Principal Software Architect: AI-Driven Distributed

Lumen; Little Rock (AR); Remote; USD 160,000 - 223,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Life insurance

Bonus structure

Job summary

Lumen is seeking a Principal Software Architect to lead architectural discipline across the DJAS team, applying proven patterns to complex, multi-system problems including AI-augmented domains. The role emphasizes breadth over domain depth, with a focus on governance, security, and observability.

Remote US-based, the position collaborates with cloud, security, and domain architects to ensure architectural quality and measurable delivery outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or related field with 12+ years of software architecture experience
• Master's degree with 10+ years of software architecture experience
• AI-first practitioner integrating AI tools as routine part of architecture work
• Proven track record delivering production systems and architectures that were built and operated
• Strong written and verbal communication producing ADRs and designs

Responsibilities

• Apply proven software architecture principles to DJAS design work: microservices, event-driven patterns, distributed systems, API-first design, domain-driven design
• Lead architecture design sessions and reviews; surface tradeoffs and address NFRs from the start
• Define architecture governance: what makes a design good enough to ship vs needs more work
• Evaluate and adopt modern architecture patterns beyond current practices
• Apply AI-augmented engineering practices: LLM-assisted design and agentic workflow architecture
• Architect for operational excellence: observability-first design, chaos engineering readiness
• Bridge architecture and implementation: ensure build matches design intent
• Mentor architects and engineers on fundamentals and design patterns
• Collaborate with cloud/IAM/security to address cross-cutting concerns
• Challenge technical debt patterns to ensure conscious design choices

Skills

Distributed systems

Microservices

Event-driven

API design

DDD and bounded contexts

Non-functional requirements

Observability

Security architecture

Architectural governance

AI-enabled design

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Master's degree in related field

Tools

OpenTelemetry

Job description

Lumen is seeking a Principal Software Architect to lead architectural discipline across the DJAS team, applying proven patterns to complex, multi-system problems including AI-augmented domains. The role emphasizes breadth over domain depth, with a focus on governance, security, and observability.

Remote US-based, the position collaborates with cloud, security, and domain architects to ensure architectural quality and measurable delivery outcomes.