Principal Architect
College Board - Technology
Location: Reston, VA Hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office)
About the Team
The K12 Engineering teams at College Board is a close-knit, dedicated group of 200+ technologists & engineering leaders with a passion for higher education. Our technology team has maintained a primary focus on engineering, development, and delivery of customer-facing product portfolio spans K12 schools, districts and states customers, students as well as internal and external stakeholders. We are committed to providing cutting-edge technology solutions, robust platforms, and customer support to successfully deliver digital assessment for SAT, PSAT, AP and CLEP to the millions of students across the world each year. We work closely within all Technology teams and product partners to collectively design, build, and manage scalable solutions for our customers. We take pride in our industry-leading innovation, as we consistently improve and enhance our products and services.
About the Opportunity
You will apply your skills while leading large, strategic, and complex initiatives that have a clear impact on the students and educators that we serve. As the Principal Architect, you are a technical leader, a partner, and an innovator. You will serve as a technical visionary, guiding the organization’s tech strategy and fostering the adoption of modern technologies that align with future growth. This role requires someone with strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills that uses data to inform decisions and actions. The Architect will be able to move forward multiple projects in concert, both independently and as a member of the teams. . This role requires a deep understanding of various software architectures and technologies, with the ability to guide technical teams in building high-quality, scalable software solutions. The team communicates directly with our clients, to gain a deep understanding of their needs. You will work directly with our product owners, designers, and users to find the most efficient and effective technical solutions to meet and exceed our users’ needs.
Strategy & Design Leadership (60%)
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Set architectural direction for a broad set of domains and systems, ensuring that solutions meet both functional and non-functional requirements (scalability, performance, security).
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Design and implement best-in-class systems and frameworks that will succeed long-term.
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Deliver upon initiatives with organizational impact and priority.
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Define technical strategy that improves products, infrastructure, processes, and organization, while staying abreast of risks and opportunities that influence strategy.
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Provide exceptional leadership and technical innovations to features that span boundaries across engineering teams.
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Develop and maintain the technical roadmap, aligning software architecture with the organization's long-term business goals.
Coaching & Collaboration (40%)
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Be a great partner, working across technical teams to build sustainable contracts looking out for the good of system vs. what might be easiest for a sole product.
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Work closely with development teams, product management, and other stakeholders to ensure that architecture supports the needs of all business units
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Foster strong working relationships with other technologists outside our team.
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Work closely with Enterprise Architecture, DevOps, Infrastructure, and Security teams to ensure that the architecture integrates smoothly with all parts of the technology ecosystem.
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Ability to lead cross-functional teams, influence decision-making, and mentor developers
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Play a critical role in coaching and mentoring junior engineers.
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Contribute content and facilitation for the Full Stack Technical Education program.
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Support recruiting and hiring for various engineering teams and positions.
About you, you have:
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10+ years of experience in software systems, programming, database development, and infrastructure development and administration.
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A graduate degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or similar experience with fundamentals
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A track record of influencing and delivering initiatives with organizational impact.
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An aptitude for directly engaging clients and users to gain strong understanding of their holistic needs.
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An orientation towards teaching and developing junior employees.
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A collaborative mindset prioritizing team success over individual accolades.
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Passion for working in an iterative development environment.
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Ability to solve complex problems using divergent thinking resulting in innovative solutions.
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Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship.
Technical athleticism:
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An ability to break down complex initiatives into simple systems.
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Evaluate and recommend tools, technologies, and processes to ensure the continuous improvement of software systems.
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Deep technical domain knowledge: apps, services, systems, or frameworks
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Strong knowledge and hands-on experience with a growing set of languages, with experience in JavaScript (especially React and Node), Python, and TypeScript
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Strong knowledge of the AWS cloud platform and experience working with AWS resources such as Lambda, SNS, SQS, S3, Kinesis, Step Functions, IAM, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, DynamoDB
About Our Process
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Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled
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While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.
About Our Benefits and Compensation
College Board offers a competitive benefits and compensation program that attracts top talent looking to make a difference in education. As a self-sustaining non-profit, we believe in compensating employees equitably in relation to each other, their qualifications, their impact, and the relevant market.
The hiring range for a new employee in this position is $194,000 to $212,000. College Board differentiates salaries by location so where you live will narrow the portion of this range in which you can expect a salary.
Your salary will be carefully determined based on your location, relevant experience, the external labor market, and the pay of College Board employees in similar roles. College Board strives to provide our best offer up front based on this criteria.
Your salary is only one part of all that College Board offers, including but not limited to:
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A comprehensive package designed to support the well-being of employees and their families and promote education. Our robust benefits package includes health, dental, and vision insurance, generous paid time off, paid parental leave, fertility benefits, pet insurance, tuition assistance, retirement benefits, and more
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Recognition of exceptional performance through annual bonuses, salary growth over time through market increases, and opportunities for merit raises and promotions based on increased scope of responsibility
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A job that matters, a team that cares, and a place to learn, innovate and thrive
You can expect to have transparent conversations about benefits and compensation with our recruiters throughout your application process.
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What We Do
College Board is a not-for-profit organization that clears a path for all students to own their future through the Advanced Placement Program, the SAT, Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy, BigFuture, and more. For more information, go to collegeboard.org
