Architect V - Enterprise Application

PODS•Clearwater, FL

About The Position

This position is responsible for technology leadership, with responsibilities including the development of strategic application architecture frameworks and the envisioning, planning and development of technology roadmaps across a wide array of fields. Assignments include the most advanced expert analytical, technical, and administrative work in information technology (IT) serving mission critical operations. The incumbent performs as the highest-level subject matter expert in modern application architecture, managing projects and taking major responsibility for the engagement of personnel, work products, standards, policies, and use of information technology assets. The incumbent is expected to identify and resolve the most complex work problems in a way which supports or complements ongoing organizational efforts. The incumbent provides guidance and leadership to achieve and maintain superior customer service levels. Work routinely requires technology leadership, initiative, creativity, and original thinking. Assignments are generally performed independently or under the general guidance of senior management with extensive latitude for individual and team initiative, judgment, and discretion. The Enterprise Architecture team is seeking a Principal Enterprise Application Architect to lead the design and evolution of our modern application landscape — from customer-facing web applications to core SaaS platforms and the emerging AI-enabled systems that sit alongside them. You will define architectural standards for building, integrating, and governing applications on Azure, guide how the organization adopts agentic AI within the software development lifecycle, and ensure our SaaS investments (Salesforce, Dynamics 365) and event-driven integrations (Kafka) fit coherently into the broader enterprise architecture. This is a hands-on architecture leadership role for someone equally comfortable reviewing a microservices design, prototyping an agentic workflow with LangChain, and advising business and IT leadership on build-vs-buy decisions across a modern SaaS and cloud-native landscape. Candidate will have at least 15 years experience working for a company or governmental agency with at least 300 employees (if private sector) or 500 employees (if governmental agency).

Requirements

Bachelor degree in computer science, system analysis or a related study.
Minimum of 12+ years of enterprise level development and architect level experience in a diverse technical environment with multiple programming languages and software packages
Candidate must have experience with architecting and implementing secure mobile solutions covering both client side and server side aspects, tools and technologies
Proven experience architecting modern web applications — SPAs (React/Angular), RESTful/GraphQL APIs, and microservices — deployed on cloud infrastructure.
Hands-on experience with Azure cloud services (App Services, AKS, Functions, API Management, Azure DevOps) as the primary cloud platform.
Hands-on experience building agentic AI applications or workflows using LangChain, with experience using LangSmith for tracing, evaluation, and observability.
Hands-on experience building and deploying AI agents for chat and voice channels (e.g., web chat, messaging, IVR/contact center), including integrating speech and telephony services with LLM-based agent logic.
Working knowledge of Kafka or similar event-streaming platforms for building event-driven, real-time integrations.
Working knowledge of enterprise SaaS platforms such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365, including how custom applications typically integrate with or extend them.
Demonstrated experience defining and evolving the AI development lifecycle — integrating AI/LLM tooling into design, development, testing, and deployment practices.
Hands-on experience with Azure DevOps and/or GitHub (repos, Actions/Pipelines, code review workflows) for source control and CI/CD.
Hands-on experience using AI-powered coding tools such as Cursor to accelerate development, code review, and prototyping.
Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with a track record of influencing architecture decisions across engineering and business teams.
Minimum of 3+ years in a solution or technical architect role using service and hosting solutions such as public cloud and SaaS platforms
Candidate must have experience integrating with object databases, caches, and search engines (such as MongoDB/CosmosDB, Redis, etc.)
Candidate must have experience with Design, develop, and oversee implementation of end-to-end IT cloud integrated systems.
Guide projects to follow reference architectures, strategic technology stacks and standards and best practices.
Resolve architecture issues and guide application integration / architecture implementation, testing and deployment for the Core Transformation initiative.
Experience of working with across multiple interconnect systems. Working across Salesforce, Dynamics365, and ServiceNow and supporting departmental level integrations.
Demonstrated understanding of strategic and new and emerging technology trends, and the practical application of existing, new and emerging technologies to new and evolving business and operating models.
Demonstrated understanding of Agile methods and processes, and capability of supporting agile project teams by providing advice and guidance on opportunities, impact and risks, taking account of technical and architectural debt.
Ensures that all systems are working at optimal levels and offers support to application development department regarding new technologies and system requirements.
Requires a bachelor's degree in Information Technology or Computer Science.
Demonstrated understanding of Agile methods and processes, and capability of supporting agile project teams by providing advice and guidance on opportunities, impact and risks, taking account of technical and architectural debt.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the logistics, transportation, or supply chain domain (e.g., warehouse, fleet, or distribution systems) is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

Define and own architectural standards, reference architectures, and design patterns for modern web applications (SPAs, microservices, APIs) deployed on Azure.
Lead architecture reviews and serve as a technical authority in governance boards, evaluating proposed application designs for scalability, security, maintainability, and cost.
Architect event-driven and streaming integrations using Kafka to enable real-time data flow between applications, SaaS platforms, and downstream analytics systems.
Design secure, well-governed integration patterns (APIs, event streams, iPaaS) that connect custom-built applications with enterprise SaaS platforms and legacy systems.
Partner with Cloud/Platform Engineering to define Azure landing zone, networking, identity, and DevOps standards that application teams build against.
Define how AI is integrated into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) — from AI-assisted design and code generation to automated testing, review, and deployment practices.
Champion the adoption of AI-powered developer tools such as Cursor across engineering teams, establishing best practices for AI-assisted coding, review, and productivity within existing Azure DevOps/GitHub workflows.
Design and prototype agentic AI workflows and applications using LangChain and LangSmith, establishing patterns for agent orchestration, tool use, observability, and evaluation.
Architect conversational AI agents deployed across chat and voice channels (e.g., web/mobile chat, contact center, IVR), integrating speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and telephony/channel platforms with underlying LLM/agent logic.
Establish enterprise guardrails for building and operating AI-enabled and agentic applications, including prompt/version management, monitoring, cost control, and responsible AI practices.
Evaluate and pilot emerging agentic AI and LLM tooling, recommending adoption paths that align with enterprise architecture and security standards.
Maintain architectural awareness of core enterprise SaaS platforms — particularly Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 — and guide how custom applications extend, integrate with, or complement them.
Advise on build-vs-buy and platform-fit decisions, ensuring SaaS extensions and customizations follow enterprise integration, security, and data governance standards.
Partner with SaaS platform owners and business stakeholders to ensure application architecture decisions support end-to-end business processes, not just individual systems.
Mentor senior and staff engineers on architecture best practices, design reviews, and modern application patterns; act as a force multiplier across engineering teams.
Document architectural decisions, patterns, and reference implementations in clear, reusable artifacts that accelerate delivery and onboarding of new teams.
Create and maintain Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) that document key design decisions, alternatives considered, rationale, trade-offs, and resulting architectural implications.
Collaborate closely with Security, Data Engineering, and Enterprise Architecture peers to ensure application designs are secure, compliant, and interoperable across the enterprise.
Present architectural recommendations, risk assessments, and technology roadmaps to technical and executive stakeholders.