PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT

Job Description: Location: This position is remote in the US with core working hours in the Eastern Time Zone. POSITION OVERVIEW Our client is seeking a Principal Architect who is equally comfortable setting architectural strategy and rolling up their sleeves to build. This is not an ivory tower role: we need someone who can define the long-term technical vision on Monday and pair with an engineer on a complex integration problem on Tuesday. You will be our most senior technical voice across the enterprise, working in close partnership with Engineering, Data, Product, Security, and Clinical Operations leaders to shape practical, durable architecture decisions that teams can execute. You will drive architectural strategy across cloud infrastructure, real-time integrations, population health data systems, and emerging AI capabilities: and you will stay close enough to the work to know when the architecture is holding up and when it isn’t. You will work closely with teammates to translate business strategy into durable, scalable technical decisions. The right person for this role leads by doing, not just by advising. ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES Enterprise Architecture Leadership Define and maintain our client’s enterprise architecture strategy, roadmap, standards, and design principles across cloud, data, integration, and application layers. Lead solution design across multiple product and engineering teams, ensuring alignment to architectural standards, scalability requirements, and healthcare compliance obligations. Partner with Engineering leaders to review architecture proposals, facilitate cross-team technical decisions, resolve architectural tradeoffs, and ensure designs align to agreed standards, scalability needs, and healthcare compliance obligations. Personally deliver high-leverage technical work, such as reference implementations, complex cross-system integrations, and architecturally critical proofs-of-concept to validate strategic bets before teams commit to them at scale. Drive modernization of legacy systems in partnership with Technology and Product leadership, balancing technical debt reduction, delivery commitments, support burden, operational risk, and team capacity AI & Emerging Technology Lead the architecture and governance of our client’s AI and machine learning capabilities, including agentic AI systems, LLM integrations, and clinical decision support tools. Evaluate and guide adoption of AI platforms, frameworks, and vendor tools (e.g., Anthropic, Snowflake Cortex, cloud-native ML services). Establish responsible AI architecture patterns including model evaluation frameworks, prompt governance, safety guardrails, and auditability. Partner with the VP of Data & Analytics and engineering teams to build AI-ready data infrastructure that supports real-time inference, population health analytics, and member engagement. Data Architecture & Population Health Own the enterprise data architecture strategy, including data modeling, lakehouse design, and governance frameworks on Snowflake and cloud-native platforms. Lead architecture for population health data systems: including eligibility, utilization, clinical, and engagement data: ensuring integrity, consistency, and actionability across the platform. Define the source-of-truth strategy across key systems (EHR, CRM, member portal, payer data) to eliminate data fragmentation and enable reliable analytics. Architect longitudinal patient data infrastructure that supports care team workflows, outcomes measurement, and value-based care reporting. Real-Time Integration & Interoperability Design and govern real-time and near-real-time integration architectures using HL7 FHIR, event-driven patterns, API gateways, and messaging platforms. Set architectural direction for our client’s distributed systems foundation, service boundaries, data ownership, consistency models, and failure semantics, and ensure these patterns are documented, communicated, and adhered to across teams. Lead integration strategy across key systems including Athena Health (EHR), Salesforce, Conga, member portal, and health plan data feeds. Establish standards for data exchange with health plans, health systems, and employer clients: supporting claims data ingestion, eligibility feeds, and clinical data interoperability. Drive platform reliability and performance through resilient integration design, observability tooling, and SLA accountability. Health Plan & Health System Experience Apply deep knowledge of health plan data structures, payer workflows, and value-based care contracts to inform platform and integration architecture decisions. Architect solutions supporting health plan channel readiness, including payer data ingestion, attribution models, and performance reporting for employer-sponsored plans. Design patient experience infrastructure that reflects the needs of members navigating health plan benefits, care navigation, and provider relationships. Technical Leadership & Culture Serve as a player-coach technical leader, actively participating in technical planning, design reviews, implementation tradeoffs, code and architecture reviews, proofs-of-concept, and reference implementations alongside Technology teams. Champion our client’s experimentation culture by creating reusable architectural patterns, reference implementations, and platform capabilities that reduce the cost and risk of innovation. Actively enable teams through office hours, lunch-and-learns, technical demos, and practical documentation so that new patterns are understood, adopted, and improved across technology. Serve as a trusted technology strategist for business functions across the organization, including Clinical Operations, Finance, People, Sales, and Client Success, translating their operational needs into architectural investments and helping them understand what technology can and cannot do for them. Build strong cross-functional relationships with Product, Clinical Ops, Data & Analytics, and IT Security: acting as a collaborative partner who earns credibility through listening, follow-through, and sound judgment, not just technical expertise. Communicate architectural direction clearly across all audiences: from pairing with engineers on implementation details to presenting technology strategy to the ELT and Board. REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS Demonstrated ability to operate as both a strategic architect and a hands-on technical contributor, with a track record of partnering effectively with technology leaders and delivery teams in a complex environment. 10 years of progressive experience in software or enterprise architecture, with at least 5 years in a senior or principal architect role. Demonstrated experience in healthcare technology: specifically with health plan data, payer/provider integration, or population health platforms. Deep expertise in data architecture on cloud-native platforms (Snowflake preferred); experience with data lakehouse patterns, data modeling, and governance. Strong hands-on experience with real-time and event-driven integration architecture (Kafka, event streaming, API-first design, HL7 FHIR). Proven ability to lead and govern AI/ML architecture in a production environment, including LLM-based systems, agentic workflows, and responsible AI frameworks. Experience modernizing legacy systems at scale, including both technical execution and organizational change management. Hands-on expertise across a modern engineering stack, including: cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP); cloud-native architecture patterns (microservices, serverless, event-driven systems); containers and Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, or GKE) or comparable orchestrators; infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or comparable); CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions or comparable); production-grade observability tooling; and strong production proficiency in at least one of .NET, Python, or TypeScript, with working fluency across the others. Strong background in security, compliance, and regulatory architecture relevant to healthcare (HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC 2). Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Experience at an employer-sponsored or value-based care company (e.g., advanced primary care, near-site/on-site health). Hands-on experience with Athena Health EHR, and Salesforce Clouds (Sales, Service) Familiarity with Snowflake Cortex, dbt, or other modern data transformation and AI/analytics tooling. Prior experience building or advising on health plan channel partnerships, including Anthem, Aetna, Centivo, or similar commercial payers. Familiarity with NetSuite and Workday integrations would be a plus. Experience in a PE-backed, high-growth healthcare technology environment. Track record contributing to AI strategy at an organizational level, including board or executive-level communication. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES Systems thinker who can connect business strategy, clinical workflows, and technical architecture into a coherent platform vision. Strong communication skills: able to translate complex architectural concepts for engineering teams, product managers, and C-suite stakeholders alike. Decisive and opinionated on technical direction, while remaining open to collaboration and alternative perspectives. Knows when to advise and when to build. Comfortable operating in ambiguity and driving clarity where it does not yet exist. Exceptional collaborator who builds credibility with non-technical business leaders: able to make technology strategy accessible, relevant, and actionable for Clinical Ops, Finance, People, Sales, and other functions without losing rigor. Demonstrated ability to build trust and influence across cross-functional, matrixed organizations: known for follow-through, intellectual honesty, and helping teams make better decisions. Passion for building in healthcare: motivated by improving patient and member outcomes through better technology. Pay Range: $190,000 – $230,000/yr The actual offer may vary dependent upon geographic location and the candidate’s years of experience and/or skill level. This position is also eligible for an annual incentive. WideNet Consulting