Head Architect

BMW Techworks India; Pune District; Hybrid; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

BMW Techworks India is seeking a Principal Architect - Connected Vehicle to provide technical leadership and drive the architecture strategy across the Connected Vehicle ecosystem. You will mentor teams, shape scalable solutions, and define standards across multiple domains.

The role requires deep automotive software expertise, cloud-native platforms, and experience with OTA capabilities, data platforms, and cybersecurity.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering with senior leadership roles.
• Experience designing large-scale distributed, cloud-based, or connected systems.
• Automotive/Connected Vehicle domain experience preferred.
• Broad knowledge across Vehicle-Cloud Integration, APIs/Backend, and Cloud Technologies.
• OTA, digital twins, observability, failure recovery, and rollback strategies.
• Security, privacy, data governance, and compliance fundamentals.
• Proven track record of defining architecture principles and driving standards.
• Strong mentoring, stakeholder management, and technical reviews.

Responsibilities

• Provide architecture leadership across the Connected Vehicle ecosystem.
• Shape scalable technical solutions from business and product requirements.
• Mentor Technical Leads, Architects, and engineering teams.
• Establish architecture principles, standards, and guidelines.
• Collaborate with Product, Infotainment, Cloud/Backend, Data, Cybersecurity, and Operations teams.
• Drive technology roadmap decisions and governance through reviews.

Skills

Distributed systems

Cloud platforms

Vehicle-Cloud integration

OTA capabilities

Cybersecurity

Mentoring

Architectural leadership

Data governance

Observability

Secure development

Stakeholder management

Technical reviews

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Job description

Job Description

We are looking for a highly experienced Principal Architect - Connected Vehicle to provide technical leadership and drive architecture strategy across the Connected Vehicle ecosystem. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in automotive software, connected services, cloud-native platforms, vehicle-cloud integration, OTA capabilities, and distributed systems, along with the ability to mentor engineering teams and influence technical direction across multiple domains.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate and integrate technologies, platforms, and engineering practices across the Connected Vehicle ecosystem, including vehicle connectivity, in-car software, backend services, cloud platforms, data systems, and customer-facing applications.
• Shape scalable technical solutions from business and product requirements, advise implementation teams on architecture and design decisions, and provide end-to-end architecture leadership.
• Provide deep expertise in connected vehicle systems, vehicle-cloud-app integration, connected services, software update/OTA capabilities, vehicle data platforms, and digital twin concepts.
• Establish and uphold architecture principles, reusable patterns, technical standards, and engineering guidelines across the organization.
• Mentor and coach Technical Leads, Architects, and engineering teams in solution design, engineering practices, and technical decision-making.
• Stay current with advancements in automotive software, cloud computing, data platforms, AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, and evaluate their business relevance.
• Drive continuous improvements in engineering efficiency, automation, quality, and operational readiness.
• Identify risks related to technical delivery milestones, cross-system dependencies, and architectural integrity; define mitigation strategies and ensure governance through architecture reviews and decision records.
• Enable the technical growth of individuals and teams while building a strong technical leadership pipeline within the Connected Vehicle unit.
• Promote engineering excellence across development, integration, validation, deployment, and production operations.
• Act as a technical enabler and coach, helping teams solve complex technical challenges without becoming a delivery bottleneck.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Infotainment, Vehicle Engineering, Cloud/Backend, Data Engineering, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Validation, and Operations teams.
• Partner with Unit Heads and Product Owners to align technical strategy with customer value, business priorities, and delivery goals.
• Drive Connected Vehicle technology roadmap decisions and provide technical leadership on architecture trade-offs, scalability, customer value, and delivery realities.

Required Skills & Experience

• 12+ years of relevant software engineering experience, including significant experience as an Architect, Principal Engineer, or equivalent senior technical leadership role.
• Proven experience designing and evolving large-scale distributed, cloud-based, or connected systems.
• Automotive or Connected Vehicle domain experience is strongly preferred.
• Strong expertise in one or more Connected Vehicle domains with architectural breadth across:
• Vehicle-Cloud Integration
• Connected Services Platforms
• APIs & Backend Services
• Event-Driven Architectures
• Cloud Technologies
• Practical experience with software lifecycle management, OTA/update capabilities, vehicle data platforms, digital twins, observability, failure recovery, and rollback strategies.
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity, privacy, identity and access management, secure software development, data governance, and compliance requirements.
• Experience designing highly scalable, resilient, maintainable, diagnosable, and supportable systems.
• Proven track record of defining architecture principles, conducting technical reviews, documenting decisions, and driving standards across multiple teams.
• Strong engineering judgment and strategic thinking with the ability to balance technical excellence, customer value, and delivery constraints.
• Excellent mentoring, coaching, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronics, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.