Senior Application Architect

United Educators; Bethesda (MD); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 189,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) plan

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Paid Time Off

Holidays

Job summary

United Educators seeks a Senior Application Architect to lead the architecture of enterprise-scale applications, shaping REST API strategy and integration patterns across multiple systems. The role emphasizes domain modeling, service boundaries, and secure, scalable design in a collaborative, Agile environment.

Ideal candidates will have 10+ years in software design, 5+ years as an architect, and a strong background in .NET/C#/SQL Server. Insurance industry experience is a plus.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in CS/Engineering/IT (advanced degree preferred).
• 10+ years of software design and development experience, including at least 5 years architecting enterprise-level applications.
• Experience designing and evolving application architecture, not primarily infrastructure, cloud, or data architecture.
• Proven experience defining and implementing RESTful API strategies, including API design, versioning, documentation, security, and governance.
• Insurance or risk management industry experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end application architecture for key business systems, including domain modeling and service boundaries.
• Define and own UE’s API strategy, including RESTful API design standards, documentation, versioning, lifecycle management, and governance.
• Design and govern REST APIs and service contracts for reuse, scalability, and interoperability across internal apps and external partners.
• Strong hands-on experience in .NET, C#, ASP.NET, SQL Server, REST APIs, and database schema design for enterprise applications.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate objectives into architectures, REST API designs, and implementation approaches.
• Develop and maintain technical and business feature roadmaps; identify risks and communicate status to sponsors.
• Lead scalable, secure, and resilient architectures with emphasis on maintainability and performance.
• Define and enforce architecture standards, patterns, and coding guidelines across teams.

Skills

.NET

C#

ASP.NET

SQL Server

REST APIs

Domain modeling

Database design

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering/IT

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

United Educators (UE) is a liability insurance company that serves K-12 schools, colleges and universities across the United States. UE focuses on long-term partnerships that help educational institutions identify, avoid, and manage risks. Guided by our mission to support education, we provide customized coverage, relevant risk management resources, and claims support grounded in education-sector expertise. At UE, you will join a collaborative, mission-driven team committed to delivering flexible insurance solutions, responsive service, and meaningful value to the institutions we serve.

The Senior Application Architect is responsible for developing and evolving UE’s application-layer architecture following the Agile Software Development Life Cycle. This role shapes the technical direction of UE’s business applications by defining application design, domain models, REST API strategy, integration patterns, and code-level standards to ensure systems are scalable, secure, maintainable, and aligned with business strategy.

This position is not an infrastructure or cloud platform architect role.

Responsibilities:

• Own the end-to-end application architecture for key business systems, including domain modeling, application decomposition, service boundaries, and integration patterns.
• Define and own UE’s API strategy, including RESTful API design standards, documentation, versioning, lifecycle management, and governance.
• Design and govern REST APIs and service contracts that enable reuse, scalability, and consistent integration across internal applications and external partners.
• Strong hands-on experience in .NET, C#, ASP.NET, SQL Server, REST APIs, domain modeling, and database schema design for enterprise applications
• Collaborate with business and technical stakeholders to translate strategic objectives and functional requirements into application architectures, REST API designs, and implementation approaches.
• Develop and maintain technical and business feature roadmaps in consultation with stakeholders; identify risks, track progress, and communicate status updates to project sponsors.
• Lead the design and implementation of scalable, secure, and resilient application architectures, with a focus on maintainability, extensibility, and performance.
• Define and enforce application architecture standards, design patterns, and coding guidelines to ensure consistency and interoperability across development teams.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field; advanced degree preferred
• Typically requires 10+ years of experience in software design and development, including at least 5 years of architecting enterprise-level applications
• Demonstrated experience designing and evolving application architecture, rather than primarily infrastructure, cloud, or data architecture
• Proven experience defining and implementing RESTful API strategies, including API design, versioning, documentation, security, and governance
• Insurance or risk management industry experience a plus

The below annual salary range is a general guideline. Multiple factors are taken into consideration to arrive at the final hourly rate/ annual salary to be offered to the selected candidate. Factors include, but are not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the role, the selected candidate’s work experience, education and training, the work location as well as market and business considerations.

Salary Range: $140,000 USD - $189,000 USD

• Health Insurance — We offer subsidized plan options with an optional pre-tax Health Savings Account (HSA), including an annual employer contribution and investment options. The plans offer a prescription benefit and telehealth
• Dental Insurance — Two plan levels are available, depending on needs
• Vision Insurance —We offer in- and out-of-network options; Lasik discounts are available.
• 401(k) — UE makes a 3% safe harbor non-elective contribution beginning the first of the month after date of hire; these funds are vested immediately. After one year of service, employees receive a 7% profit sharing non-elective contribution, as well as become eligible for a matched contribution of 25% of the first 5% employee deferral. Employees can make pre-tax contributions or taxed (Roth) salary reductions. Catch-up contributions for employees 50 years old and over. Employer contributions are fully vested immediately
• Life Insurance — UE pays for Basic Life Insurance, and employees have the option to apply for additional Voluntary coverage
• Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance — We offer coverage in the event employees are unable to work for a period of time
• For the first two years of employment, employees accrue PTO at 24 days per year. At the beginning of the third year of service, employees accrue 30 days per year of PTO
• 11 paid holidays annually including Juneteenth and an employee choice floating holiday
• Bonus eligibility is based on salary earned and performance for the year
• Hybrid environment - employees are typically in the office 2-3 days per week after the initial training period
• Inclusive and supportive culture that embraces diversity and provides opportunities for all to succeed
• Monthly lunches and various social events throughout the year
• Opportunities to join the Social Committee, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), and Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance (IDEA)