Lead Architect

Cox Communications; Kansas City (MO); Hybrid; USD 123,000 - 204,000; Full time

Job summary

Cox Automotive is seeking a Lead Architect to drive platform modernization and AI initiatives across CAI services. You will provide technical leadership, shape epics, and align delivery teams on target architecture.

The role emphasizes architectural governance, cloud proficiency, and collaboration with engineering, product, and business stakeholders to deliver durable, scalable solutions.

Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree and 6 years of related experience.
• Demonstrated ability to align diverse stakeholders around technical direction.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to deliver proof-of-concepts.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve architectural vision translating business priorities into technical direction.
• Drive solution design from discovery to delivery.
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and agile leaders to prioritize investments.
• Reduce technical debt in deal initiation surface and legacy integrations.

Skills

Stakeholder alignment

Architectural leadership

Cloud platforms AWS

AI technologies (LLMs GenAI)

DevOps CI/CD

API delivery GraphQL/REST

Python Node.js

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Tools

AWS

GraphQL

REST APIs

Python

Node.js

GCP/Azure

Job description

Company Cox Automotive - USA Job Family Group Engineering / Product Development Job Profile Lead Architect Management Level Manager - Non People Leader Flexible Work Option Hybrid - Ability to work remotely part of the week Travel % Yes, 15% of the time Work Shift Day Compensation Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $122,600.00 - $204,400.00. The base salary may vary within the anticipated base pay range based on factors such as the ultimate location of the position and the selected candidate’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. Position may be eligible for additional compensation that may include an incentive program.

Job Description

Cox Automotive’s architecture group is reimagining the car-buying and service experience from inventory management, consumer shopping, service, and deal inception to close. The CAI Architecture Team architects and evolves the platforms that power inventory management, deal creation, validation, and service across the retail lifecycle. The Lead Architect provides technical leadership for key Cox Automotive products, advancing platform modernization, solution architecture, and AI initiatives across CAI services.

What You’ll Do

• Define and evolve the architectural vision, translating business priorities into durable technical direction across multiple delivery teams.
• Drive solution design from discovery through delivery — shaping epics, validating assumptions, surfacing risks early, and aligning teams to target architecture.
• Partner with engineering, product, and agile leaders to sequence and prioritize architectural investments, balancing near‑term delivery with long‑term platform health.
• Identify and reduce technical debt in the deal initiation surface, including dependencies on legacy dealer workflow integrations.
• Champion adoption of Cox Automotive’s Common tenancy and user management platforms and AWS‑native patterns within the value stream.
• Identify and champion the use of generative AI within new products and features, aligning these to the Retail Agentic Platform capabilities and standards.
• Produce and maintain architectural artifacts — roadmaps, decision records, solution diagrams, integration models — that give teams clear, actionable direction.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, including Gen AI tooling, for applicability to deal initiation and structuring use cases.

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications Bachelor's degree in a related discipline and 6 year’s experience in a related field. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master's degree and 4 years' experience; a Ph.D. and 1 years' experience; or 18 years' experience in a related field.

• Proven ability to align diverse stakeholders around technical direction, navigate ambiguity, and drive consensus across engineering, product, and business teams.
• Highly analytical and capable of diving technically deep to rapidly deliver proof‑of‑conceptions and perform experimentation.
• Breadth of architectural knowledge spanning application, integration, and platform domains, with the ability to connect technical decisions to business outcomes.
• Extensive technical experience in application architecture and API delivery at scale.
• Experience developing APIs at scale using GraphQL and/or REST.
• Experience in full development life cycle with significant experience delivering applications and architecture services in a production environment.
• Strong familiarity with architecting for and delivering solutions in a public cloud environment (AWS preferred).
• Hands‑on experience with AI technologies and concepts (LLMs, autonomous agents, vector databases, model selection, agent‑based architecture, data pipeline, AI‑assisted PDLC, etc.).
• Experience working within DevOps cultures, with a focus on process improvement, automation, and continuous delivery.
• Strong proficiency with relational and non‑relational database technologies (Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB, DynamoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, graph datastores, etc.), especially for information processing and exchange.
• Experience developing software in Python, Node.js, and other languages (Java, Scala, C#, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven ability to identify and select appropriate application and data systems for varied workloads — integrations, processing, APIs, and operational reporting.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, event‑driven architecture, and async messaging patterns at consumer scale.
• Experience with API governance, API contract management, and establishing standards across engineering teams.
• Demonstrated ability to drive platform thinking — identifying reuse opportunities, reducing duplication, and shaping shared capabilities across delivery streams.
• Track record of enabling teams through influence without authority — mentoring engineers, shaping technical direction, and elevating architectural maturity across an organization.

Drug Testing

To be employed in this role, you’ll need to clear a pre‑employment drug test. Cox Automotive does not currently administer a pre‑employment drug test for marijuana for this position. However, we are a drug‑free workplace, so the possession, use or being under the influence of drugs illegal under federal or state law during work hours, on company property and/or in company vehicles is prohibited.

Benefits

The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company’s needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members. Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.

About Us

Through groundbreaking technology and a commitment to stellar experiences for drivers and dealers alike, Cox Automotive employees are transforming the way the world buys, owns, sells – or simply uses – cars. Cox Automotive employees get to work on iconic consumer brands like Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book and industry‑leading dealer‑facing companies like vAuto and Manheim, all while enjoying the people‑centered atmosphere that is central to our life at Cox. Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO). For more details on what benefits you may be offered, visit our benefits page.

Cox is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer – All qualified applicants/employees will receive consideration for employment without regard to that individual’s age, race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, veteran status, genetic information, ethnicity, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Cox provides reasonable accommodations when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with disability, unless such accommodations would cause an undue hardship.

Cox brings together the world’s greatest minds to help breathe life into new possibilities – and drive innovation for a better future. That’s why we look for individuals who share our pioneering spirit, have imaginative ideas and are fearless when it comes to tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Our people love technology – and they love making a difference. They have a passion for finding new solutions and working with brilliant colleagues. Every day they dedicate themselves to a huge range of exciting projects, contributing to the Cox vision around the globe. From engineering new sustainability solutions that conserve water and energy to creating the infrastructure for the smart cities of tomorrow, there’s no challenge too great for our pioneers. And there’s no shortage of opportunities for you to make a difference. Come and experience the dynamic, collaborative and creative environments where your ideas are welcome and new discoveries are waiting. To help you grow to your full potential, we strive to support our employees in their career aspirations and promote the freedom to explore new horizons.