Principal Software Architect

<p>At Robots &amp; Pencils, we build meaningful, scalable digital products for forward-thinking organizations. We are seeking a Principal Software Architect to provide technical leadership across complex, multi-platform engagements. This role sits at the intersection&nbsp; of architecture, delivery, and client partnership owning system design decisions while remaining deeply connected to execution.<br>As a Principal Software Architect, you will guide architecture across mobile, backend, cloud, and emerging AI-enabled solutions. You will collaborate closely with delivery&nbsp;<br>leaders, engineers, designers, and client stakeholders to ensure systems are scalable, secure, maintainable, and aligned with business outcomes. This is a hands-on, delivery-embedded role, not a pre-sales or advisory-only position.</p> <p><br><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong></p> <p>Architecture &amp; Technical Leadership</p> <p>• Define and evolve application architecture across iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), .NET,&nbsp;and Node.js backend services.</p> <p>• Lead architectural decisions for scalable, secure systems using SQL Server, Oracle,&nbsp;and Azure-based infrastructure.</p> <p>• Provide technical direction across frontend, backend, mobile, and integration&nbsp;layers.</p> <p>• Review designs and implementations to ensure alignment with architectural&nbsp;standards and long-term maintainability.</p> <p>Delivery &amp; Execution Partnership</p> <p>• Partner with Delivery Managers and engineering teams to translate business&nbsp;requirements into robust technical solutions.</p> <p>• Support end-to-end delivery across multiple concurrent engagements, balance&nbsp;speed, quality, and sustainability.</p> <p>• Act as a technical escalation point, resolving complex architectural or integration&nbsp;challenges.</p> <p>• Ensure architecture supports CI/CD, observability, performance, and operational&nbsp;excellence.</p> <p>Client Engagement &amp; Communication</p> <p>• Serve as a senior technical leader in client-facing discussions, building trust&nbsp;through clarity and credibility.</p> <p>• Translate complex technical concepts into clear business value for non-technical&nbsp;stakeholders.</p> <p>• Support roadmap planning, risk identification, and technical decision-making with&nbsp;clients.</p> <p>• Maintain strong relationships through proactive communication and follow-through.</p> <p>Platform, Tooling &amp; Integration Oversight</p> <p>• Guide use of Azure DevOps, GitHub, Jira, Confluence, and modern delivery tooling.</p> <p>• Support integrations with enterprise platforms such as Radar/GeoMoby&nbsp;(geofencing), Oracle Recruiting Booster, and Dropbox Sign.</p> <p>• Contribute to AI-enabled initiatives using Python, TypeScript, and Azure OpenAI, ensuring responsible and practical adoption.&nbsp;</p> <p>Mentorship &amp; Engineering Excellence</p> <p>• Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, fostering strong architectural thinking and&nbsp;craftsmanship.</p> <p>• Promote engineering best practices, documentation, and shared learning across&nbsp;teams.</p> <p>• Encourage collaboration between disciplines including mobile, backend, design,&nbsp;and data.</p> <p><strong>Required Skills &amp; Experience </strong></p> <p>• 12+ years of professional software engineering experience, with significant hands-on ownership of production application architecture.</p> <p>• Proven experience acting as the technical owner for complex, user-facing&nbsp;applications, not just reviewing or advising.</p> <p>• Demonstrated ability to design and deliver end-to-end application systems,</p> <p>including:</p> <ul> <li>Mobile clients (iOS with Swift, Android with Kotlin)</li> <li>Backend application services (.NET and Node.js)</li> <li>&nbsp;RESTful and event-driven APIs</li> <li>Relational data models using SQL Server and Oracle</li> </ul> <p>• Strong experience defining application-level architecture patterns, including:</p> <ul> <li>&nbsp;Service boundaries and ownership models</li> <li>API versioning and contract governance</li> <li>Data consistency, transactional integrity, and validation strategies</li> <li>Error handling, resiliency, and failure recovery</li> </ul> <p>• Hands-on experience building and operating applications on Azure, including:</p> <ul> <li>CI/CD pipelines</li> <li>Deployment and environment strategies</li> <li>Logging, monitoring, and performance observability</li> </ul> <p>• Experience working in delivery-driven consulting or product environments, where&nbsp;architecture must adapt to evolving requirements.</p> <p>• Comfort staying close to implementation through code reviews, architectural&nbsp;validation, and team unblockers.</p> <p>• Strong understanding of modern SDLC practices, DevOps workflows, automated&nbsp;testing, and release management.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Nice to Have </strong></p> <p>• Experience modernizing or replacing legacy applications with modern mobile and&nbsp;cloud-native architectures.</p> <p>• Background supporting regulated or enterprise environments where reliability,&nbsp;auditability, and data integrity are critical.</p> <p>• Prior responsibility for architectural decisions that scaled to high user volumes or&nbsp;multi-region deployments.</p> <p>• Experience evaluating and integrating AI features into applications where they&nbsp;deliver clear user or business value.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Why Join Robots &amp; Pencils? </strong></p> <p>At Robots &amp; Pencils, we blend strategy, design, and engineering to deliver technology that&nbsp;drives real impact. As a Principal Software Architect, you will shape the technical direction&nbsp;of high-visibility initiatives while working alongside talented teams across mobile, web,&nbsp;cloud, and AI. You’ll influence how modern systems are built without losing connection to&nbsp;delivery, people, or outcomes.</p>