Our vision for the future is based on the idea that transforming financial lives starts by giving our people the freedom to transform their own. We have a flexible work environment, and fluid career paths. We not only encourage but celebrate internal mobility. We also recognize the importance of purpose, well-being, and work-life balance. Within Empower and our communities, we work hard to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, and our associates dedicate thousands of hours to volunteering for causes that matter most to them.

Chart your own path and grow your career while helping more customers achieve financial freedom. Empower Yourself.

Job Summary:

At Empower, an Architect is in an elevated development position and thought leadership role. An Architect, working with both business and IT teams, will align solutions to the technology vision they help create. This role supports Sr. Architects in the development of technology strategies, reference architectures, solutions, best practices and guidance across the entire IT development organization; all the while addressing total cost of ownership, stability, performance and efficiency. The candidate will also be working with Empower Innovation Lab team as the team is experimenting with emerging technologies, such as Generative AI, and Advanced Analytics.

In this rapid paced environment, the person must possess a "can-do" attitude while demonstrating a strong work ethic. This person should have a strong aptitude to help drive decisions. He or she will be actively involved in influencing the strategic direction of technology at Empower Retirement. There will be collaboration across all teams including IT Infrastructure, PMO office, Business, and third-party integrators in reviewing, evaluating, designing and implementing solutions.

The Architect must understand available technology options and educate and influence technology teams to leverage them where appropriate. The Architect will recognize and propose alternatives, make recommendations, and describe any necessary trade-offs. In some cases, particularly on key initiatives, the Architect will participate on the design and implementation of end-to-end solutions directly with development teams.

The ideal candidate will leverage their technical leadership/direction-setting skills with the development organization to be able to prove technical concepts quickly using a variety of tools, methods, & frameworks.

What you will do:

• Help Sr. Architects and peers define and execute on the business aligned IT strategy and vision.
• Develop, document, and provide input into the technology roadmap for Empower Retirement and Great West Financial.
• Create Reference Architectures that demonstrate an understanding of technology components and the relationships between them.
• Adopt best practices for microservices to deliver solutions.
• Maintain a high level of skill in various application deployment and workload architectures, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
• Ensure that IT understands how to leverage various integration protocols and technologies, such as REST & resource-oriented design, OData and API Gateways.
• Participate in the evaluation of new applications, technical options, challenge the status quo, create solid business cases, and influence direction while establishing partnerships with key constituencies.
• Implement best practices, standards & guidance, then subsequently provide coaching of technology team members.
• Make leadership recommendations regarding strategic architectural considerations related to process design and process orchestration.
• Collaborate with other business and technology teams on architecture and design issues.
• Respond to evolving and changing security conditions. Implement and recommend security guidelines.
• Provide thought-leadership, advocacy, articulation, assurance and maintenance of the Enterprise Architecture discipline.
• Provide solution, guidance, and implementation assistance within Full stack development teams.
• Have experience working with high throughput high concurrency distributed systems to meet latency in single digit milli seconds with 4 9s (99.99) availability.
• Have worked with modern testing tools like Gatling or similar to test peak performance of APIs.
• Good understanding of horizontal elastic scaling on cloud for compute and data stores including caching technologies like Redis or Memcache.
• Proficient with performance benchmarking and fine tuning of spring boot applications and applying strategic thinking to help improve system performance optimal throughput.    

What you will bring:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field (Information Systems, Mathematics, Software Engineering)
• 5+ years of experience in the development and delivery of software systems.
• 3+ years of experience creating solution architectures and strategies across multiple architecture domains (business, application, data, integration, infrastructure and security).
• 3+ years of experience developing in the following technologies: Java (Spring, SpringBoot), Web Services (JSON/XML), RESTful architectures, AWS API Gateway, Lambda, NodeJS, Python.
• Solid experience with one or more of the following technology disciplines: SOA & Microservices design, Cloud Architectures, , Advanced Programming, Modern Integration Methods (API Gateway/Web Services, Messaging & RESTful architectures), NoSQL
• Client-side Development experience in Web and/or Mobile technologies.
• Good understanding of front-end and web frameworks such as React and Angular and how they integrate with APIs and backend services.
• Experienced in modern deployment models using Jenkins and CI/CD pipelines.
• Proficient with source code version control such as GitHub/GitLab/BitBucket
• Working knowledge of addressing architectural cross cutting concerns and their tradeoffs, including topics such as caching, monitoring, operational surround, high availability, security, etc.
• Demonstrates competency applying architecture frameworks and development methods.
• Strong knowledge of data modeling, security patterns and integration methods.
• Experience with DevOps processes and tools.
• Understanding of business process analysis and business process management (BPM).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrates continuous learning of new technologies.
• Self-motivated individual that thrives in a team environment.
• Financial industry expertise preferred (Investments, Asset Management, etc.).
• Understanding of machine learning algorithms, deep learning frameworks, and AI model architectures.
• Understanding of ethical AI principles and practices.
• Experience implementing AI transparency and explainability techniques.

What will set you apart:

• People Skills - The Architect is required to interact with people constantly.
• Motivational – The Architect must be able to motivate and inspire. A large part of the job is to influence or evangelize a set of ideals in the enterprise.
• Negotiation - There will be times at the decision-making table when the Architect must negotiate to get things accomplished.
• Problem Solving – The Architect will face a set of complex and unique problems, so they must be able to evaluate and solve problems.
• Big Thinking – The Architect must avoid tunnel vision and be able to look at a problem from multiple angles.
• Business Savvy – General understanding of the financial industry, to help comprehend how technology can really affect the business.

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications of the job.  The employer has the right to revise this job description at any time.   You will be evaluated in part based on your performance of the responsibilities and/or tasks listed in this job description.   You may be required perform other duties that are not included on this job description.  The job description is not a contract for employment, and either you or the employer may terminate employment at any time, for any reason.

***Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time, including CPT/OPT.***

What we offer you

We offer an array of diverse and inclusive benefits regardless of where you are in your career. We believe that providing our employees with the means to lead healthy balanced lives results in the best possible work performance.

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• Retirement savings – 401(k) plan with generous company matching contributions (up to 6%), financial advisory services, potential company discretionary contribution, and a broad investment lineup
• Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250/year
• Business-casual environment that includes the option to wear jeans
• Generous paid time off upon hire – including a paid time off program plus ten paid company holidays and three floating holidays each calendar year
• Paid volunteer time — 16 hours per calendar year
• Leave of absence programs – including paid parental leave, paid short- and long-term disability, and Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)
• Business Resource Groups (BRGs) - internal networks that rally around common interest, experiences and identities such as race, ethnicity, gender, ability, military status and sexual orientation. BRGs play a vital role in educating and engaging our people and advancing our business priorities.

Base Salary Range

The salary range above shows the typical minimum to maximum base salary range for this position in the location listed. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation offered may vary from posted hiring range based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.

Equal opportunity employer •  Drug-free workplace

We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity.  All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age (40 and over), race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, religion, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable state or local law. 

***For remote and hybrid positions you will be required to provide reliable high-speed internet with a wired connection as well as a place in your home to work with limited disruption. You must have reliable connectivity from an internet service provider that is fiber, cable or DSL internet. Other necessary computer equipment, will be provided. You may be required to work in the office if you do not have an adequate home work environment and the required internet connection.***

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