Engineering Lead & Principal Architect (.NET)

Pioneering Evolution LLC•Arlington, VA

About The Position

Pioneering Evolution is seeking an Engineering Lead / Principal Architect to provide combined technical leadership and senior architectural direction for a mission-critical modular enterprise platform and related modernization initiatives. This role will shape the evolution of a secure, scalable web-based system designed to support complex workflows through a reusable core platform and configurable functional modules. This role owns engineering delivery for the SyncPoint platform, including day-to-day technical leadership of an approximately ten-person engineering team comprised of software developers, a DevSecOps engineer, and a QA engineer. The Engineering Lead / Principal Architect will lead sprint execution, unblock the team, drive technical decisions to closure, and be accountable for delivery outcomes alongside the Project Manager. In parallel, this role defines architectural standards, guides platform evolution, evaluates implementation approaches, and supports the successful delivery of new and modernized capabilities. This is a senior leadership role in a lean engineering environment. It requires a leader who balances strategic architectural direction with regular hands-on technical contribution, and who is energized by owning delivery outcomes rather than operating in an advisory capacity. Must be a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance. Within the SyncPoint project team, software developers, the DevSecOps engineer, and the QA engineer operate under the direct authority of this role for daily assignments, technical direction, and engineering execution. The Engineering Lead / Principal Architect serves as the primary technical point of contact for the Project Manager, Product Owner, and program leadership on delivery status, risk, and tradeoffs.

Requirements

10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 3+ years in a lead or architect capacity on enterprise applications.
Demonstrated experience leading the day-to-day engineering execution of a software team, including sprint planning, technical direction, blocker resolution, and delivery accountability.
Proven experience designing, evaluating, and evolving complex modular or multi-component software systems.
Strong understanding of application architecture, modular design, integration strategies, and maintainable code structures.
Demonstrated ability to assess existing systems, identify technical risks, and recommend practical improvement paths.
Strong command of engineering best practices, performance considerations, and secure application design.
Strong proficiency in modern .NET / .NET Core for backend and API architecture.
Strong proficiency in Angular for enterprise front-end architecture and design patterns.
Experience collaborating across software engineering, QA, infrastructure, and security stakeholders.
Willingness and ability to work hands-on in the codebase on a regular basis to validate designs, establish implementation patterns, and resolve complex technical issues.
Must be a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing systems for RMF / ATO readiness in DoD or other regulated environments.
Familiarity with DoD cyber workforce qualification frameworks, including DoD 8140 and legacy 8570 environments.
Experience partnering with security, DevSecOps, and compliance stakeholders to support authorization, control implementation, and production readiness.
Familiarity with Azure deployment environments, including AKS and associated operational considerations.
Experience supporting application modernization, platform consolidation, or migration from legacy solutions.
Familiarity with integrating ML/AI components into enterprise .NET applications.
Demonstrated success mentoring teams and improving technical maturity across an engineering organization.

Responsibilities

Lead day-to-day engineering execution, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, estimation, and delivery commitments in partnership with the Project Manager.
Direct the technical assignment of work across developers, the DevSecOps engineer, and the QA engineer; identify and resolve blockers in real time.
Own engineering quality gates, including code review standards, branching strategy, definition of done, and release readiness.
Conduct technical one-on-ones with engineers on the team and provide technical performance input to the formal management chain.
Serve as the primary technical point of contact for the Project Manager, Product Owner, and program leadership on delivery status, risk, and tradeoffs.
Provide senior architectural guidance for a modular enterprise application platform and related solution components.
Define and promote architecture principles, design patterns, and engineering standards that support scalability, maintainability, security, and reuse.
Establish clear boundaries between shared platform capabilities and module-specific business functionality.
Evaluate current-state application architecture, implementation patterns, and technical risks, and recommend improvements aligned with platform goals.
Guide architectural decisions for application structure, integrations, data flows, extensibility, and performance.
Partner with DevSecOps and infrastructure stakeholders to ensure application architecture aligns with hosting, deployment, observability, identity, and security requirements.
Support phased modernization efforts by helping the team incrementally improve architecture and implementation without disrupting delivery commitments.
Participate in design reviews, technical planning, and solution assessments for both current and upcoming capabilities.
Help develop reference implementations, reusable patterns, and technical guardrails that improve consistency across the platform.
Contribute regularly in the codebase, including pairing on complex problems, prototyping, and writing production code in high-risk or high-leverage areas. This is not a hands-off role.
Develop reference implementations and prototypes that validate architectural direction and unblock delivery.
Conduct code-level reviews and contribute directly to implementation to establish patterns, improve quality, and ensure alignment with architectural standards.
Mentor engineers on sound architectural practices and effective implementation approaches.