Architect Consultant

Architect Consultant

Team: Back Office Operations & Global Business Finance Technology
Location: New York City, NY (On-Site, with hybrid model)

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly experienced Architect / Engineering Lead to drive the modernization of enterprise financial and operational platforms within a global investment management environment. This role is ideal for a hands-on technical leader who can define architectural direction, establish scalable engineering standards, and guide distributed teams through complex modernization initiatives.

The ideal candidate combines strong enterprise architecture expertise with practical engineering execution. You will lead architectural governance, define integration strategies, establish security and non-functional standards, and ensure delivery teams build scalable, maintainable, and compliant systems.

This role requires deep experience in Java-based enterprise platforms, cloud-native architecture, distributed systems, API governance, Kubernetes/AKS environments, and modern security patterns.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Define and own enterprise architecture standards, integration patterns, and modernization strategies.

• Lead architecture runway planning for large-scale platform modernization initiatives.

• Establish and govern:

• API standards

• Security patterns

• Integration frameworks

• Event-driven communication models

• Audit and compliance architecture

• Create and maintain Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) and technical governance documentation.

• Conduct architecture reviews, design validations, and technical risk assessments.

Cloud-Native & Platform Engineering

• Architect scalable distributed systems using:

• Java

• Spring Boot

• Kubernetes / AKS

• Microservices

• Event-driven architectures

• Drive containerization and cloud adoption strategies.

• Define deployment standards, CI/CD patterns, and infrastructure governance.

Security & Compliance

• Establish enterprise-grade authentication and authorization models using:

• OAuth2

• OIDC

• RBAC

• API security standards

• Design audit logging, data classification, and compliance-aware architecture patterns.

• Ensure secure API gateway implementation and governance.

Integration & Distributed Systems

• Design enterprise integration patterns across:

• APIs

• Messaging systems

• Event hubs

• Workflow orchestration platforms

• Evaluate build-vs-buy decisions for integration tooling and orchestration platforms.

• Guide teams on scalable asynchronous communication patterns.

Engineering Leadership

• Mentor engineering teams through:

• Design reviews

• Architecture discussions

• Code reviews

• Technical standards

• Build reusable reference implementations and proof-of-concepts.

• Partner closely with Product, DevOps, Security, and business stakeholders.

AI-Enabled Engineering

• Utilize AI tools for:

• Architecture analysis

• Documentation acceleration

• Technical research

• Pattern validation

• Ensure engineering decisions remain practical, maintainable, and production-ready.

Required Skills & Experience

Must-Have Technical Skills

• 10 years of software engineering experience

• Strong architecture and technical leadership background

• Deep expertise in:

• Java

• Spring Boot

• Spring Security

• REST API architecture

• Contract-first API design

• Strong experience with:

• Kubernetes

• AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service)

• Microservices

• Distributed systems

• Expertise in:

• OAuth2

• OIDC

• RBAC

• API Gateway architecture

• Security governance

• Experience defining:

• Non-functional requirements (NFRs)

• Scalability standards

• Reliability patterns

• Observability frameworks

• Strong understanding of:

• CI/CD pipelines

• Infrastructure-as-Code

• DevOps practices

• Excellent documentation and communication skills

• Experience creating Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)

Preferred / Nice-to-Have Skills

• Kafka

• Azure Event Hubs

• Event-driven architecture

• Temporal or workflow orchestration platforms

• Legacy modernization programs

• Financial services or regulated domain experience

• Enterprise architecture governance experience