Lead Architect (PHP)

Role Overview

Lead Software Architect and technical visionary for the company’s platform. Own the architecture direction for re-architecture and modernization efforts, combining hands-on expertise with strategic leadership and engineering mentorship.

Responsibilities

Architecture & Technical Strategy

• Lead re-architecture and modernization of the core platform and technical ecosystem.
• Define and own overall system architecture to ensure scalability, security, reliability, and maintainability.
• Translate business objectives and product requirements into long-term technical strategies and architectural roadmaps.
• Lead complex system design (architecture diagrams, models, and technical documentation).
• Drive architectural decisions across backend services, APIs, data systems, integrations, and frontend applications.
• Evaluate/select technologies, frameworks, tools, and platforms aligned to product goals.
• Lead proof-of-concept initiatives to validate new technologies and approaches.

Engineering Leadership & Governance

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship across multiple engineering teams.
• Conduct architecture reviews and guide complex design decisions.
• Establish and enforce coding standards, architectural principles, and engineering best practices.
• Set and promote code review standards and software quality practices.
• Facilitate technical design reviews and cross-functional architectural discussions.
• Foster a culture of engineering excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Software Development & Platform Engineering

• Provide hands-on leadership for major initiatives and critical implementations.
• Help teams decompose large efforts into scalable, maintainable components.
• Design/oversee distributed systems, microservices, API ecosystems, and domain-driven solutions.
• Ensure performance, observability, reliability, accessibility, and security requirements are met.
• Identify and address technical debt, architectural risks, and system bottlenecks.

Data & AI Architecture

• Own data architecture strategy: database design, data modeling, ETL, and pipeline architecture.
• Provide guidance across relational and non-relational data platforms (including MongoDB and cloud-native approaches).
• Evaluate and implement AI/ML integration opportunities with measurable business value.

Cloud, DevOps & Infrastructure

• Drive AWS cloud infrastructure architectural decisions.
• Partner with DevOps/SRE teams on deployment and operational excellence.