Principal Architect, Applications & Integration

Principal Architect, Applications & Integration

Date: Sep 23, 2026

Company: Dorman Products

Dorman was founded on the belief that people should have greater freedom to fix motor vehicles. For over 100 years, we have been driving new solutions, releasing tens of thousands of aftermarket replacement products engineered to save time and money, and increase convenience and reliability. Founded and headquartered in the United States, we are a pioneering global organization offering an always-evolving catalog of automotive, heavy-duty and specialty vehicle products. Today, we have more than 3,800 employees across 29 different locations, with a family of brands that also includes SuperATV and Dayton Parts. Reaching a revenue of $2.13 billion in 2025, Dorman is publicly traded under the stock ticker DORM.

Everyone who works at Dorman is called a Contributor. We need everyone, regardless of role and experience, to contribute to our success. That means everyone has a unique ability to make an impact on the business. We encourage all our Contributors to bring their authentic selves to work. The freedom to pursue new ideas, offer different perspectives, and grow in your career is fundamental to working at Dorman.

Job Summary

For established technologies and patterns, the Principal Architect provides risk-based oversight and resolves material design decisions. For new technologies, platforms, or patterns, the role defines the target architecture, establishes guardrails, shapes partner strategy, and guides the first implementations until the approach is proven and repeatable. This is a senior individual-contributor role that leads through technical authority, influence, mentoring, and collaboration.

Primary Duties

• Own architecture for custom web, mobile, cloud-native, API-driven, event-driven, workflow, and internally engineered business solutions.
• Define application frameworks, reference architectures, reusable components, and engineering patterns.
• Guide modernization, technical debt, technology lifecycle, production readiness, and build-versus-buy decisions.
• Establish patterns and standards for APIs, events, messaging, orchestration, middleware, managed file transfer, and partner integration.
• Define reusable integration services connecting custom solutions, packaged applications, partners, and governed data services.
• Ensure integrations are secure, loosely coupled, observable, supportable, and designed for transaction integrity, error handling, recovery, and performance.
• Define reusable patterns for LLM access, orchestration, prompt management, retrieval-augmented generation, vector search, agents, inference, and intelligent automation.
• Establish architecture patterns and engineering guardrails for low-code, workflow, and citizen-development platforms, including integration with enterprise applications and services.
• Ensure AI-enabled solutions follow established software engineering, security, testing, deployment, observability, support, and lifecycle standards.
• Partner with Security, Risk, Legal, and Compliance on Responsible AI, privacy, access, traceability, explainability, and auditability.
• Maintain reference architectures, reusable patterns, architecture decision records, design guidance, and technology roadmaps.
• Apply risk-based architecture reviews and define engineering requirements for secure development, automated testing, deployment, observability, and lifecycle management.
• Identify architecture risks, technical debt, capability gaps, and lifecycle concerns, and recommend practical remediation.

First-of-Kind Technology Enablement

• Lead evaluation and target architecture for technologies and patterns not yet established in the delivery model.
• Work with the PMO and delivery organization to define technical workplans, decision points, specialist capabilities, partner support, and transition criteria.
• Guide initial implementations, capture lessons and reusable assets, and transition mature patterns into repeatable delivery and support.

Technical Leadership & Partner Advisory

• Lead architecture decisions through credibility and influence; direct and mentor architects, developers, QA resources, consultants, and partners without routine people-management accountability.
• Evaluate technologies and vendors; support due diligence, proofs of concept, licensing, and build-versus-buy assessments.
• Advise IT leadership on architecture capabilities, investments, risks, partner needs, and roadmap priorities.

Education / Experience

• 12+ years of experience in application architecture, solution architecture, integration architecture, software engineering, or large-scale distributed systems.
• Hands‑on experience architecting modern cloud applications and integration solutions using APIs, messaging, event‑driven, and distributed patterns.
• Experience with DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability, security, application lifecycle management, and production‑readiness practices.
• Demonstrated success taking a new technology or architecture pattern from evaluation through production and converting it into a repeatable enterprise capability.
• Ability to lead teams and partners through influence and translate complex technical topics into clear options, risks, recommendations, and investment needs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with microservices, containers, serverless technologies, API management, integration platforms, LLM platforms, RAG, vector databases, agents, MLOps, workflow or low‑code platforms
• Experience within SAP or other large ERP environments
• Experience in manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, or operational settings

The US base salary range for this full‑time position is $161,900.00 to $243,000.00. This role is also eligible for a bonus. The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate will depend on multiple factors, including but not limited to job‑related knowledge and skills, experience, business needs, geographical location, and internal pay equity. Compensation decisions are made based on the specific facts and circumstances of each role and candidate.

As a Dorman US contributor, you (and eligible dependents, as applicable) will have access to medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, paid time off (sick/vacation), and Paid Parental Leave. U.S. employees are entitled to paid holidays, floating holidays, and paid time off starting in their first year of employment depending on hire date. You are also able to participate in our 401k retirement plan (with company match and profit‑sharing) and Discounted Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Dorman Products is an equal opportunity employer; we value a combination of ideas, perspectives, and cultures at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. EEO/AA Employer M/F/D/V.

Nearest Major Market: Philadelphia Job Segment: Developer, Test Engineer, Supply Chain, Solution Architect, Cloud, Technology, Engineering, Operations