Principal Architect

Principal Architect Location: India (Hybrid, overlap hours with US delivery leadership) Experience: 13+ years overall, 8+ years in architecture/technical leadership roles Role Summary The India-based Principal Architect owns technical execution architecture across the offshore delivery organization, translating the program's approved solution architecture (set by the US Principal Architect) into stream-level technical designs, engineering standards, and build-readiness across every functional track. This is an execution and engineering-governance leadership role, not a client-facing architecture-ownership role. Key Responsibilities • Own the technical build architecture for each functional stream, converting the approved solution architecture into implementable technical designs for the Solution Architect and engineering pods - independent of the final technology stack selected. • Enforce engineering-wide standards for coding, design patterns, integration approaches, and CI/CD across all India-based development teams. • Lead technical design reviews for stream-level solutions before they proceed to build, ensuring consistency with the platform's global data model and security model. • Direct and prompt AI coding agents (e.g., Claude Code or equivalent) for architecture spikes, technical validation, and build-readiness proofs before handing designs to engineering. • Own resolution of stream-level technical defects and integration issues identified during SIT/UAT, coordinating fixes across engineering teams. • Manage technical dependency sequencing across streams so cross-stream build work lands in the right order. • Mentor and provide technical escalation support to the Solution Architect and Mid-Senior Engineers; act as the final internal review gate before designs are presented to the US Principal Architect. • Own environment strategy execution (sandbox/environment seeding, data refresh cadence, release branching) in coordination with the India Senior Project Manager's release calendar. • Track engineering-level technical debt and raise remediation proposals through the architecture chain rather than directly to the client. • Evaluate and integrate new tools, frameworks, and AI/agentic development capabilities into the engineering workflow. Required Qualifications • 13+ years in enterprise technology roles with 8+ years in an architecture or senior technical leadership capacity. • Proven ability to translate approved solution architecture into implementable technical designs across multiple concurrent workstreams, independent of a specific technology stack. • Deep, current hands-on fluency in modern software architecture, integration design, and DevOps tooling - technology-agnostic, able to work confidently across CRM platforms or full-stack web stacks depending on final selection. • Hands-on experience directing or prompting AI coding agents (e.g., Claude Code or an equivalent agentic development tool) as part of an agent-orchestrated delivery model - required. • Experience leading distributed engineering teams (multiple pods/streams) through technical design, build, and defect resolution. • Demonstrated experience operating as the internal technical authority reporting into a senior/principal architect rather than directly into the client. Good To Have • Enterprise or cloud architecture certification (e.g., TOGAF, or a platform-specific architect certification depending on final stack). • Experience in pharma, healthcare distribution, or another regulated industry. Experience managing technical debt and governance across offshore-led delivery models.