural decisions with minimal friction and clear rationale.
• AWS Well-Architected and TOGAF principles are embedded into daily engineering practices.
• Engineering teams demonstrate improved architectural maturity and decision-making over time.

Candidate Requirements:

Required

• 8-10+ years of experience in cloud architecture, systems engineering, or a related field.
• Deep expertise in AWS architecture and cloud-native design principles.
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional certification.
• TOGAF certification or equivalent experience with architecture frameworks.
• Strong experience reviewing and designing scalable, secure, and resilient systems.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead architectural discussions and navigate complex technical decision-making.

Preferred

• AWS certifications such as Security Specialty or Advanced Networking Specialty.
• Experience with infrastructure as code (IaC) and automation tools (e.g., Jenkins, TeamCity, Kubernetes).
• Experience implementing governance frameworks and architectural standards.
• Familiarity with fintech, payments, or regulated environments.
• Experience influencing across large, matrixed organizations.

Work Environment & Culture:

We believe that performance and experience go hand in hand - an exceptional employee experience is earned through contribution. We are a results-driven team, grounded in our core values: ownership, authenticity, service, trust, innovation, and camaraderie.

Our culture is built for those who want to make an impact. We challenge each other to grow, celebrate progress, and support one another through shared goals and real connection. Whether you're building technology, serving clients, or supporting internal teams, you'll be part of a company that empowers you to perform at your best and be known for results.

Compensation and Benefits:

Compensation range: $116k-$180k

We invest in the whole employee - personally and professionally. Our benefits package is designed to support your well-being, growth, and success - both inside and outside of work.

Financial Wellness
• Bonus programs
• 401(k) match
• Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
• HSA and FSA options
• Financial wellness resources and employee discount programs

Health & Well-being
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Mental health support for employees and dependents through Lyra Health
• Family planning and women's health benefits through Carrot
• Gym membership reimbursement and virtual wellness programs (including yoga) Time Off
• 3 weeks PTO to start, with unlimited PTO after year one

Growth & Development
• Education expense reimbursement
• Leadership development programs
• Certified Payments Professional (CPP) certification support

We believe great performance starts with feeling supported - and we've built our benefits with that in mind.

Traditional Physical Requirements:
• Requires prolonged sitting, standing, bending, stooping and stretching.
• Requires the ability to lift 10 pounds.
• Requires eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity and a normal range of hearing and vision (with or without correction).