Principal Solutions Architect

Principal, Solutions Architect

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Salary: $175k-$225k + 30% bonus

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Location: Chicago, IL

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Hybrid: 3 days onsite, 2 days remote

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Qualifications

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• BS degree in Computer Science, similar technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
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• 10+ years of relevant work experience
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• Experience in the capital markets industry.
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• Software development experience in Java, Python, or C#, including building high-throughput, low-latency services for data-intensive or transaction-oriented systems
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• Strong knowledge of Kafka or other messaging/streaming systems, including topic design, partitioning strategies, and producer/consumer patterns for reliable, event-driven communication.
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• Fluent in object-oriented design principles, software design patterns, and modern architecture practices (e.g., microservices, event-driven architecture, domain-driven design), with the ability to apply them to real-world, large-scale systems.
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• Knowledge of identity and access management using OAuth2/OIDC flows (client credentials, authorization code with PKCE), JWT-based token validation, and integration with identity providers (e.g., ForgeRock, SailPoint).
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• Knowledge of schema management and data serialization formats, preferably Protocol Buffers (Protobuf), including schema evolution
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• Understanding of data lake-house architecture and table formats such as Apache Iceberg
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• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code principles and tooling preferably Terraform to enable repeatable, automated environment design.
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• Working knowledge of DevOps tooling and practices such as Git, Jenkins, Docker, Artifactory, ArgoCD, and others to support automated build, test, and deployment of distributed, containerized applications.
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• Experience working with Cloud ecosystems (AWS, PaaS, K8s)
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Responsibilities

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• Design the applications’ architecture across distributed and enterprise technology platforms while leveraging patterns such as event-driven architecture, publish/subscribe messaging, and microservices while using infrastructure-as-code (IaC) practices to enable consistent, repeatable, and automated provisioning across environments.
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• Define and enforce architectural standards, patterns, and best practices across engineering teams.
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• Design streaming and batch-based systems that support both real-time and scheduled data flow across the organization.
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• Shape and guide the architecture of message-based systems utilizing Kafka or similar platforms to enable reliable, decoupled, event-driven communication between services.
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• Develop and oversee data architecture and integration strategies spanning streaming, batch, and message-based processing to ensure reliable, secure, and efficient data flow across systems.
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• Own end-to-end solution architecture from ideation through implementation, including documentation of architectural decisions and system diagrams.
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• Guide the development and deployment of distributed, cloud-native services, ensuring resilience, scalability, and cost-efficiency.
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• Collaborate with DevOps, platform engineering, and security teams to ensure architectures are operable, resilient, and aligned with organizational standards.
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• Review designs and code from engineering teams to ensure alignment with architectural standards, security requirements, and regulatory/compliance needs.
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• Troubleshoot and resolve complex, cross-system issues spanning application, infrastructure, messaging, and data layers.
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• Partner with engineering, data, and business teams to translate business requirements into robust, scalable technical solutions.
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