Principal Architect, Togetherwork

• Success in this role requires a balance of deep technical expertise, strategic thinking, and the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders to deliver resilient, high-performing, and intelligent systems at scale
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years in architecture roles
• Strong expertise in API-first and service-oriented architectures
• Strong expertise in backend systems (PHP and PHP frameworks preferred; exposure to additional languages is a plus)
• Strong expertise in React-based frontend architectures
• Strong expertise in relational database design (MySQL preferred)
• Proven experience designing scalable, high-availability web applications
• Experience with cloud-native architectures (AWS)
• Solid understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, containerization, and deployment strategies
• Experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into production systems
• Strong system design and performance optimization skills
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Strategic thinker with strong execution mindset
• Technology agnostic and adaptable
• Strong problem-solving and design skills
• Ability to balance innovation with maintainability
• Strong collaboration and leadership abilities

Desirable

• Togetherwork is seeking an experienced Enterprise Application Architect to define and drive the architectural vision across our product ecosystem
• This role is responsible for designing scalable, secure, and future-ready application frameworks that enable business growth, innovation, and operational excellence
• The architect will lead the evolution of modern, API-first, and cloud-native systems while remaining technology agnostic
• A key focus of this role is to embed AI/ML and Generative AI capabilities into core product experiences, development lifecycles, and intelligent automation, enabling data-driven insights and next-generation user interactions
• This individual will play a critical role in modernizing legacy systems, integrating AI-powered services, and establishing scalable patterns for AI adoption across the organization
• Drive platform-oriented architecture to enable reuse across products (shared services, common APIs, design systems)
• Identify opportunities to standardize capabilities across the portfolio (identity, billing, integrations, AI services)
• Lead high-level and low-level design (HLD/LLD) for new systems and major enhancements
• Develop reference architectures for frontend, backend, API, and database layers
• Ensure systems are extensible, maintainable, and cloud-ready
• Architect RESTful and/or GraphQL APIs with scalability and security in mind
• Design service-oriented or microservices-based architectures where appropriate
• Establish best practices for backend development (PHP or other modern backend technologies)
• Define and enforce standards for performance, resilience, and observability across distributed systems
• Define scalable frontend architecture patterns for React-based applications
• Guide state management, component design, and frontend performance optimization
• Establish standards for UI modularity, reusability, and maintainability
• Ensure seamless integration between frontend and backend services
• Design application architectures that support AI/ML integration (e.g., recommendation systems, predictive analytics, automation)
• Integrate AI/ML services via APIs or embedded models
• Collaborate with data teams to operationalize ML models into production applications
• Evaluate opportunities to embed GenAI, LLM-based features, or intelligent automation into products
• Ensure cost-effective and scalable inference architecture and monitoring of AI-driven features
• Define patterns for LLMOps including model lifecycle, versioning, monitoring, and governance
• Optimize cost, latency, and scalability of AI/GenAI solutions (e.g., prompt design, caching, model selection)
• Evaluate and recommend technologies based on business needs, not personal preference
• Provide architectural guidance across different stacks within the TW portfolio
• Define migration strategies from legacy architectures to modern solutions
• Support M&A integration efforts by rationalizing diverse application stacks
• Ensure responsible AI practices, including data privacy, bias mitigation, and compliance
• Define guardrails for secure and compliant use of GenAI and third-party AI services
• Establish secure coding and architecture standards
• Design authentication and authorization mechanisms (OAuth2, JWT, SSO, etc.)
• Ensure compliance with data privacy and security requirements
• Guide DevOps and CI/CD best practices
• Partner with engineering leaders and product teams to align architecture with business strategy
• Review code and design documents to ensure adherence to standards
• Mentor senior engineers and development teams
• Communicate architecture decisions and trade-offs to executive stakeholders

• Our interviews are designed to be interactive and conversational. Candidates are expected to respond based on their own experience and thinking during live interviews
• To ensure a fair and consistent interview experience, the use of real-time AI tools or other external assistance to generate or guide interview responses is not permitted. Interviews are intended to reflect an individual’s judgment, problem-solving approach, and communication