Principal Software Architect: Cloud-Native & AI Solutions

Ascend Learning; Leawood (KS); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Company paid life Insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and parental leave

Employee assistance program

Wellness programs and charitable match

Job summary

Ascend Learning in Leawood, KS is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead architecture across multiple teams while remaining hands-on in design and coding. You will shape platforms serving healthcare education professionals and educators.

The role emphasizes setting technical direction, mentoring engineers, and driving modernization with modern .NET, Angular, Azure, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, and SQL Server.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in software development for web-based applications, including 3+ years in a technical leadership or architecture role.
• Experience establishing engineering standards, patterns and best practices with organizational and teamwork and collaboration skills, and strong attention to detail.
• Hands-on experience applying AI-assisted and agentic development tools across the SDLC, including integrating AI capabilities into products.
• Experience in modern .NET (8+), C#, SQL Server, and ASP.NET Core (MVC/Web API).
• Experience in modern Angular (v17+), TypeScript, HTML5, CSS.
• Experience with Kafka, Docker, and Kubernetes
• Experience building and operating applications on Microsoft Azure
• Experience with Git-based platforms (e.g. GitLab)
• Deep experience designing distributed systems, including microservices, event‑driven architectures, and API design
• Knowledge of secure software development practices and privacy, security, and accessibility requirements
• Experience with observability and production operations, including monitoring and incident response
• Experience defining automated testing strategies and CI/CD quality gates
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or Bicep) and cloud cost awareness

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve scalable cloud-native applications and platforms using .NET, Angular, Azure, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, and SQL Server.
• Own the technical vision, architecture, and long-term evolution of your domain, establishing engineering standards and modernization.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives from concept through production, partnering with engineering, product, and business stakeholders.
• Mentor and coach engineers through technical guidance, code reviews, and best practices.
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies and AI-enabled development practices to improve product quality and outcomes.
• Ensure operational excellence through production troubleshooting, deployments, and on-call rotations.
• Communicate technical strategy and architectural decisions to engineering leadership.
• Participate in and present key initiatives to senior leaders and software engineering community

Skills

Technical leadership

Architectural design

C#/.NET

Angular

Azure

Docker/Kubernetes

Microservices

REST/API design

CI/CD

Git

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kafka

Docker

Kubernetes

Azure

SQL Server

ASP.NET Core

Job description

Ascend Learning in Leawood, KS is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead architecture across multiple teams while remaining hands-on in design and coding. You will shape platforms serving healthcare education professionals and educators.

The role emphasizes setting technical direction, mentoring engineers, and driving modernization with modern .NET, Angular, Azure, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, and SQL Server.