Staff Technical Architect

Socket.dev; Toronto; On-site; CAD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Appnovation is seeking a Senior Technical Architect to lead the technical strategy and oversee the architecture for a global division. You will work as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, bridging enterprise standards with divisional priorities and embedding as a Forward Deployed Engineer within delivery teams.

You will guide modern engineering practices, security, reliability and governance while driving reusable patterns and scalable solutions across business units.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Proven experience defining technical strategy, architecture, or landscape for a significant business area.
• Deep hands-on technical expertise in modern engineering practices, cloud platforms, data and integration patterns, APIs, security, and reliability.
• Experience acting as a technical advisor or design authority, guiding teams through influence rather than authority.
• Experience partnering with business and Digital stakeholders to shape technical direction and measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain the division's technical strategy and target architecture across a global division.
• Own the division’s technical landscape, reference architectures, and integration patterns.
• Represent the division in the Architecture Review Board and drive sound architectural decisions.
• Ensure alignment of divisional tech needs with enterprise platforms and standards.
• Identify opportunities for reusable patterns, standards, and delivery efficiencies at scale.
• Partner with senior leaders as a trusted technical advisor on measurable outcomes.
• Define responsible AI, automation, and engineering practices within the division.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, elevating standards.
• Establish reliability, security, governance, and observability across the division.

Skills

Tech strategy

Technical architecture

Cloud platforms

APIs & integration

Security & reliability

Stakeholder influence

Mentorship

AI & automation

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in CS/Engineering/IS

Job description

About us

Appnovation is a global, full-service digital partner that combines Strategy, Experience & Design, Engineering and Managed Services. We build digital solutions that deliver real impact today and serve as foundations for future growth. Bold ambition. Practical action. Endless possibilities.

Technology is foundational to all of Appnovation’s offerings, from consulting to digital innovation, to digital product and service creation. The technology department is focused on delivering software solutions that enable rich consumer experiences, from mobile and web applications to advanced analytics and machine learning, to content and engagement management service enablement platforms.

Inherent throughout our tech capabilities is deep expertise in the Software Development Life Cycle, a drive for creativity, a passion for the craft, and collaboration with other disciplines - all foundational ingredients in successful digital experiences and client partnerships.

As a Senior Technical Architect (Director level), you will join a highly motivated and experienced team as the technical leader accountable for crafting the technical strategy and overseeing the technical landscape and architecture for one of our business divisions. You will shape the division’s technical direction — ensuring its technology choices are modern, secure, scalable, reusable and aligned to enterprise architecture standards — translate divisional business priorities into a clear target architecture, and act as a trusted technical advisor to senior business and Digital leaders, enterprise architects and platform teams. While you operate at a strategic leadership level, you will also frequently wear the hat of a Forward Deployed Engineer, embedding yourself within delivery teams to navigate complex technical challenges, unblock execution and bridge the gap between architectural vision and operational reality. We are looking for a senior, hands-on technical expert who can create clarity from complexity, make sound architecture and technology choices, guide teams through influence, and set the technical direction that delivers faster, safer and more reusable digital capabilities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Divisional Technology Strategy: Create and maintain the technical strategy for an ELT-level global division, connecting divisional business priorities, enterprise architecture standards, and emerging technology into a clear, actionable roadmap and target-state architecture.
• Architecture and Technical Landscape: Own and oversee the division’s technical landscape and target architecture, defining key technical standards, integration patterns, and reference architectures, and ensuring technology decisions are sound, sustainable, and fit for scale.
• Architecture Review Board Decision-Making: Represent the division in the Architecture Review Board, evaluating proposed digital solutions, making informed architecture decisions, and approving or rejecting architecture requests alongside the ARB chair to ensure solutions align to divisional priorities, enterprise standards, platform strategy, security expectations, and long-term technical sustainability.
• Enterprise and Platform Alignment: Ensure divisional technology needs are mapped to enterprise platforms and standards, so the division reuses shared capabilities and integrates cleanly into the broader platform spine.
• Reusable Standards and Scaled Efficiencies: Identify opportunities to establish new technical standards, reusable patterns, and delivery efficiencies that solve divisional needs while creating approaches that can be adopted and scaled across other divisions and enterprise platforms.
• Trusted Technical Advisor: Partner with global senior divisional business and Digital leaders as a trusted advisor, translating ambiguous needs into practical technical choices, delivery models, and measurable outcomes.
• AI-Enabled Delivery: Define how AI, automation, and modern engineering practices are responsibly applied within the division to increase speed, improve quality, strengthen decision-making, and maintain appropriate governance and verification.
• Technical Guidance and Mentorship: Provide technical leadership and mentorship to divisional engineering and delivery teams, raising technical standards and building capability through influence rather than direct authority.
• Reliability, Security, and Governance: Establish and uphold expectations for reliability, security, documentation, and operational excellence across the division’s technical landscape, ensuring it is compliant, observable, and resilient.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, with proven experience in technical architecture, engineering, or technology strategy.
• Demonstrated experience defining the technical strategy, architecture, or technical landscape for a significant business area, product, or technology domain.
• Deep, hands-on technical expertise in modern engineering practices, cloud platforms, data and integration patterns, APIs, security, and reliability.
• Experience acting as a technical advisor or design authority, guiding teams and stakeholders through influence rather than direct authority.
• Experience partnering with business and Digital stakeholders to shape technical direction and measurable outcomes.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree in a technology, engineering, or related discipline.
• Experience operating in a highly regulated, global enterprise environment with complex compliance, privacy, security, and risk expectations.
• Experience applying AI-enabled delivery, automation, and platform reuse to improve speed and quality.
• Track record of influencing senior stakeholders, building trusted partnerships, and creating clarity in ambiguous situations.
• Recognized technical depth in the division’s core technology domain (e.g., commercial, R&D, manufacturing and supply, or enabling-function technologies, as applicable).

WHO YOU ARE

• You think about how to scale, automate and operate, not just how to build a solution to an immediate problem
• You understand lean thinking
• You set high standards for code quality, performance/scalability and security and seek continuous improvement
• You have solid analytical, problem solving and decision-making skills
• You have customer first mindset and a devotion to customer service
• You engage and build positive internal and external client relationships, while managing multiple initiatives, often with competing priorities
• You have strong self-initiative, passion, interpersonal, oral and written communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work, influence and make an impact in a cross-functional environment with all levels of the organization
• You are responsive and thrive in a fast-paced diverse high-performance environment with rapidly changing business needs
• You actively seek out things outside your comfort zone with the ability to rapidly learn and take advantage of new concepts, business models, and technologies
• You have prior experience in consulting
• Prior experience and connections in the Life Sciences industry is preferred

At Appnovation, we recognize that diverse teams are the strongest teams. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is not only something that we embrace - we celebrate it! We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and we encourage applicants from all backgrounds, lived experiences and industries to apply. Come join us at Appnovation, and learn more about how we stay true to our company values as we build better lives through better digital.

Accommodations are available upon request throughout the recruitment process.