Application Architect 2

ATTAINX INC•Herndon, VA

7h•Remote

About The Position

The Application Architect 2 is a senior-level architecture position responsible for directing the end-to-end design and implementation of enterprise .NET application systems supporting the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) IT ecosystem. This role drives system architecture decisions, leads cloud transformation and modernization initiatives, manages and mentors multi-disciplinary development teams, and serves as a subject matter expert on NRCS application portfolios. The Application Architect 2 operates at the intersection of technical execution and engineering leadership, ensuring that architectural decisions align with FPAC enterprise standards, the Technical Guidance Framework (TGF), and the Cloud Memo while delivering scalable, secure, and maintainable solutions.

Requirements

Fifteen (15) or more years of professional software development and system architecture experience.
Ten (10) or more years of experience with .NET technologies (C#, .NET Framework, .NET Core/.NET 8+, ASP.NET MVC, Web API).
Five (5) or more years of experience in an architect or technical lead role directing end-to-end system design for enterprise applications.
Five (5) or more years of experience supporting federal IT programs or USDA NRCS systems.
Demonstrated experience architecting and leading AWS cloud migration projects.
Experience managing and mentoring multi-disciplinary development teams.
Experience with SQL Server database architecture, schema design, and performance optimization at enterprise scale.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
C#, .NET Framework, .NET Core/.NET 8+, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Core, Web API, WCF
React,MobX, Angular, JavaScript/TypeScript, jQuery
SQL Server (database design, development, optimization, large-scale data sets)
RESTful API architecture; migration from WCF/SOAP to REST patterns
AWS services: EC2, RDS, EKS/ECS Fargate, Lambda, S3, CloudFormation
Enterprise authentication/authorization: BroadcomSiteminder, AWS IAM, SSO solutions
CI/CD tooling: Jenkins, AWSCodeBuild,CodeDeploy, CodePipeline
Source control: Git, GitHub Enterprise, Bitbucket, GitLab
Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes (EKS/ECS)
Security scanning: SonarQube, Fortify SCA/WebInspect
IIS 10, Windows Server administration
Agile/Scrum/SAFemethodologies; Jira, Confluence
Must be able to obtain and maintain a USDA security background investigation (FBI fingerprint check and eQIP).
Must comply with all NIST, USDA, and HSPD–12 security training and reporting requirements.
Must complete mandatory training: Information Security Awareness (annually) and Section 508 (within 45 days of assignment).

Nice To Haves

AWS certifications (Cloud Practitioner, Solutions Architect, or equivalent).
Experience with USDA NRCS or FPAC systems and applications (e.g., Protracts, NASIS, Payment Schedule, NOIS, GDAC).
Experience with AI/ML integration in enterprise development workflows (GitHub Copilot, Rhino.ai, or equivalent).
Experience with Pega-based applications orEntellitrakplatform integration.
Experience with NIST SP 800–53, FISMA, FedRAMP compliance frameworks.
Experience with Terraform or CloudFormation for infrastructure as code.
Experience with Section 508 accessibility architecture.
Experience with ServiceNow ITSM, ITOM, CMDB.
ITIL certification ordemonstratedexperience with ITIL service management processes.
SAFecertification.
Experience with geospatial data services and GIS integrations.

Responsibilities

Direct the end-to-end design and implementation of enterprise application systems supporting the NRCS mission, ensuring high performance, scalability, and reliability for a national user base.
Drive consistency of solution architecture across the enterprise, aligning architectural recommendations with USDA/FPAC mandates, the Technical Guidance Framework (TGF), and industry best practices.
Lead full-stack modernization efforts, replacing monolithic structures with maintainable, modular architectures using .NET Core 8+, React, and service-oriented patterns.
Architect migration of legacy WCF services to modern RESTful APIs; design service-layer patterns that decouple business logic from database technologies.
Evaluate and recommend strategies for decoupling tightly coupled shared services (e.g., Core Services, CSAPI, Z Roles) and decomposing monolithic database architectures (e.g., NPAD).
Design and implement database schemas,optimizecomplex SQL Server queries, and ensure data integrity and rapid retrieval for large-scale data sets supporting conservation reporting.
Ensure key architecture decisions are documented and stored in an agreed repository for the life of the product.
Validate andmaintainBusiness Domain/Sub-domain definitions and map components to domains/sub-domains, capturing technical debt.
Lead a systems review within the first 30 days toidentifyand categorize technical debt andestablisha transparent backlog.
Architect and lead the migration of legacy on-premises applications to AWS, improving system availability and reducing infrastructure overhead.
Design cloud-native and cloud-ready application architectures using approved AWS services (EC2, RDS, EKS/ECS Fargate, Lambda, S3, CloudFormation) within the FPAC General Support System (GSS).
Ensure alignment with the FPAC Cloud Memo and Technical Guidance Framework for all cloud adoption and migration activities.
Re-architect applications for serverless/container execution or low-code target environments whereappropriate.
Ensure all components expose automation-friendly endpoints for health monitoring and self-healing automation.
Manage and mentor a multi-disciplinary team of developers; foster professional growth and align technical execution with organizational goals.
Lead code reviews, architecture reviews, design assurance gates, and cross-team design sessions.
Conduct hiring activities including developing staffing plans, creating technical challenges, and leading interviews.
Communicate and enforce enterprise standards and best practices across all delivery teams through documented governance, review, and approval processes.
Ensure transparency for new technical debt introduced by delivery decisions; obtain GPM agreement.
Coordinate with Federal Architects, contractor architects, and other stakeholders to harmonize interfaces and manage cross-dependencies.
Facilitate architecture reviews, design assurance gates, and cross-team design sessions.
Guide legacy modernization strategies, including refactoring legacy .NET code to .NET Core for serverless/container execution.
Integrate AI-enabled tools and workflows (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Rhino.ai, or equivalent) to accelerate the SDLC, reduce time-to-market, and improve code quality as authorized by the Government.
Contribute to the comprehensive inventory of supported systems and components, including technology stack, dependencies, and operational status.
Evaluate modernization options (refactor, re-platform, replace, retire) using structured scoring models based on technical debt, compliance risk, cost tomaintain, and business impact.
Ensure architectures are forward-compatible with ML/GenAI integration whilemaintainingcompliance and auditability.
Develop andmaintaina plan to resolve gaps in automated testing and document timeline trade-offs for technical debt remediation.
Integrate BroadcomSiteminderor approved identity/authentication solutions for enterprise-level authentication and authorization across application portfolios.
Implement secure architecture patterns in alignment with NIST SP 800–53, USDA secure coding standards, FPAC SDLC, FISMA, and Zero Trust principles.
Ensurenew solutionsand features are compliant with Zero Trust architecture;identifygaps for remediation.
Promote Zero Trust concepts across solution architects and development teams.
Ensure supported applications meet Section 508 accessibility requirements andmaintaincompliance with the Privacy Act, FedRAMP, and Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) requirements.
Ensure all work products meet or exceed the Acceptable Quality Levels (AQLs) defined in the applicable contract attachments.
Remove deprecated or non-compliant authorization dependencies and role references to support least-privilege access and continuous ATO compliance.
Ensure load and performance testing plans exercise all critical components; communicate gaps to the GPM.
Drive adoption of automated testing, regression testing, and CI/CD practices to ensure release readiness.
Inform the Enterprise Lead Architect of system coupling and integration pain points discovered during release planning to prioritize decoupling efforts.
Improve architecture and reduce interdependencies to enable smaller, more frequent releases and position for full CI/CD adoption.
ProvideTier 3 architectural guidance for production issues, including root cause analysis and systemic remediation recommendations.
Establish mechanisms to detect and correct architectural misalignments; provide mentoring to development teams as needed.
Participate in risk identification and mitigation activities; contribute to the risk and issue log, including modernization dependencies, technical debt remediation, and compliance gaps.
Support ITIL-aligned incident, problem, and change management processes consistent with FPAC standards.
Provide knowledge transfer sessions to Government personnel and incoming vendors during transitions.
Maintain architectural documentation, decision records, and knowledge articles in Government-designated repositories.
Lead conceptual decomposition of NPAD and other NRCS database monoliths into domain-aligned components and schemas.
Drive consistency of data and solution architecture across the contract scope, aligning to USDA/FPAC mandates and industry best practices.
Ensure alignment with USDA’s cloud-native Lakehouse Data Strategy, use of Databricks as the data integration solution, and elimination of duplicated data copies.
Maintain a technology intake and review function; review recommendations fornew technologiesbefore elevating to the GPM per the Cloud Memo process.