Application Architect (AI & Cloud) - Flex

United Parcel Service, Inc.; Coppell (TX); On-site; USD 128,000 - 273,000; Full time

Job summary

United Parcel Service, Inc. seeks a senior Application Architect to lead end-to-end architecture and modernization of enterprise apps with Generative AI, agentic AI, and cloud-native tech.

You will design AI-powered solutions using LangGraph, LangChain, RAG, and modern observability frameworks, balancing deterministic workflows with API-driven patterns. The role demands deep experience in scalable, secure architectures on GCP, extensive collaboration with stakeholders, and a focus on

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years designing and delivering enterprise applications.
• Strong experience with distributed systems, APIs, microservices, event-driven patterns.
• Hands-on AI: Generative AI, LLMs, agentic AI, RAG.
• Experience with LangGraph or equivalent frameworks.
• Cloud-native solutions on GCP.
• Security patterns including IAM, auth, and data access.
• Production observability, tracing, resiliency and performance.
• Ability to prototype and present architectural trade-offs.
• Strong communication with stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end application architecture across frontend, backend, AI/agent layers, orchestration, integrations, data, and cloud services.
• Define scalable architecture patterns supporting multiple business capabilities and workflows.
• Determine use of deterministic workflows, APIs, rules, AI agents, and hybrids.
• Architect stateful and long-running workflows with recovery and human-in-the-loop.
• Design agentic solutions using LangGraph, LangChain, RAG, APIs, MCP, and orchestration patterns.
• Define secure multi-persona architectures with authentication and data boundaries.
• Architect integrations with enterprise APIs, legacy systems, and data services.
• Define data, semantic retrieval, vector search, and knowledge patterns.
• Define non-functional requirements: scalability, availability, performance, cost.
• Design cloud-native architectures on GCP (Vertex AI, GKE, Cloud Run, BigQuery, etc.).
• Establish AI observability, tracing, evaluation and operational readiness.
• Create ADRs, reference architectures, and reusable patterns; guide teams.
• Evaluate trade-offs via prototypes and communicate to stakeholders.
• Guide CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, containerization, and production deployment patterns.

Skills

Distributed systems

Microservices

Generative AI

LangGraph

GCP

Security patterns

Observability

CI/CD

Communication skills

APIs

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Vertex AI

GKE

OpenTelemetry

Terraform

REST APIs / API gateways

Job description

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Job Description:

We are seeking a highly skilled Application Architect to lead the end-to-end architecture and modernization of enterprise applications incorporating Generative AI, agentic AI, cloud-native technologies, and enterprise systems . The ideal candidate combines strong enterprise application architecture fundamentals with hands-on experience designing AI-powered solutions using technologies such as LangGraph, LangChain, GCP, RAG, MCP, and modern observability frameworks . This role requires the ability to determine where AI adds value and where deterministic workflows, APIs, rules, and traditional application patterns provide the better solution.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end application architecture across frontend, backend, AI/agent layers, orchestration, integrations, data, and cloud services.

• Define scalable, reusable architecture patterns supporting multiple business capabilities, personas, and workflows.

• Determine appropriate use of deterministic workflows, APIs, rules, AI agents, and hybrid approaches based on reliability, performance, explainability, cost, and maintainability.

• Architect stateful and long-running workflows , including session and context management, checkpoints, retries, idempotency, human-in-the-loop interactions, and recovery patterns.

• Design agentic solutions using LangGraph, LangChain, RAG, APIs, MCP, and other orchestration patterns .

• Define secure multi-persona architectures with appropriate authentication, authorization, entitlements, data-access boundaries, and service identities.

• Architect integrations with enterprise APIs, transactional and legacy systems, SaaS platforms, and data services using REST APIs, Apigee/API gateways, MCP, messaging, and event-driven patterns .

• Define application data, semantic retrieval, vector search, and knowledge architecture patterns using appropriate relational, graph, vector, and search technologies.

• Define non-functional requirements for scalability, availability, performance, resiliency, security, maintainability, recoverability, and cost efficiency .

• Design cloud-native architectures on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using services such as Vertex AI, GKE, Cloud Run, AlloyDB, BigQuery, Pub/Sub, and Eventarc.

• Establish architecture patterns for AI observability, distributed tracing, evaluation, monitoring, Responsible AI, and operational readiness .

• Define reference architectures, engineering standards, architecture decision records (ADRs), and reusable patterns, and guide engineering teams through implementation.

• Evaluate architecture alternatives through prototypes and proof-of-concepts and clearly communicate technical trade-offs to engineering, product, security, platform, and business stakeholders.

• Guide CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, containerization, DevSecOps, and production deployment patterns .

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.

• 12+ years of experience designing and delivering enterprise applications, including significant experience in Application or Solution Architecture.

• Strong experience with distributed systems, APIs, microservices, event-driven architecture, data persistence, state management, and enterprise integration patterns .

• Hands-on experience designing solutions using Generative AI, LLMs, agentic AI, RAG, and tool-calling architectures .

• Experience with LangGraph and/or equivalent agent orchestration frameworks , including stateful workflow and multi-agent patterns.

• Experience architecting cloud-native solutions on GCP .

• Strong experience integrating applications with enterprise APIs, transactional systems, and legacy platforms.

• Experience with enterprise security patterns including identity, authentication, authorization, service identity, secrets management, and least privilege.

• Experience with production observability, distributed tracing, resiliency, performance engineering, and operational readiness.

• Ability to develop prototypes and reference implementations to validate architectural decisions.

• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills with the ability to translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Engineering, or a related discipline.

• Experience with MCP, LangFuse, OpenTelemetry, Vertex AI, Gemini, OpenAI, or Anthropic ecosystems.

• Experience with semantic and knowledge technologies such as Stardog, Neo4j, RDF, OWL, or SPARQL .

• Experience with vector search, embeddings, semantic retrieval, and enterprise knowledge platforms.

• Knowledge of Responsible AI, AI governance, LLMOps, and MLOps .

• Experience designing reusable enterprise AI capabilities or supporting large-scale application modernization.

• Relevant cloud, AI, security, or architecture certifications.

Technical Skills

• Architecture: Distributed systems, microservices, REST APIs, event-driven architecture, stateful workflows, integration patterns

• AI & Agentic: Generative AI, LLMs, LangGraph, LangChain, RAG, MCP, tool calling, multi-agent and human-in-the-loop patterns

• Cloud: GCP, Vertex AI, GKE, Cloud Run, BigQuery, AlloyDB, Pub/Sub, Eventarc

• Data & Knowledge: PostgreSQL, relational data modeling, vector search, semantic retrieval, knowledge graphs

• Security: IAM, RBAC/ABAC, OAuth/OIDC, service identity, secrets management

• Observability: LangFuse, OpenTelemetry, distributed tracing, AI/LLM evaluation and monitoring

• Engineering: Git, CI/CD, Terraform, DevSecOps, containerization, automated testing

Pay Range:

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $128,172/year to 272,736/year. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to, market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and education/training and a candidate’s work experience. Hired applicants may be eligible for annual short-term and/or long-term incentive compensation programs depending on the level of the position. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and are dependent upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company’s performance. Hired applicants may be eligible for Medical/prescription drug coverage, Dental coverage, Vision coverage, Flexible Spending Account, Health Savings Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance & Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Disability Income Protection Plan, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k) retirement program, Vacation, Paid Holidays and Personal time, Paid Sick and Family and Medical Leave time as required by law, and Discounted Employee Stock Purchase Program.

Employee Type:

Permanent

UPS is committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Employer will sponsor visas for specific positions. UPS is an equal opportunity employer. UPS does not discriminate on the basis of race/color/religion/sex/national origin/veteran/disability/age/sexual orientation/gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law.