Sr. Director, Architecture, Engineering, & Innovation

AVIXA, Inc• Fairfax, VA, US, VA

2d•$175,000 - $190,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr. Director, Architecture, Engineering & Innovation is a working technical leader who sets architectural direction for AVIXA's entire technology ecosystem and contributes directly to building it. This is a hands-on leadership position where strategy and execution live in the same person. The role owns the architecture and engineering direction across a Microsoft Azure cloud environment, Salesforce platform ecosystem, and .NET application portfolio. The individual will make key decisions on system design, integration patterns, platform tradeoffs, and technology adoption, and then partner with a lean team to implement them. This role is for a senior technologist who is energized by real ownership, values working without unnecessary layers, and wants their technical judgment to have direct and visible impact. The individual will serve as the most senior technical voice between business strategy and engineering reality, shaping what gets built, how it fits together, and whether it holds up over time.

Requirements

Hands-on proficiency with Microsoft Azure (cloud services, infrastructure, DevOps pipelines) and a track record of working at the architecture level within Azure environments.
Understanding Salesforce platform architecture — including integration patterns, data model design, and cross-system connectivity.
Grounding in .NET application development sufficient to review, guide, and contribute to engineering work on that stack.
Cross-platform integration experience: you understand how systems talk to each other and what makes those connections fragile or resilient.
Proven ability to lead small, high-performing technical teams — setting direction, developing talent, and holding standards without micromanaging.
Strong technical decision-making judgment: you can cut through ambiguity, weigh competing priorities, and commit to a direction others can follow.
Ability to influence leaders across product, technology, and the business without relying on hierarchy.
Comfort operating in a lean environment where you are often both the architect and a key contributor.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or equivalent experience strongly preferred
Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in enterprise architecture, platform engineering, or senior technical leadership — with a demonstrated record that includes both building and leading.
Hands-on technical contribution alongside architectural ownership, not one or the other.
Proven ability to align technology strategy to business and product outcomes.
Experience leading and developing technical teams, including hiring, mentoring, and performance management.
Familiarity with modern AI tooling and enterprise AI adoption considerations.

Responsibilities

Design and contribute directly to solutions across Azure infrastructure, Salesforce integrations, and .NET applications — writing, reviewing, and guiding code at a level that earns the team's technical trust.
Own integration architecture across platforms including CMS, CRM, LMS, identity, analytics, events, and commerce — defining patterns, approving approaches, and resolving issues when they arise.
Build and maintain reference architectures, technical standards, and integration guardrails that give the team a clear, shared foundation to work from.
Engage directly in high-stakes technical decisions rather than delegating them upward or downward.
Own the long-term technology platform vision and ensure that individual systems fit together into a coherent, scalable, and sustainable whole.
Make and arbitrate architectural tradeoffs across speed, cost, capability, and long-term maintainability — with full accountability for those decisions.
Prevent architectural fragmentation and the accumulation of unmanaged technical debt across the portfolio.
Maintain accountability for platform scalability, reliability, security, and evolvability — not just as principles, but as outcomes.
Lead a lean, high-trust team of engineers with clarity of expectation, directness of feedback, and genuine investment in their growth.
Cultivate a culture where technical craftsmanship, ownership, and honest communication are the norm.
Remove blockers, resolve cross-team constraints, and ensure the team can operate at its best — without bureaucratic overhead slowing them down.
Set standards for technical maturity, documentation, testing, and system ownership that the team can actually live by.
Partner with product and business stakeholders to translate roadmaps and desired outcomes into architecturally sound, executable approaches.
Provide early architectural guidance during discovery and planning to reduce rework, surface risk early, and make tradeoffs explicit.
Ensure technology strategy serves business outcomes — and push back constructively when it risks doing the opposite.
Act as the connective tissue between product vision and engineering execution across all major initiatives.
Own AVIXA's enterprise AI strategy — from identifying practical near-term tooling to evaluating longer-horizon platform capabilities.
Evaluate emerging technologies against AVIXA's strategic context and determine what to adopt, experiment with, or deprioritize.
Drive modernization initiatives including platform evolution, capability uplift, and the structured decommissioning of legacy systems.
Balance innovation appetite with organizational risk tolerance and resource reality.

Benefits

full benefits
Sr. Director level annual incentive bonus program
comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
401k plan with company matching
pet insurance
learning and career development opportunities
education assistance
generous PTO and holiday time off
flexible working hours
option for a Compressed Work Week (i.e., 9/75 work week, or every other Friday off)