Chief Architect

Ad Hoc; Columbia (MD); Remote; USD 220,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company is seeking a Chief Architect to lead system architecture for government services. This role emphasizes collaboration, technical leadership, and the design of scalable solutions. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in cloud architecture and a strong background in software development. Join a team that values innovation and flexibility while making a meaningful impact in public service.

Benefits

Company-subsidized health insurance

Flexible PTO

401K with employer match

Paid parental leave

Employee Assistance Program

Qualifications

• 10-12 years of experience in IT and systems architecture.
• 5+ years in enterprise or solution architecture roles.
• 3+ years in cloud architecture in federal environments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a subject matter expert in system architecture.
• Provide technical leadership and establish architectural standards.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate requirements.

Skills

Architectural Design Expertise

Leadership in Technical Strategy

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Experience with Modern Technologies

Software Lifecycle Management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science

Master’s degree

Tools

AWS

Salesforce

Terraform

Jenkins

Kubernetes

Job description

Are you ready for new challenges and new opportunities?

Join our team!

Current job opportunities are posted here as they become available.

Ad Hoc is a technology company that empowers organizations to deliver scalable, impactful digital services. Using modern, agile methods, our team creates products that meet people’s needs and transform their experience of government.

Work on things that matter

Our collaborations have shaped some of the defining moments in public-sector service delivery. We’ve helped build products that connect Veterans to tailored services, help millions access affordable health care, and support important programs like Head Start. As we work with agencies to deliver critical services, we’re also changing how the government approaches technology.

Built for a remote life

Our culture, communications, and tools are built for remote work, enabling us to bring together top talent nationwide. At Ad Hoc, remote life empowers our teams to design work environments that fit their lives and that foster flexibility and collaboration to achieve positive outcomes for our customers.

Committed to high expectations and a welcoming culture

Ad Hoc values acceptance, accountability, and humility. We aren’t heroes. We learn from our mistakes and improve the process for the next time. We build small, inclusive teams to collaborate closely with our partners to solve the right problems and deliver software that works.

The Veterans Affairs business unit helps transform the VA into a modern digital services organization where Veteran outcomes are at the center of every effort. We partner with the VA to design and deliver seamless user experiences for Veterans, their families and caregivers, and VA employees. By applying better practices in service design, product management, and technology, we enable the VA to increase the use, quality, and reliability of services and decrease the time Veterans spend waiting for outcomes.

Primary Responsibilities:

In this role, you will serve as a subject matter expert, while serving as an individual contributor that provides mentorship associated with data competencies. The Chief Architect is accountable for the overarching system architecture across both existing and emerging ecosystems, ensuring cohesive integration, scalability, and alignment with business and mission objectives. Provides technical leadership to define the architectural vision, establish standards, and guide solution design across the enterprise.

Skills and Expertise:

• Extensive Architectural Design Expertise: Proven experience in designing and developing complex software systems on premise and in the cloud, ensuring scalability, security, and high performance for enterprise-level applications.
• Leadership in Technical Strategy: Demonstrated success in leading the technical vision and strategic direction of software architecture design and implementation, aligning it with organizational goals and ensuring seamless integration with other systems.
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Adept at working with engineering, product management, customer stakeholder, and other cross-functional teams to translate business requirements into robust technical solutions, fostering collaboration and innovation.
• Experience with Modern Technologies and Frameworks: Expertise in utilizing cutting-edge technologies, frameworks, and best practices to design innovative software solutions that meet business needs, regulatory and compliance requirements, and technical standards.
• Strong Background in Software Lifecycle Management: In-depth knowledge of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), with a focus on architecting and maintaining solutions that evolve with changing business needs while maintaining system integrity.
• Familiarity with home loan mortgage housing finance loan lifecycle business rule implementation with regulatory and organizational lending policy compliance desirable.

Specialized Skills:

• Expertise in designing large-scale, secure, cloud-native and hybrid systems.
• Experience designing and implementing Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) principles.
• Experience designing and developing multi-cloud system architectures integrating AWS and Salesforce services, business processes, data models, and security creating operation ecosystems.
• Proficiency selecting optimal AWS services designing and developing architectures around compute, networking, security, and storage in alignment with business and mission drivers.

API and Integration Architecture

• Experience with Salesforce API design, development, system integration, and implementation.
• Design and governance of RESTful APIs, event-driven architecture, and enterprise integration patterns.
• Familiarity with API lifecycle management, developer portals, and third-party integration (e.g., MISMO compliance for mortgage data exchange).

Cybersecurity and Compliance

• Deep understanding of Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, and VA-specific IT security standards.
• Ability to incorporate security-by-design and privacy-by-design principles in system architecture.
• Understanding of Section 508 compliant implementation practices and considerations as applicable to architecture design.

DevSecOps and CI/CD Pipeline Architecture

• Knowledge of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation).
• Experience building scalable CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitLab, or GitHub Actions, with integrated security for continuous ATO on demand production deployments.
• Experience with data modeling, metadata management, data interoperability, and master data management (MDM).
• Familiarity with VA data governance frameworks and veteran-centric data architecture.

Modern Software Development Frameworks

• Understanding modern programming languages (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js) and frameworks (e.g., Spring Boot, .NET Core, React).
• Understanding of microservices, event sourcing, and container orchestration (Kubernetes, ECS).

Agile Framework

Ability to lead architecture in agile settings at scale, working within industry leading agile frameworks e.g. SAFe, Scrum at Scale, Large Scale Scrum.

System Interoperability and Standards Compliance

• Experience developing system architecture using a multi cloud operational environment.
• Interoperability- familiarity integrating Salesforce with AWS custom code micro services and Oracle database.
• Knowledge of MISMO standards for mortgage systems and other relevant industry data exchange standards.

Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement

• Ability to communicate architectural decisions and trade-offs to both technical teams and non-technical executives.
• Skilled in facilitating design sessions, technical roadmap development, and driving consensus among stakeholders.

Basic Qualifications:

Minimum Total Experience: 10–12 years of progressive experience in IT and systems architecture, including:

• 5+ years specifically in enterprise or solution architecture roles.
• 3+ years in cloud architecture and modernization efforts in federal or similarly regulated environments.

Educational Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field required.
• Master’s degree preferred or may substitute for 2 years of experience.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, TOGAF, SAFe Architect, CISSP) strongly preferred.

Preferred Qualifications:

Domain-Specific Experience (preferred):

• 2–3 years working in the VA or federal civilian agencies with exposure to VBA systems
• Experience with MISMO and similar data interoperability frameworks is highly desirable.
• Company-subsidized health, dental, and vision insurance
• Flexible PTO
• 401K with employer match
• Paid parental leave after one year of service
• Employee Assistance Program

Ad Hoc LLC is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination.

In support of various state and city equal pay transparency laws, Ad Hoc job descriptions feature the starting range we reasonably expect to pay to candidates who would join our team with little to no need for training on the responsibilities we've outlined above. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide range of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and responsibility. The range of starting pay for this role is $220,000-$240,000. Our recruiters will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to learning more about your salary requirements.