Principal Architect

Goodwill Central Texas is seeking a hands-on Principal Architect to set technical direction and lead the design and delivery of applications, integrations, and data solutions. This role defines system and solution architecture, selects appropriate frameworks and patterns, and guides implementation so that technology is secure, reliable, maintainable, and aligned with organizational needs.

The role's priorities will evolve as the team and its data capabilities grow. Early work will emphasize connecting enterprise systems and staging data reliably for the data engineering and data visualization teams. As that foundation matures, the role will increasingly lead custom applications and internal tools that improve staff workflows and organizational services.

A Principal Architect partners with business owners to gather requirements and manage prioritization; this role contributes technical discovery, architecture, estimates, dependencies, and risk analysis. This position is open to direct applicants only. Third-party recruiters, agencies, and staffing firms will not be considered.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role. System Architecture and Technical Direction Define and maintain target architectures and technical roadmaps for applications, integrations, data flows, and internal tools. Establish system boundaries, integration patterns, API approaches, and reusable frameworks that help teams build consistent solutions.

Evaluate frameworks, platforms, and tools against business needs, security, fit with existing systems, cost, team capability, and long-term support requirements; recommend when to adopt, extend, or retire technologies. Document significant architecture decisions, assumptions, tradeoffs, dependencies, and exceptions so teams can implement and support solutions consistently.

Plan for security, privacy, reliability, performance, maintainability, observability, supportability, and technical debt throughout the solution lifecycle. Coordinate architecture decisions with infrastructure, security, application owners, data specialists, and other Technology teams. Near -Term Integration and Data Delivery Lead the design and development of custom applications and internal tools as organizational priorities and the data foundation mature.

Translate approved business needs into application architecture, technical designs, and implementation plans in partnership with the Technical Program Manager, business owners, and developers. Select practical frameworks and patterns for application development, balancing delivery speed with security, usability, reliability, and long-term maintenance.

Guide application work from discovery and prototyping through testing, deployment, support handoff, and ongoing improvement. Identify opportunities to replace manual or fragmented workflows with maintainable software and automation solutions. Application Development and Long-Term Capability Personally lead assigned initiatives with a material technology component from intake and discovery through launch and post-launch review, owning the technology scope, delivery plan, schedule, dependencies, risks, and status.

Translate business priorities and technology roadmaps into workstreams, milestones, backlogs, resource needs, release plans, and measures of success. Develop sufficient understanding of systems, integrations, data flows, and constraints to engage the appropriate technical and business experts, evaluate options and impacts, and facilitate decisions.

Document recommendations, tradeoffs, decisions, and follow-up actions in Confluence, then translate approved decisions into deliverables for internal and external teams. Engineering Standards and Delivery Establish and maintain standards for source control, code review, testing, build and deployment pipelines, configuration, documentation, monitoring, and production support.

Coach developers through architecture and implementation decisions; review complex or high-impact designs and code. Remain hands-on in architecture, technical problem-solving, and selected implementation work, particularly during early team growth or complex delivery. Manage technical dependencies, delivery risks, quality, and operational readiness across engineering work.

Use AI-assisted development tools where appropriate to improve engineering work, applying sound review, security, and quality practices. Team Leadership and Cross-Functional Partnerships Hire, coach, develop, and evaluate software development, data engineering, and data visualization team members as the team grows. Set clear expectations for technical quality, delivery, documentation, collaboration, and professional development.

Partner with the Technical Program Manager, who owns business requirements gathering and prioritization, by providing technical discovery, options, estimates, dependencies, and risk analysis. Coordinate with the data engineer on data pipelines and platform implementation, and with data visualization staff on reporting and visualization needs; this role provides architecture and engineering direction without owning their specialized day-to-day implementation.

Work with business owners, Technology peers, vendors, and implementation partners to resolve technical questions and transfer knowledge into ongoing support. Communicate architecture options, decisions, risks, and progress clearly to technical and nontechnical stakeholders. Perform other duties as assigned, consistent with training and qualifications.

Supervisory Responsibility This position supervises the Data Engineer, Data Analyst & Software Developer positions.

Required Skills

& Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. 10 or more years of experience in software development, systems architecture, application engineering, or related technical delivery, including substantial experience designing and building production solutions.

Experience leading and developing technical professionals, with the ability to review work, coach others, and establish engineering standards. Strong software development background, including application design, APIs or other integration methods, testing, code review, deployment, and production support. Experience designing systems and integrations across multiple applications while considering security, reliability, maintainability, and operational support.

Experience defining technical architecture, evaluating frameworks or platforms, and documenting design decisions and tradeoffs. Experience establishing source control, automated testing, and deployment practices for software teams. Ability to translate technical constraints and options into clear recommendations for business and technical stakeholders.

Strong planning, problem-solving, and collaboration skills across concurrent initiatives and teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience building or leading a software development, application engineering, or platform team. Experience with Microsoft Azure and enterprise platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Hub. Spot, ADP, or comparable systems and their integrations. Experience working alongside data engineering and data visualization teams, including familiarity with modern data platforms such as Microsoft Fabric.

Experience establishing architecture practices, reusable frameworks, and development and deployment standards. Experience working with vendors or implementation partners and transferring solutions into internal support. Experience using AI-assisted development tools in a secure and responsible software development process.

Experience in retail, workforce services, distributed operations, or nonprofit environments. Physical Requirements Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times. While performing the duties of this position, the employee may frequently be required to walk, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, talk, or hear.

The position requires the ability to manage moderate levels of workplace stress. Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. Equal Employment Opportunity Statement: Goodwill Central Texas is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all Team Members.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. Background Check Requirement: Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-employment background check.

This may include verification of employment history, education, criminal background, and other information relevant to the position.