Lead Software Architect

Intrado is dedicated to saving lives and protecting communities, helping them prepare for, respond to, and recover from critical events. Our cutting-edge company strives to become the most trusted, data-centric emergency services partner by uniting fragmented communications into actionable intelligence for first responders. At Intrado, all of our work truly matters. 

The Lead Software Architect is responsible for defining and guiding enterprise and solution architecture strategy for complex, scalable platforms and applications that support core organizational functions. This role drives architectural direction through analysis, governance, standards, and technology evaluation, ensuring architectures meet current business needs while anticipating future capabilities. The Lead Software Architect partners closely with engineering leadership, product, security, and business stakeholders to ensure architectural alignment, influence roadmaps, and reduce delivery risk. This is a strategy-first role focused on design leadership, decision frameworks, and cross-team alignment.

Key Accountabilities & Responsibilities

1) Architecture Strategy & Governance

• Define, develop, and evolve application, platform, and system architectures aligned to business objectives and technical standards.
• Create and maintain reference architectures, patterns, guardrails, and principles to guide development and delivery teams.
• Establish and own architectural governance models (e.g., review processes, exception handling, architecture decision records).
• Lead architectural reviews and provide recommendations on build/buy/integrate decisions for major initiatives.
• Establish design, integration, and security standards to ensure consistency, maintainability, and long-term scalability.

2) Enterprise & Solution Architecture

• Lead high-level architecture analysis and develop specifications for new products, platforms, and major enhancements.
• Produce solution designs and architecture artifacts (current/future state diagrams, integration models, NFRs, decision logs, roadmaps).
• Ensure architectures address non-functional requirements such as scalability, reliability, performance, security, and maintainability.
• Identify and mitigate architectural risks early; define options and tradeoffs for stakeholder decision-making.

3) Cross-Functional Alignment & Influence

• Partner with engineering, product, security, and business stakeholders to ensure systems meet current and future needs.
• Translate business strategy into technical direction and align multiple teams and systems to a cohesive architecture.
• Communicate architecture decisions, standards, and roadmaps clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

4) Technology Evaluation & Architectural Modernization

• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend options that increase cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and systems scalability.
• Analyze current architectures to identify improvement opportunities and modernization paths.
• Promote best practices for integration and architecture evolution, including interoperability with third-party solutions where relevant.

5) Operational Readiness & Architectural Assurance

• Provide architectural guidance for reliability and operational readiness (e.g., resiliency patterns, observability requirements, incident learnings into design).
• Serve as an escalation point for architecture-related issues impacting delivery or stability; coordinate with appropriate teams for resolution.

6) Leadership, Mentorship & Standards Adoption

• Influence technical direction across teams through mentorship, architectural coaching, and facilitation of reviews and decision forums.
• Coordinate the work of others to ensure architectural alignment and successful project completion.

Job Requirements

Minimum Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

Minimum Experience

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, systems design, or solution architecture, with demonstrated ownership of architecture across multiple products/systems
• Proven experience leading architecture strategy, establishing standards, and conducting architecture reviews for large initiatives.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep knowledge of designing complex architectural frameworks and guiding multi-team technical direction without appreciable direction.
• Strong ability to develop specifications for new products and enhancements and define integration concepts.
• Experience creating and maintaining reference architectures, patterns, and guardrails.
• Strong stakeholder communication and influence skills; ability to align technical strategy to business goals.
• Ability to evaluate technology trends and recommend solutions that increase systems flexibility and cost-effectiveness.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills (MS Word, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint).
• Experience with wireless 4G and 5G communications networks.
• Experience with SIP and IMS communications networks.
• Experience with HTTP and RESTful Web-Service APIs.
• Experience with large system deployments with complex data flows and message flows, with the ability to grasp the end-to-end system behavior and describe it to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to navigate, understand, and implement a variety of industry standards:
  • 3GPP wireless 4G/5G
  • ATIS
  • IETF RFC’s
  • NENA
• Ability to estimate the development effort for new feature requests.
• Ability to translate customer needs and requests into detailed technical requirements and provide guidance to the development teams with regard to the implementation of various features and capabilities.
• Ability to maintain accurate and up-to-date functional requirements for multiple platforms and products.
• Ability to work collaboratively with product, sales, development, deployment, and support teams.

Want to love where you work? At Intrado, we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes what you’d expect (medical, dental, vision, life and disability coverage, paid time off, a 401(k) retirement plan, and several that go above and beyond – paid parental leave, access to a robust library of personal and professional training resources, employee discounts, critical illness, hospital indemnity, access to legal support, pet insurance, identity theft protection, an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) that includes free mental health resources/support, and more! Apply today to join us in work worth doing! 

The starting salary is anticipated between $125,000 and $175,000 and will be commensurate with experience.  

Intrado is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Veterans/Disabled and Other Protected Categories. Our Company welcomes and encourages applications of individuals with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Intrado maintains a Drug Free Workplace.