Ascensus

Compensation

Full Description

Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow. Section 1: Position Summary The Application Architect role is positioned between the Platform Architect and the Principal Software Engineer and is responsible for providing technical direction and oversight across scrum teams within a program. Works closely with the Platform Architect to understand business needs and identifies technical solutions. Collaborates with other Platform Architects and Application architects to promote innovation, reusability, stability, scalability, and consistency across programs. Provides technical direction for scrum teams for specific initiatives and assists with initial proof of concepts and template builds. Provides ongoing technical oversight and mentoring across scrum teams to ensure they are progressing in accordance with established architecture direction. Some participation as an individual contributor to assist scrum teams with complex tasks and POCs. Researches new technologies and tools—including AI-assisted engineering, intelligent automation, and related platforms—to stay current and identify innovation opportunities that align with security, privacy, and enterprise governance. Passionate about quality and continuous delivery. Section 2: Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities Relies on extensive experience and sound judgment to prioritize workload and engagement with teams. Establishes strong alignment with Product Owners to understand, influence, and deliver on roadmaps. Sets technical direction and provides proactive oversight to scrum teams so solutions are secure, scalable, efficient, and stable. Leads, coaches, and mentors technical staff. Establishes standards, proofs of concept, and templates that enable teams to deliver high-quality software efficiently. Designs, prototypes, and guides implementation of agent-based solutions (e.g., tool-using workflows, orchestration, retrieval, and guardrails) within approved platforms and enterprise standards, partnering with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as needed. Defines and promotes standards for responsible use of AI and automation across the software lifecycle—including approved tools, data-handling expectations, human review for high-risk decisions, and patterns for integrating AI, model-based, or agent-based capabilities—in partnership with security, compliance, and enterprise architecture as applicable. Evaluates AI-enabled tools and practices (e.g., code generation, review support, refactoring, testing, documentation, operations, and agent-based workflows where appropriate) for fit, risk, cost, and maintainability; drives adoption through reference implementations, guardrails, and templates Participates in project discussions to remove technical impediments and assists in establishing estimates. Performs design and development for complex work as an active contributor to the project pipeline. Collaborates with other Application Architects and Platform Architects to identify, socialize, and confirm the best possible solutions. Holds a high degree of responsibility for application architecture and technical execution within a program. Takes ownership and provides technical leadership when production issues require software engineering expertise. Assists with other tasks and projects as assigned. Responsible for protecting, securing, and proper handling of all confidential data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access, improper transmission, and/or unapproved disclosure of information that could result in harm to Ascensus or our clients. At Ascensus we are guided by our Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always®. They inspire us every day to prioritize an environment of respect for those we serve and one another and should be visible in your actions on a day-to-day. Supervision Leadership, mentoring, and coaching No HR responsibilities Section 3: Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements Minimum 8 years of Software Engineering experience with a minimum of 2 years in a lead role Passion for leadership, mentoring, and coaching to help others succeed Excellent communication and teamwork skills with ability to explain and influence architectural direction Excellent technical skills with deep knowledge of development technologies and tools Excels in a results focused organization Experience with Agile/Scrum, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and related DevOps tooling and practices. Expertise in server configuration, pipeline automation, and software engineering practices (code quality, branching, releases, operational readiness). Innovative and change-oriented, balanced with pragmatic delivery and risk awareness. Experience with multiple database platforms (e.g., MS SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, or similar). Expert-level proficiency in the .NET ecosystem. Strong knowledge of JavaScript and modern front-end frameworks. Experience designing and evolving microservices-style architectures, including service boundaries, APIs/contracts, resilience patterns, and operational considerations (deployment, monitoring, scaling). Experience with event-driven architecture, including messaging/eventing, asynchronous integration patterns, and reliability considerations (e.g., idempotency, ordering, observability). Experience with test-driven development (TDD) and automated testing frameworks. Demonstrated proficiency with AI-assisted engineering tools for implementation, code review support, refactoring, and technical research, including clear human review habits and compliance with data/security policies. Practical experience designing, prototyping, or delivering agent-based or model-assisted application capabilities (e.g., orchestration, tool/API integration, guardrails, observability, and production support considerations). Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in complex production and delivery environments. Nice to Have Skills Experience with Container technology Experience with networking, load balancing, clustering Experience with cloud development Experience with Mobile apps For all virtual remote positions, in order to ensure associates can effectively perform their job duties with no distractions, we require an uninterrupted virtual workspace and there is also an expectation of family care being in place during business hours. Additionally, there is an internet work speed requirement of 25 Mbps or better for individual use. If more than one person is utilizing the same internet connection in the same household or building, then a stronger connection is required. If you are unsure of your internet speed, please check with your service provider. Note: For call center roles specifically, it is a requirement to either hardwire your equipment directly to the internet router or ensure your workstation is in close proximity to the router. Please ensure that you are able to meet these expectations before applying. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.