Job Description

Grow your career with a growing organization


Whether they're helping people reach their long-term financial goals or providing personal wealth management strategies, every associate contributes to changing the lives of those we serve for the better. When it comes to job satisfaction, that's hard to beat. And from a personal satisfaction perspective, you'll enjoy the freedom to support causes that matter to you and experience a truly inclusive work environment. Your future starts now.

Job Summary:


At Empower, a Java Architect is a mix of a leadership position and thought leadership role. A Architect works with enterprise architects, and both business and IT teams, to align solutions to the technology vision they help create. This role supports enterprise Architects in the development of technology strategies, reference architectures, solutions, best practices and guidance across the entire IT development organization; all the while addressing total cost of ownership, stability, performance and efficiency. The candidate will also be working with Empower Innovation Lab team as the team is experimenting with emerging technologies, such as Generative AI, and Advanced Analytics.


In this rapid paced environment, the person must possess a "can-do" attitude while demonstrating a strong work ethic. This person should have a strong aptitude to help drive decisions. He or she will be actively involved in influencing the strategic direction of technology at Empower Retirement. There will be collaboration across all teams including IT Infrastructure, PMO office, Business, and third-party integrators in reviewing, evaluating, designing and implementing solutions.


The Architect must understand available technology options and educate and influence technology teams to leverage them where appropriate. The Architect will recognize and propose alternatives, make recommendations, and describe any necessary trade-offs. In some cases, particularly on key initiatives, the Architect will participate on the design and implementation of end-to-end solutions directly with development teams.


The ideal candidate will leverage their technical leadership/direction-setting skills with the development organization to be able to prove technical concepts quickly using a variety of tools, methods, & frameworks.

Responsibilities:

• Help Sr. Architects and peers define and execute on the business aligned IT strategy and vision.
• Develop, document, and provide input into the technology roadmap for Empower Retirement and Great West Financial.
• Create Reference Architectures that demonstrate an understanding of technology components and the relationships between them.
• Leverage knowledge of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), including microservices where appropriate, to deliver solutions.
• Maintain a high level of skill in various application deployment and workload architectures, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
• Ensure that IT understands how to leverage various integration protocols and technologies, such as REST & resource-oriented design, OData and API Gateways.
• Design and modernize complex systems into cloud compatible or cloud native applications where applicable. Create strategies and designs for migrating application to cloud systems.
• Participate in the evaluation of new applications, technical options, challenge the status quo, create solid business cases, and influence direction while establishing partnerships with key constituencies.
• Implement best practices, standards & guidance, then subsequently provide coaching of technology team members.
• Make leadership recommendations regarding strategic architectural considerations related to process design and process orchestration.
• Provide strong leadership and direction in development/engineering practices.
• Collaborate with other business and technology teams on architecture and design issues.
• Respond to evolving and changing security conditions. Implement and recommend security guidelines.
• Provide thought-leadership, advocacy, articulation, assurance and maintenance of the Enterprise Architecture discipline.
• Provide solution, guidance, and implementation assistance within Full stack development teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in the development and delivery of software systems.
• 3+ years of experience creating solution architectures and strategies across multiple architecture domains (business, application, data, integration, infrastructure and security).
• 3+ years of experience developing in the following technologies: Java (Spring, SpringBoot), Web Services (JSON/XML), RESTful architectures, AWS API Gateway, Lambda, NodeJS, Python.
• Solid experience with one or more of the following technology disciplines: SOA & Microservices design, Cloud Architectures, Big Data/Advanced Analytics, Data Warehouse systems, Advanced Programming, Modern Integration Methods (API Gateway/Web Services, Messaging & RESTful architectures), NoSQL
• Client-side Development experience in Web and/or Mobile technologies.
• Good understanding of front-end and web frameworks such as React and Angular and how they integrate with APIs and backend services.
• Experienced in modern deployment models using Jenkins and CI/CD pipelines.
• Proficient with source code version control such as GitHub/GitLab/BitBucket
• Working knowledge of addressing architectural cross cutting concerns and their tradeoffs, including topics such as caching, monitoring, operational surround, high availability, security, etc.
• Demonstrates competency applying architecture frameworks and development methods.
• Strong knowledge of data modeling, security patterns and integration methods.
• Experience with DevOps processes and tools.
• Understanding of business process analysis and business process management (BPM).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrates continuous learning of new technologies.
• Self-motivated individual that thrives in a team environment.
• Financial industry expertise preferred (Investments, Asset Management, etc.).
• Knowledge of GenAI capabilities including how to design and implement large-scale AI/ML systems in production environments.
• Expertise in advanced AI techniques, including generative models, reinforcement learning, and natural language processing.
• Ability to balance ethical considerations with business objectives in AI strategy and implementation.
• Experience developing and implementing responsible AI policies and best practices across organizations.


Technology skills are not the only skills needed. There are other skills that are highly desirable in the Architect, including:

• People Skills - The Architect is required to interact with people constantly.
• Motivational - The Architect must be able to motivate and inspire. A large part of the job is to influence or evangelize a set of ideals in the enterprise.
• Negotiation - There will be times at the decision-making table when the Architect must negotiate to get things accomplished.
• Problem Solving - The Architect will face a set of complex and unique problems, so they must be able to evaluate and solve problems.
• Big Thinking - The Architect must avoid tunnel vision and be able to look at a problem from multiple angles.
• Business Savvy - General understanding of the financial industry, to help comprehend how technology can really affect the business.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field (Information Systems, Mathematics, Software Engineering)


We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, religion, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable state or local law.