We are looking for a Software Architect who provides strong technical direction across backend and frontend systems, while remaining hands‑on in critical areas. This role focuses on architecture ownership, cross‑team technical alignment, and long‑term system design, rather than day‑to‑day people management.
You will define and evolve the architecture of scalable, secure, and maintainable systems within a regulated, GAMP5‑aligned SDLC, working closely with Engineering Managers, Product, QA, and Platform teams. The role spans backend (Ruby / Rails) and frontend (Elm) with a strong emphasis on design clarity, performance, and quality.
The role will also help shape pragmatic adoption of AI-assisted and agentic engineering practices, ensuring experimentation improves delivery quality, developer effectiveness, and engineering standards without weakening security, compliance, or maintainability.
Key Responsibilities
Architecture & Technical Direction
- Own and evolve the overall application architecture across backend and frontend systems.
- Define architectural standards, patterns, and guardrails for teams to follow.
- Ensure designs meet requirements for scalability, performance, security, resilience, and auditability.
- Make system‑level trade‑offs balancing flexibility, compliance, and delivery speed.
Backend Architecture (Ruby / Rails)
- Design backend services, APIs, and data models using Ruby and Ruby on Rails.
- Define service boundaries, integration patterns, and API contracts.
- Guide teams on performance tuning, background processing, and data modelling strategies.
- Ensure consistency and quality in backend codebases through design reviews and architectural oversight.
Frontend Architecture (Elm)
- Define and guide frontend architecture using Elm, promoting simplicity, correctness, and maintainability.
- Establish patterns for state management, component design, and interaction with backend APIs.
- Ensure accessibility, performance, and usability standards are met.
- Partner with frontend engineers to evolve Elm applications in line with product growth.
Quality, Testing & Non‑Functional Requirements
- Embed testability, observability, and operational readiness into architecture designs.
- Drive consistent approaches to automated testing (unit, integration, contract).
- Ensure performance, reliability, and security considerations are addressed early in design.
Cross‑Team Collaboration & Guidance
- Work closely with Tech Leads and Engineering Managers to translate architecture into execution plans.
- Provide architectural input during discovery, estimation, and solution design phases.
- Support complex technical problem‑solving and production issue analysis when needed.
Compliance & SDLC Alignment
- Ensure designs and technical decisions align with GAMP5‑based SDLC and audit expectations.
- Define documentation standards and architectural artefacts suitable for regulated environments.
- Help teams balance regulatory compliance with modern engineering practices.
AI-Enabled Engineering & Developer Effectiveness
- Provide architectural guidance on responsible use of AI-assisted and agentic engineering tools within the SDLC.
- Help define guardrails for AI use in coding, testing, documentation, code review, and workflow automation.
- Partner with engineering leaders to identify practical AI adoption opportunities that improve quality, consistency, and delivery flow.
- Ensure AI-assisted practices remain aligned with security, privacy, compliance, auditability, and engineering standards.
Required Experience & Skills
Backend & Systems Architecture
- Strong experience designing backend systems using Ruby / Ruby on Rails.
- Deep understanding of object‑oriented design, SOLID principles, and functional programming concepts.
- Proven experience designing RESTful APIs and service‑oriented architectures.
- Strong expertise in PostgreSQL, ORMs (ActiveRecord), and data modelling.
Frontend Architecture
- Hands‑on experience designing and evolving frontend systems using Elm, or strong experience with typed/functional frontend architectures and willingness to work deeply in Elm.
- Strong understanding of functional UI architecture, state management, and type‑safe design.
- Experience integrating frontend applications with backend APIs.
Platform & DevOps Awareness
- Strong working knowledge of Git and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions).
- Experience with Docker and containerised environments.
- Working knowledge of AWS and Kubernetes.
- Familiarity with background processing, caching (e.g., Redis), and configuration tooling.
Technical Leadership
- Proven ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams without direct line management.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Comfortable working with senior stakeholders and explaining complex technical decisions clearly.
- Structured, pragmatic, and systems‑thinking mindset.
Nice to Have
- Experience with Elixir or other functional back‑end languages.
- Exposure to infrastructure‑as‑code tools (e.g., Terraform).
- Experience working in regulated or compliance‑driven environments.
- Experience shaping or guiding AI-assisted software engineering practices, including coding assistants, agentic workflows, automated code analysis, test generation, or developer-productivity tooling.
- Understanding of governance, security, and quality risks associated with AI-generated code or AI-assisted delivery workflows.
- Interest in helping engineering teams adopt AI pragmatically, with clear standards, review practices, and measurable outcomes.
What Success Looks Like
- Clear, well‑understood architecture that enables teams to deliver predictably.
- Backend and frontend systems that scale with product needs while remaining maintainable.
- Reduced architectural rework, performance issues, and defect leakage.
- Compliance requirements met without unnecessary complexity or delivery friction.
- AI-assisted engineering practices are adopted safely and pragmatically, improving team effectiveness without compromising code quality, compliance, security, or maintainability.
