About Us We are transforming the way medical and academic research institutions manage the entire research lifecycle, from initial grant submission, funding, approvals, and human capital management. We are commercializing a successful, custom enterprise application, used for over a decade by a major medical research center, into a scalable, multi-tenant SaaS product. This new product will be utilized by leading academic and medical research centers globally, demanding a modern, secure, and robust architecture. The Role We are seeking a highly experienced and visionary Principal Architect to design, own, and lead the technical architecture for our new commercialized Enterprise SaaS product. This is a critical leadership role that requires deep expertise in migrating legacy systems, architecting multi-tenant solutions, ensuring high-stakes data security/compliance, and defining complex enterprise integration strategies.
A key focus will be transforming hard-coded product logic into a configurable low-code/no-code framework, enabling administrators to define workflows, forms, notifications, and document generation without direct developer involvement.
You will be the foundational technical leader, defining the architectural blueprint and non-functional requirements that will ensure the product’s success, scalability, and market readiness.
Key Responsibilities Architectural Strategy & Design * Define the Target State Architecture: Architect the comprehensive, future-proof engineering architecture for the commercialized SaaS product, moving away from the existing legacy constraints. * Multi-Tenancy: Design and own the architecture for a secure, performant, and cost-effective multi-tenancy environment. * Data Model: Design the new, scalable, and compliant data models to support the full research lifecycle and enterprise reporting needs. * Security & Authorization: Architect the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) model, authentication (SSO), and granular login/permission system to manage complex institutional and project-specific security rules (HIPAA/GDPR considerations a plus). * Workflow Engine: Define the architecture for a robust, configurable workflow and rules engine to manage grant submissions, approvals, compliance checks, and funding disbursements. * Document Management & Processing: Design solutions for secure document upload, storage, versioning, and processing, including the use of OCR/AI/ML for reading, parsing, and extracting data from legal agreements and standardized forms. * Notifications & Forms: Define the architecture for a flexible, scalable notification service and a dynamic form generation engine.
Enterprise Integrations & Modernization * Human Capital Management (HCM) Integrations: Design and lead the technical strategy for complex, bi-directional integrations with major HCM platforms like Workday, PeopleForce, and others, ensuring secure data synchronization for researchers, staff, and funding. * API Strategy: Define and document a comprehensive API gateway and microservice architecture to support both internal components and external third-party integrations (e.g., funding agencies, institutional ERPs). * Technology Stack Selection: Propose and justify the optimal technology stack, cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP), and deployment strategy (e.g., Kubernetes).
Required Qualifications * Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical decisions to both executive leadership and engineering teams. * 10+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, with 5+ years in a dedicated architecture role for Enterprise SaaS products. * Proven track record of successfully modernizing or commercializing a legacy enterprise application into a scalable, multi-tenant product. * Deep expertise in designing complex data models for large-scale enterprise applications. * Demonstrated experience architecting enterprise-level integrations, specifically with Human Capital Management (HCM) or ERP systems (e.g., Workday, Oracle, SAP). * Advanced AI/ML & Agent Experience: * Proven skills in utilizing and architecting solutions around Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI Agents for tasks such as complex document parsing, semantic search, and intelligent workflow automation * Experience with MCP servers or similar advanced service mesh and event-driven architectures for orchestrating complex processes. * Strong understanding of security, compliance, and regulatory frameworks relevant to medical/academic data (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, institutional policies).
Collaboration & Mentorship: * Provide architectural guidance and mentorship to engineering leads and development teams. * Promote cross-team architectural consistency and alignment with product vision. * Foster a culture of technical excellence, continuous improvement, and accountability across the engineering organization. * Partner with Product and Delivery leadership to ensure architectural priorities are integrated into roadmap planning and execution.
Governance & Delivery: * Experience implementing modern DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, observability, and infrastructure-as-code (IaC). * Familiarity with release governance processes, audit logging, and proactive system health monitoring in enterprise environments. * Ability to define and enforce architectural standards through documentation (ADRs), peer reviews, and quality gates.
Technology Stack (Current and Target Ecosystem): * Frontend: React, TypeScript, Redux, Micro-frontend composition * Backend: .NET 8, ASP.NET Web API, Entity Framework Core * Database: Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL * Infrastructure: Azure Cloud (App Services, Blob Storage, Service Bus, Functions, API Management), Infrastructure-as-Code (Bicep/Terraform) * AI & Automation: Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Document Intelligence, Semantic Search, Event-driven Chat Orchestrator * DevOps: Azure DevOps Pipelines, GitHub Actions, Containerization (Docker), CI/CD automation * Security & Identity: Azure Entra ID (AD), RBAC, SSO, Key Vault, Managed Identities
