Principal Software Architect
$155,673–$189,559 year
HybridTucson, Arizona, United States
Job Summary
Define the architectural vision and technology roadmap for NOIRLab's scientific and operational software ecosystem, establishing enterprise-scale principles and governance processes. Lead architectural reviews to guide critical technology decisions across cloud, HPC, and data-intensive domains while championing modernization initiatives that improve system scalability and reliability. Architect and evolve containerized, distributed platforms managing petabyte-scale datasets, driving adoption of DevSecOps, Infrastructure as Code, and automated testing practices. Evaluate emerging AI and ML solutions to deliver measurable scientific and engineering value, serving as a trusted mentor to foster collaboration across science, engineering, and operations organizations.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field
- 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience
- experience as a Software Architect, Principal Engineer, Distinguished Engineer, or similar technical leadership role
- Demonstrated success designing, delivering, and evolving large-scale distributed and data-intensive software systems
- Deep expertise in software architecture, system design, API design, scalability, resilience, reliability, and distributed systems
- Experience designing and operating cloud-native, containerized, microservices-based applications and platforms
- Strong background in multiple programming languages and modern software development methodologies
- Experience building and managing platforms that process and store petabyte-scale data
- Experience with scientific computing, high-performance computing (HPC), distributed computing, or large-scale computational environments
- Experience designing data pipelines, workflow orchestration systems, and data-intensive platforms
- Knowledge of event-driven architectures, messaging systems, and asynchronous processing patterns
- Experience with DevSecOps, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, monitoring, observability, and software delivery automation
- Understanding of secure software development practices, including authentication, authorization, and data protection
- Experience evaluating, integrating, or leveraging AI/ML, generative AI, or LLM-powered capabilities within software platforms or engineering workflows
- Exceptional communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across scientific, engineering, and operational organizations
- Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction, mentor engineers, and lead through architectural expertise rather than direct authority
- Proven hands-on leadership experience through architecture design, prototyping, technical guidance, and code reviews
- Must be able to remain in a stationary position at least 50% of the time
- Must be able to discern and exchange information as appropriate to the situation
- Must be able to distinguish, discern, and identify a variety of objects and fine details with accuracy
Desired Qualifications
- Experience developing software for scientific, research, or data-intensive environments
- Experience supporting scientific instrumentation, observatory operations, or large-scale scientific data pipelines
- Experience contributing to or leading open-source software projects
- Experience working in astronomy, astrophysics, earth sciences, national laboratories, research institutions, or other mission-driven scientific organizations
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