Blockchain Platform Architect for Incubation & R&D

Charles Schwab; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Charles Schwab in Chicago is seeking a Blockchain Platform Architect to define enterprise-grade blockchain and digital asset platform architectures within the Technology Incubation organization. You will partner with engineering, security, risk, and legal teams to balance innovation speed with Schwab’s security and governance standards.

The role requires leading target-state architecture, evaluating protocols, and guiding implementation from prototype to enterprise adoption, while aligning with

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a related technical field (advanced degree a plus).
• 10+ years of experience in software engineering delivering platforms or complex technology initiatives.
• Strong foundation in modern architectures, cloud-native development, and engineering best practices.
• Proven ability to influence across organizational boundaries and collaborate effectively with Product, Risk, Legal/Compliance, Security, and business stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills—able to align leaders, and convey technical tradeoffs clearly.
• Deep experience designing and operating enterprise platforms, distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, APIs, event-driven patterns, observability, resiliency, and DevSecOps practices.
• Strong understanding of blockchain fundamentals, distributed ledger technologies, consensus mechanisms, cryptography, smart contracts, tokenization concepts, node operations, custody models, and digital asset transaction flows.
• Experience applying security and control patterns such as authentication, authorization, encryption, key management, secrets management, secure coding, vulnerability management, monitoring, and incident response readiness.

Responsibilities

• Own the target-state architecture and technical roadmap for blockchain and digital asset platform capabilities, including platform components, service boundaries, integration patterns, APIs, data models, and operational controls.
• Design secure, scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems that support experimentation, pilot delivery, and production use.
• Evaluate blockchain protocols, node infrastructure, custody patterns, smart contract frameworks, interoperability models, and blockchain data access strategies.
• Partner with engineering teams to guide implementation, review designs, resolve complex technical tradeoffs, and establish reusable platform patterns.
• Collaborate with security, risk, legal, compliance, and enterprise architecture teams to ensure platform designs meet enterprise controls, regulatory expectations, defense-in-depth principles, and operational resilience requirements.
• Define architecture documentation, reference models, decision records, design standards, and graduation criteria needed to move capabilities from prototype to sustainable ownership.
• Serve as a technical advisor to the Director of Technology and executive stakeholders by translating blockchain architecture choices into business value, risk implications, investment needs, and adoption paths.

Skills

Software architecture

Cloud-native development

DevSecOps

Security and risk awareness

Stakeholder communication

Distributed systems

Blockchain fundamentals

Architectural decision making

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field

Advanced degree a plus

Job description

Charles Schwab in Chicago is seeking a Blockchain Platform Architect to define enterprise-grade blockchain and digital asset platform architectures within the Technology Incubation organization. You will partner with engineering, security, risk, and legal teams to balance innovation speed with Schwab’s security and governance standards.

The role requires leading target-state architecture, evaluating protocols, and guiding implementation from prototype to enterprise adoption, while aligning with