Enterprise Software Architect

Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. • Phoenix, AZ

4d

About The Position

Cambridge’s Enterprise Platform, Architecture & Data organization owns the cloud and infrastructure platforms, integration and API layers, enterprise data, and architecture standards that underpin the firm. In a FINRA- and SEC-regulated environment, security, resilience, data governance, and auditability are foundational design requirements.

The Enterprise Architect sets the target-state architecture for Cambridge’s technology estate and ensures major platform, data, and application decisions advance it. This senior individual-contributor position combines strategy, hands-on design authority, and partnership with business leaders across the organization.

Cambridge is a financial solutions firm providing business support services to thousands of independent financial advisors. Its services include compliance, technology, and transaction-processing support for advisors and their offices.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in technology, including 5+ years in enterprise or senior solution architecture roles.
• Proven success defining and executing target-state architecture and multi-year roadmaps at enterprise scale.
• Deep hands-on experience with at least one major public cloud.
• Strong command of integration architecture, including APIs, event streaming, messaging, identity management, and legacy system integration.
• Solid grounding in modern enterprise architecture, security architecture, identity and access management, and resilience and disaster recovery design.
• Experience leading architecture governance, including review boards, standards, and Architecture Decision Records that teams adopt.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to brief executives and challenge engineers with equal credibility.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

• Azure experience, along with experience in hybrid environments.
• Financial services experience, ideally in broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, wealth management, or custody environments.
• Familiarity with wealth-management technology such as Salesforce, portfolio management and rebalancing, trading and order management, account opening, and clearing or custodial integrations.
• Exposure to books-and-records retention, supervision, surveillance, and vendor risk management requirements.
• Experience designing AI, machine learning, and generative AI platforms and guardrails in a regulated setting.
• Practical fluency with TOGAF, Zachman, or a similar architecture framework.
• Relevant certifications such as TOGAF, professional-level cloud architect credentials, or CISSP.
• Experience leading large-scale modernization, merger and acquisition technology integration, or platform consolidation.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise target-state architecture across business, application, data, integration, and technology domains.
• Translate business strategy—including Financial Professional experience, client onboarding, trading, operations, and compliance—into multi-year capability and technology roadmaps.
• Lead application portfolio rationalization by identifying redundancy, technical debt, and end-of-life risk and building the case for consolidation or modernization.
• Evaluate build, buy, and partner options, including third-party platforms, custodial integrations, and fintech vendors.
• Chair or lead the Architecture Review Board and establish standards, reference architectures, and patterns for delivery teams.
• Maintain Architecture Decision Records so major decisions are traceable and auditable.
• Review high-impact solution designs for alignment with standards, security, resilience, cost, and regulatory requirements.
• Create paved roads and guardrails that balance governance with delivery speed.
• Shape cloud and hybrid infrastructure strategy with Platform Engineering, including landing zones, identity, networking, and observability.
• Drive an API-first and event-driven integration strategy that reduces point-to-point coupling between core systems.
• Guide modernization of legacy applications through re-platforming, re-architecture, or retirement with clear sequencing and risk management.
• Partner on data platforms, master and reference data, lineage, data products, and embedded governance, classification, retention, and privacy controls.
• Define reference architectures and guardrails for responsible AI and generative AI, including model access, data boundaries, and human review.
• Embed security-by-design, zero-trust, business continuity, disaster recovery, and operational resilience into reference architectures.
• Partner with Compliance, Risk, and Internal Audit to reflect recordkeeping, supervision, surveillance, and third-party risk requirements in system designs.
• Mentor architects and senior engineers, communicate technical trade-offs, and represent architecture in vendor negotiations, due diligence, and strategic planning.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits and promotion of work/life balance.
• Premium benefit package including medical, vision, dental, life, and long-term disability insurance.
• Vacation and sick time.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company matching program.
• Eleven paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior