Principal Software Architect

Citizens Bank; Johnston (RI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Flexible work arrangements

Education reimbursement

Wellness programs

Generous paid time off

Job summary

Citizens Bank is seeking a Principal Software Architect to provide architectural leadership across enterprise business and technical platforms. You will partner with business leaders, product managers, software engineers, cybersecurity professionals, and executives to design scalable, secure solutions aligned to enterprise standards and strategy.

Key responsibilities include leading architecture reviews, creating reusable frameworks, guiding technical direction, and driving innovation while

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, IT, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in software development, engineering, or solution architecture.
• Hands-on experience delivering end-to-end software solutions for multi-tier applications.
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture concepts, patterns, and best practices.
• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases.
• Excellent communication skills to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Experience designing, building highly available, customer-facing applications.
• Experience building cloud-native and distributed systems.
• Experience designing, developing, and integrating APIs.
• Experience modernizing monolithic apps to microservices.
• Experience identifying automation opportunities and improving performance.
• Experience executing large-scale technology transformations or migrations.

Responsibilities

• Participate in architecture reviews to ensure alignment with standards and security.
• Design reusable frameworks and platforms for scalability and consistency.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to define technical direction and alignment.
• Influence solution design to achieve measurable business outcomes.
• Provide post-implementation support, coaching, and stakeholder enablement.
• Conduct research and analyze technologies to recommend solutions.
• Perform long-term tech trend analysis and future investment recommendations.
• Analyze system performance and operational metrics for improvements.
• Drive innovation through evaluation and adoption of new technologies.
• Ensure cybersecurity principles are incorporated into designs.

Skills

Architectural leadership

Enterprise architecture

Cloud platforms

API design

Distributed systems

DevOps

Cybersecurity

Education

Bachelor's degree (CS/SE/IT)

Tools

Java

JavaScript

Python

Golang

Ruby

C/C++

Angular

React

Vue.js

Job description

Description

Principal Software Architect

Position Summary

As a Principal Architect, you will play a key role in bringing innovative ideas to life and driving the adoption of emerging technologies across the enterprise. This role provides architectural leadership, governance, and oversight at both the business platform and technical platform levels. You will partner with cross functional teams, including business leaders, product managers, software engineers, cybersecurity professionals, and senior executives to design scalable, secure, and high performing solutions that align with enterprise standards and strategic objectives.

The Principal Architect will present architecture strategies, designs, and recommendations to Architecture Review Boards, technology leadership, and business stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in architecture, design, and code reviews to ensure solutions align with enterprise standards, security requirements, and best practices.
• Design and develop reusable frameworks, services, interfaces, and platforms that support scalability and consistency across the enterprise.
• Collaborate with engineering teams and technology leaders to define technical direction and drive architectural alignment.
• Influence solution design and implementation to achieve measurable business outcomes.
• Provide post implementation support, including troubleshooting, coaching, and stakeholder enablement.
• Conduct research and technical analysis to evaluate technologies and recommend solutions.
• Perform long term technology trend analysis and provide recommendations for future investments.
• Analyze system performance, operational metrics, and control reports to identify improvement opportunities.
• Drive innovation through the evaluation, adoption, and implementation of new technologies.
• Ensure cybersecurity principles and controls are incorporated into all solution designs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in software development, engineering, or solution architecture.
• Hands on experience delivering end to end software solutions for complex, multi tier applications.
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture concepts, patterns, and best practices.
• Experience with systems analysis, process analysis, and solution design.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical concepts to non technical audiences.
• Experience working with relational and non relational database technologies, including RDBMS and NoSQL platforms.
• Experience designing and building highly available, resilient, customer facing applications.
• Experience building cloud native applications and distributed systems.
• Experience designing, developing, and integrating APIs.
• Experience modernizing monolithic applications into microservices based architectures.
• Experience identifying automation opportunities and improving application performance and operational efficiency.
• Experience implementing large scale technology transformations, platform modernization initiatives, or strategic technology migrations.

Expertise in at least two of the following areas

• Infrastructure
• Cybersecurity
• DevOps
• Application Development
• Database Technologies
• Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the financial services or banking industry.
• Understanding of consumer banking, commercial banking, or custodial banking environments.
• Experience working with sensitive financial data and regulated environments.
• Strong business analysis, stakeholder management, and presentation skills.
• Experience incorporating cybersecurity principles into application and platform architecture.
• Knowledge of multiple programming languages and frameworks, such as:

• Java
• JavaScript
• Python
• Golang
• Ruby
• C/C++
• Angular
• React
• Vue.js

• Understanding of UI/UX principles and application design best practices.

Education

• Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Pay Transparency

• The salary range for this position is $150,000 to $190,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn additional incentive earnings. Actual pay is based on various factors including, but not limited to, the budget, work location, and relevant skills and experience.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement plans, parental leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs, and generous paid time off exceeding local requirements.

Citizens Benefits Overview

For an overview of our benefits, visit our Careers site - https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits.

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Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.