Principal Software Architect

About the Role

What You Will Do

• Lead Through Influence: Operate as a senior advisor and strategic influencer to executives and domain leaders, helping align technology investments with business outcomes.
• Advance Repository Practices: Ensure architectural metadata and taxonomy integrity within the BlueDolphin repository, enabling enterprise transparency and decision support.
• Foster Collaboration: Build partnerships with Product, Engineering, Operations, and Security teams to co-own outcomes, not dictate them.
• Mentor and Inspire: Coach solution architects across federated business domains to raise the bar on architecture quality, reusability, and scalability.
• Communicate and Influence: Translate architectural strategy into compelling business narratives that resonate with executive audiences and technical teams alike.
• Champion Modernization and Platform Thinking: Lead initiatives that simplify, modernize, and integrate platforms across Commerce, Payments, Ticketing, and Entitlements.
• Balance Short-Term Delivery with Long-Term Strategy: Facilitate informed trade-offs, track technical debt decisions, and ensure alignment with enterprise objectives.

What We’re Looking For:

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or related field required.
• 10+ years of increasing levels of responsibility in the architecture-oriented roles.
• Expertise with enterprise architecture repository tools (e.g., tools similar to BlueDolphin or LeanIX)
• Strong leadership experience mentoring architecture teams
• Proven ability to influence without authority across technical and business domains
• Experience defining and applying metadata models, taxonomy relationships, and governance
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-domain architectural initiatives and guide decision processes
• Understanding of both front-end and back-end technologies
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical decisions to business stakeholders
• 5+ years of experience as a Solution or Enterprise Architect for multiple domains (Preferably an Enterprise Architect)
• 8+ years Engineering experience across multiple languages, both front-end and back-end.
  • Expertise in modern programming languages and technologies.
  • Experience with testing and debugging applications to deliver scalable enterprise solutions. 

Core Leadership Capabilities

• Demonstrate executive presence: can influence VP and SVP level leaders without authority.
• Proven collaboration leader who mobilizes teams across organizational boundaries.
• Skilled storyteller who can articulate the “why” behind architectural direction in simple, business-relevant terms.
• Diplomatic and pragmatic — a trusted advisor who aligns people as effectively as systems.

Enterprise Architecture Expertise

• At least 5 years of experience in architecture, with significant time spent in enterprise architecture leadership roles.
• Deep understanding of governance frameworks and ARB operations.
• Experience developing and managing architecture taxonomies, patterns, and standards.
• Proven ability to align architecture with strategic objectives, OKRs, and scorecards.
• Hands-on familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), API-led integration, security-by-design, and data architecture principles.
• Experience integrating emerging platforms or modernizing legacy systems at scale.

Business and Cultural Alignment

• Experience supporting commerce, payments, ticketing, or entitlements platforms preferred.
• Thrives in a federated, creative, and high-visibility environment, where technology enables storytelling and guest experience.
• Comfortable operating in matrixed organizations and partnering with multiple business units.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — clear, concise, and outcome-oriented.

Software Engineering

• Lead and guide analysis, design, and development of software solutions and products used across local, networked, and cloud environments.
• Deliver high-impact projects supporting enterprise platforms and technology infrastructure.
• Contribute to the design, testing, and implementation of major systems and applications.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to define requirements and influence technical direction.
• Shape scalable architectures and support planning for complex enterprise projects.
• Evaluate emerging technologies within your area of expertise to guide strategic recommendations.⠀

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MBA, MS) preferred.
• Experience delivering architecture in platform-oriented and product-led organizations
• Background in API design and messaging standards
• Knowledge of security-by-design principles and secure architecture practices
• Experience integrating SaaS solutions and working with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Familiarity with architecture maturity models and scorecards
• Certifications such as TOGAF, ArchiMate, or equivalent enterprise architecture frameworks are desirable.
• 8+ years of experience working with cloud vendors
• 8+ years of experience with databases (relational and non-relational)
• Experience with SaaS vendor implementations
• Experience with messaging patterns and API design best practices
• Experience implementing security best practices and security-by-design

The Ideal Candidate

• Thinks strategically like an executive and acts pragmatically like a builder.
• Is as comfortable on stage presenting to VPs as in workshops with engineers.
• Believes architecture is a team sport — driven by collaboration, context, and clarity.
• Measures success not by control, but by influence and adoption.

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