Principal Software Systems Architect

Position Summary

The Principal Software Systems Architect is the technical authority for SPAICE, RS21's near-real-time satellite state-of-health monitoring platform serving ground operators in DoW and Space Force environments. This role is designed for a systems-minded engineer who operates equally at the whiteboard, in the codebase, and in client conversations, and who holds the full technical picture while staying close enough to the work to drive it.

At the principal level, this person defines the end-to-end system architecture for SPAICE, sets the engineering standards and platform decisions the rest of the technical team builds to, and serves as RS21's primary technical voice with program leadership and client stakeholders. They translate ambiguous program and mission requirements into structured, sequenced, executable technical plans, and they are accountable for the rigor and reliability of what SPAICE ships.

Critically, the Principal Software Systems Architect is a force multiplier. They raise the capability of every engineer they work with, build the architectural patterns and delivery practices that compound across the program, and actively represent RS21's technical credibility in client-facing and business development settings.

Key Responsibilities

System Architecture

• Define and own the end-to-end system architecture for SPAICE: services, data flows, interfaces, integrations, and system boundaries.
• Maintain architecture decision records and lead build-versus-buy decisions with documented reasoning and trade-off analysis.
• Ensure the architecture is modular, observable, secure, and designed to evolve as program and mission requirements grow.
• Drive reference architecture decisions that apply across the SPAICE program and, where applicable, RS21's broader space systems work.

Cloud and Infrastructure Architecture

• Design and own the AWS reference architecture for SPAICE including security architecture, IAM, secrets management, and least-privilege access patterns.
• Define scalability and cost architecture in partnership with the DevOps engineer; drive infrastructure-as-code and automation practices.
• Establish and enforce infrastructure standards that support the program's compliance posture, including any classified or ITAR-relevant environments.
• Set cloud platform decisions and contribute to reusable reference architectures for the SPAICE operational environment.

ML Systems Integration

• Architect how machine learning models, training and data pipelines, and model serving integrate within the SPAICE system.
• Partner directly with the ML engineer to define the integration design, monitoring approach, and guardrails for model outputs in operational contexts.
• Ensure data freshness, lineage, and governance for SPAICE's AI-powered diagnostic capabilities.

Security and Compliance

• Design to the program's security requirements, including cleared environments, ITAR-relevant constraints, and any classified infrastructure requirements.
• Ensure audit-ready practices across the codebase, infrastructure, and data handling from day one.
• Partner with the DevOps engineer on security automation and access control implementation.

Solutioning and Client Communication

• Translate program and client requirements into architecture and present decisions clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders including military operators and program leadership.
• Serve as the technical authority in client-facing conversations, capability demonstrations, and requirement refinement sessions.
• Produce reference architectures, solution design documents, and technical roadmaps that guide both client delivery and program development.
• Contribute to RS21's business development and proposal efforts as a credible senior technical voice.

Technical Program Leadership

• Decompose the technical work, manage dependencies, and keep the technical plan aligned to program milestones and business outcomes.
• Lead design and code reviews and establish engineering standards that apply across the SPAICE team.
• Mentor and develop engineers in both technical depth and architectural thinking; build the patterns and practices the program grows from.
• Serve as the central coordination point between program leadership, client stakeholders, the ML engineer, the DevOps engineer, and any additional developers.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years building software systems, with at least 4 years in an architecture or technical lead capacity.
• Proven track record of designing and shipping complex, distributed, production-grade systems.
• Deep AWS architecture experience including security architecture, IaC, and CI/CD in production environments.
• Experience designing systems that incorporate ML or AI components in operational contexts.
• Strong cross-functional technical leadership: demonstrated ability to influence architecture and standards across teams without relying on authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to adapt technical depth to audience.
• U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain TS/SCI security clearance.

Preferred

• Active Secret or TS/SCI clearance.
• AWS Solutions Architect Professional certification or equivalent.
• Experience in federal, DoD, or space systems environments; exposure to FedRAMP, ITAR, or classified program requirements.
• Satellite operations, ground systems, or space domain technical knowledge.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration at production scale (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS, EKS).
• Air Force or Space Force operational or contractor experience.
• Background in consulting, professional services, or multi-client delivery environments.