Lead Software Architect - Innovation

Lead Software Architect – Innovation, Contract to Hire

We are seeking an experienced Lead Software Architect – Innovation to provide strategic architecture leadership across complex enterprise technology initiatives. This role will help shape the future-state technology landscape, modernize legacy platforms, and identify opportunities to leverage cloud, AI, automation, APIs, and event-driven architecture to drive meaningful business outcomes.

The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise along with the ability to influence strategy, guide engineering teams, and translate business objectives into scalable, modern technology solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead architecture strategy, solution design, and technology roadmaps for large-scale enterprise initiatives.
• Drive mainframe and legacy modernization, transforming existing platforms into secure, scalable, cloud-ready solutions.
• Design modern cloud-native, distributed, API-driven, microservices, and event-based architectures.
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Product Management, engineering teams, business leaders, vendors, and Agile Release Train teams.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and identify opportunities for AI, intelligent automation, predictive analytics, and modern data solutions.
• Lead architecture workshops, proof-of-concepts, rapid prototypes, and technical feasibility assessments.
• Establish architecture standards, governance, security, non-functional requirements, and responsible AI guardrails.
• Evaluate architectural risks and trade-offs while balancing scalability, resiliency, performance, security, maintainability, and business value.
• Coach architects and engineers on modern architecture practices, systems thinking, and engineering excellence.
  
  

Required Qualifications

• 8 years of progressive experience in software architecture, enterprise architecture, software engineering, solution design, and modernization.
• Strong experience with mainframe and legacy application modernization.
• Expert knowledge of cloud-native and distributed architectures, APIs, microservices, event-driven systems, DevSecOps, and CI/CD.
• Strong technical background with AWS, Java, containerization, relational/non-relational databases, and mainframe technologies.
• Experience applying Domain Driven Design (DDD) and designing around business domains and bounded contexts.
• Strong understanding of scalability, resiliency, performance, integration patterns, and distributed system design.
• Experience evaluating and implementing AI, automation, intelligent workflow, data architecture, and predictive analytics solutions.
• Experience with architecture governance, security, privacy, compliance, enterprise risk, and responsible AI.
• Proven leadership within Agile and SAFe environments.
• Strong strategic thinking, communication, stakeholder management, and technical leadership skills.
  
  

Preferred

• TOGAF certification
• Insurance industry experience
• AWS experience including S3, Bedrock, SageMaker, EC2, Connect, CDK, and SDK
• Familiarity with autonomous/agentic AI systems
• Participation in architecture, technology, or industry communities of practice
  
  

This is an opportunity for a seasoned architect who enjoys solving complex problems, challenging traditional approaches, and helping an enterprise move from legacy technology toward a modern, AI-enabled future.