Senior Software Architect, Real-Time Audience Data at Scale

NPR; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 185,000 - 211,000; Full time

Job summary

NPR is seeking a Senior Software Architect to guide data lifecycle initiatives and architecture across NPR platforms. You will lead real-time data ecosystems, governance, and collaborative solutioning with product and engineering teams.

Remote-permitted role based in the United States, with a focus on scalable, compliant data-driven audience experiences and strategic technology decisions. Requires strong leadership in multi-team environments.

Qualifications

• 5+ years designing and leading solutioning and architecture planning in multi-team env.
• Extensive cloud experience (AWS, GCP) and infrastructure as code (Terraform).
• Experience spanning web, mobile, voice, APIs and system integrations.
• Proven API integration and external service collaboration.
• Expertise in real-time data systems and data-centric apps.
• Strong data governance knowledge and medallion architecture familiarity.
• Fluent Node/TypeScript and Python in production environments.
• Experience with GDPR/CPPA and data privacy concerns.
• Experience with test automation and Git version control.
• Cost-optimization and capacity planning for high-availability systems.

Responsibilities

• Architect and guide real-time data ecosystems and event-driven pipelines.
• Define self-service data infrastructure, APIs, and governance standards.
• Set technology strategy and standards across product lines.
• Provide cross-divisional technical oversight for complex projects.
• Collaborate with product managers and engineers during planning and reviews.
• Mentor peers on design reviews, coding standards, and security alignment.
• Participate in deployments, CI/CD, and on-call rotations.
• Support inclusive hiring practices and process improvements within scrum.

Skills

Solution architecture

Cloud infrastructure

IaC (Terraform)

API integration

Real-time data

Data governance

Medallion architecture

Node/TypeScript

Python

GDPR/CPPA compliance

Git

Cost optimization

Education

Tools

Apache Spark

Snowflake

Elasticsearch

DynamoDB

Terraform

Job description

NPR is seeking a Senior Software Architect to guide data lifecycle initiatives and architecture across NPR platforms. You will lead real-time data ecosystems, governance, and collaborative solutioning with product and engineering teams.

Remote-permitted role based in the United States, with a focus on scalable, compliant data-driven audience experiences and strategic technology decisions. Requires strong leadership in multi-team environments.