Application Architect

Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow.

Ascensus does not provide visa sponsorship now or in the future and does not hire candidates working under OPT.

Position Summary

The Application Architect role is positioned between the Platform Architect and the Principal Software Engineer and is responsible for providing technical direction and oversight across scrum teams within a program. Works closely with the Platform Architect to understand business needs and identifies technical solutions. Collaborates with other Platform Architects and Application architects to promote innovation reusability stability scalability and consistency across programs. Provides technical direction for scrum teams for specific initiatives and assists with initial proof of concepts and template builds. Provides ongoing technical oversight and mentoring across scrum teams to ensure they are progressing in accordance with established architecture direction. Some participation as an individual contributor to assist scrum teams with complex tasks and POCs. Researches new technologies and toolsincluding AI-assisted engineering intelligent automation and related platformsto stay current and identify innovation opportunities that align with security privacy and enterprise governance. Passionate about quality and continuous delivery.

Job Functions Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Relies on extensive experience and sound judgment to prioritize workload and engagement with teams.
• Establishes strong alignment with Product Owners to understand influence and deliver on roadmaps.
• Sets technical direction and provides proactive oversight to scrum teams so solutions are secure scalable efficient and stable.
• Leads coaches and mentors technical staff.
• Establishes standards proofs of concept and templates that enable teams to deliver high-quality software efficiently.
• Designs prototypes and guides implementation of agent-based solutions (e.g. tool-using workflows orchestration retrieval and guardrails) within approved platforms and enterprise standards partnering with security compliance and enterprise architecture as needed.
• Defines and promotes standards for responsible use of AI and automation across the software lifecycleincluding approved tools data-handling expectations human review for high-risk decisions and patterns for integrating AI model-based or agent-based capabilitiesin partnership with security compliance and enterprise architecture as applicable.
• Evaluates AI-enabled tools and practices (e.g. code generation review support refactoring testing documentation operations and agent-based workflows where appropriate) for fit risk cost and maintainability; drives adoption through reference implementations guardrails and templates
• Participates in project discussions to remove technical impediments and assists in establishing estimates.
• Performs design and development for complex work as an active contributor to the project pipeline.
• Collaborates with other Application Architects and Platform Architects to identify socialize and confirm the best possible solutions.
• Holds a high degree of responsibility for application architecture and technical execution within a program.
• Takes ownership and provides technical leadership when production issues require software engineering expertise.
• Protects secures and handles all confidential Ascensus data appropriately to prevent unauthorized access improper transmission or unapproved disclosure that could harm Ascensus or our clients.
• Assists with other tasks and projects as assigned.
• Demonstrates our I-Client service philosophy and Core Values of People Matter Quality First and Integrity Always in daily actions and supports our organizational culture.

Supervision

• Leadership mentoring and coaching
• No HR responsibilities

Experience Skills Knowledge Requirements

• Minimum 8 years of Software Engineering experience witha minimum of 2 years in a lead role
• Passion for leadership mentoring and coaching to help others succeed
• Excellent communication and teamwork skillswith ability to explain andinfluence architectural direction
• Excellent technical skills with deep knowledge of development technologies and tools
• Excels in a results focused organization
• Experience with Agile/Scrum continuous integration continuous delivery and related DevOps tooling and practices.
• Expertise in server configuration pipeline automation and software engineering practices (code quality branching releases operational readiness).
• Innovative and change-oriented balanced with pragmatic delivery and risk awareness.
• Experience with multiple database platforms (e.g. MS SQL Server Sybase Oracle or similar).
• Expert-level proficiency in ecosystem.
• Strong knowledge of JavaScript and modern front-end frameworks.
• Experience designing and evolving microservices-style architectures including service boundaries APIs/contracts resilience patterns and operational considerations (deployment monitoring scaling).
• Experience with event-driven architecture including messaging/eventing asynchronous integration patterns and reliability considerations (e.g. idempotency ordering observability).
• Experience with test-driven development (TDD) and automated testing frameworks.
• Demonstrated proficiency with AI-assisted engineering tools for implementation code review support refactoring and technical research including clear human review habits and compliance with data/security policies.
• Practical experience designing prototyping or delivering agent-based or model-assisted application capabilities (e.g. orchestration tool/API integration guardrails observability and production support considerations).
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in complex production and delivery environments.

Nice to Have Skills

• Experience with Container technology
• Experience with networking load balancing clustering
• Experience with cloud development
• Experience with Mobile apps

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

The national average salary range for this role is $170-200k in base pay exclusive of any bonuses and base salary range represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salary offered will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location experience performance and internal pay alignment. We do not anticipate that candidates hired will begin at the top of the range however from time to time it may occur on a case-by-case basis. Other rewards and benefits may include: 401(k) match Medical Dental Vision Paid-Time-Off etc. For more information please visit aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ or @ email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.