Job DescriptionPosition OverviewThe Senior Software Architect will serve as the overall architecture authority for a large-scale, globally distributed mission platform deployed across multiple countries and managed remotely from the United States. The platform supports real-time transaction processing, distributed data management, external government and commercial integrations, peripheral and device orchestration, and centralized observability and administration. This role defines and governs the architecture of a modern Linux-based ecosystem of approximately 25 core microservices and a comparable set of supporting services while ensuring resilience, fieldability, security, and maintainability.
Key Responsibilities- Own and evolve the overall software architecture for a globally distributed microservices platform.
- Provide architectural leadership for approximately 25 core Java-based microservices and a comparable set of supporting and integration services.
- Define and govern service boundaries, contracts, data flows, event patterns, control-plane and backplane behavior, node roles, deployment topologies, observability, fault tolerance, and recovery patterns.
- Lead architecture for a technology stack that includes RHEL or Rocky Linux, Java JDK 21+, Vue.js 3, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Logstash, RabbitMQ, Consul, Nomad, and Vault.
- Architect deployment patterns for server, data, arbiter, workstation, and other user-facing node types across edge and centralized environments.
- Guide the design of operational services supporting transaction processing, rules and screening workflows, authorization, reference data, internationalization, health monitoring, and biometric or matching capabilities.
- Oversee integration architecture for external devices, sensors, government systems, commercial travel or identity systems, and customer-specific extensions.
- Ensure the platform remains remotely observable, diagnosable, supportable, and maintainable across all deployments.
- Collaborate with cloud, network, cybersecurity, data, field engineering, and operations teams to align architecture with real-world deployment constraints.
- Review software designs, guide technical-debt reduction and modernization, and sequence architectural roadmap priorities.
- Serve as the senior technical authority during design reviews, readiness reviews, major incident analysis, and complex problem resolution.
Required Skills- Active Top Secret/SCI with Polygraph.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline; four additional years of relevant experience may substitute for a degree.
- 12+ years of software engineering experience, including significant experience in architecture roles for distributed or mission-critical systems.
- 5+ years architecting production microservices-based platforms.
- Demonstrated ability to serve as the technical authority for a multi-service software ecosystem and guide multiple development teams.
- Deep hands-on expertise with modern Java, preferably JDK 21+, Linux production environments, and distributed-service design and operational patterns.
- Strong experience with MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Logstash, RabbitMQ or equivalent messaging platforms, and service discovery, orchestration, and secrets technologies such as Consul, Nomad, Vault, or Kubernetes.
- Experience designing systems for constrained edge environments, centralized or cloud-heavy environments, and globally distributed deployments with intermittent or variable connectivity.
- Proven ability to architect for resilience, graceful degradation, observability, diagnosability, secure service-to-service communication, authorization, and remote lifecycle management.
- Ability to balance long-term architecture quality with delivery constraints and operational realities.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce design artifacts and present architectural decisions clearly.
Desired Skills- Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience with Vue.js 3 and modern frontend patterns for administrative or operational interfaces.
- Experience with hybrid-cloud or cloud-heavy deployments that use centralized back-end services and thin edge nodes.
- Experience integrating government, identity, travel, partner, or standards-based external systems.
- Experience integrating scanners, readers, imaging devices, kiosks, or other edge hardware.
- Production experience with Nomad, Consul, and Vault and with zero- or low-downtime upgrade strategies.
- Experience with semantic or advanced search, event replay, reconciliation, or offline synchronization.
- Experience modernizing legacy monoliths into service-oriented or microservices-based platforms.
- Familiarity with open-source biometric, matching, search, or image-processing components.
Additional DetailsFusion Innovation anticipates the annual base salary for this position will generally range from $100,000 to $215,000. Actual compensation will be determined based on several factors, including, but not limited to:
- Relevant education, certifications, and training
- Years of direct applicable experience with this work and the customer
- Contract labor category requirements, skill level, contract bill rate, and hours allocation
- Alignment with the position's responsibilities
- Additional specialized skills
In addition to base salary, eligible employees may be considered for discretionary bonuses and are eligible for Fusion Innovation's comprehensive benefits package, which includes medical, dental, vision, company-sponsored retirement contributions, paid leave, professional development opportunities, and other employee benefits.
