Principal Enterprise Salesforce Platform Architect Remote, United States - Engineering

What You’ll Do Role Summary (The Why Now) Salesforce is a foundational platform powering Avalara’s revenue engine, customer experience, and operational workflows across Sales, Service, Marketing, and Quote‑to‑Cash. As Avalara scales its product portfolio, expands into new markets, and embeds AI across customer and operational systems, the complexity and criticality of the Salesforce ecosystem continues to grow. The Principal Salesforce Platform Architect defines and governs the enterprise architecture strategy for Salesforce, ensuring the platform operates as a scalable, coherent system rather than a collection of independent implementations. This role establishes the roadmap, standards, and design patterns that guide all Salesforce development and integration across the enterprise. By aligning Salesforce architecture to business outcomes and enterprise priorities, this role ensures the platform supports predictable revenue operations, high‑quality customer experiences, and efficient, AI‑enabled execution at scale. What Your Responsibilities Will Be How This Role Elevates Avalara For the Business Ensures Salesforce supports scalable revenue growth and pipeline predictability Reduces operational friction across Lead‑to‑Sale, Q2C, and Customer Experience workflows Enables faster, more consistent delivery through reusable architecture patterns For the Customer Improves consistency and quality of customer interactions across Sales and Service Enables better data integrity and CX360 visibility Supports faster onboarding, support resolution, and expansion experiences For the Enterprise Establishes a governed Salesforce architecture across domains Reduces duplication, customization sprawl, and technical debt Aligns Salesforce with enterprise data, integration, and AI strategies Key Responsibilities Salesforce Platform Architecture Strategy Define and maintain the enterprise Salesforce architecture strategy and roadmap Establish platform guardrails, design principles, and capability models Ensure Salesforce architecture aligns with Lead‑to‑Sale, Q2C, and Customer Experience strategies Partner with Enterprise Architects to align platform strategy with business capability roadmaps Platform Governance & Standards Define and enforce standards for: Data models Object design Integration patterns Security and access controls Environment and release management Establish reusable design patterns to reduce custom development and improve scalability Lead architecture reviews for Salesforce‑related initiatives Solution Enablement & Delivery Alignment Guide Solution Architects and delivery teams in applying Salesforce architecture standards Ensure consistency of system design across delivery pods Translate architecture runway into actionable guidance for development teams Reduce rework by ensuring design alignment early in delivery cycles Integration & Data Alignment Define integration patterns between Salesforce and: Billing and finance systems Product and usage platforms Customer Data Platform (CDP) Support and CX systems Ensure Salesforce participates as a governed component of the enterprise data architecture Align Salesforce data models with Customer360 / CX360 strategies AI Enablement Within Salesforce Define how AI capabilities (Einstein, external AI platforms, CDP‑driven signals) are embedded into Salesforce workflows Enable AI‑driven use cases such as: Lead and opportunity scoring Sales prioritization Case routing and support automation Customer insight and recommendations Ensure AI implementations are explainable, governed, and aligned to enterprise standards Platform Rationalization & Technical Debt Reduction Identify and eliminate redundant functionality across Salesforce and adjacent tools Reduce customization complexity and improve maintainability Drive consolidation of overlapping capabilities into scalable platform solutions Cross‑Functional Leadership Serve as the enterprise authority for Salesforce architecture Partner with: Marketing, Sales, RevOps Finance and Q2C teams Customer Experience and Support Data & AI platform teams Raise architecture maturity across delivery teams and stakeholders Participate in enterprise architecture governance forums What You’ll Need To Be Successful 12‑Month Success Signals Salesforce architecture strategy and roadmap formally adopted across domains Reduction in redundant customizations and overlapping platform capabilities Measurable improvement in platform stability, scalability, and delivery consistency Clear and reusable integration patterns adopted by delivery teams AI‑enabled Salesforce workflows deployed with measurable business impact Positive stakeholder feedback from Sales, RevOps, and Customer Experience leadership Bar Raiser Expectations This role is expected to: Hold high standards for platform architecture quality, clarity, and scalability Exercise strong judgment in balancing speed, flexibility, and long‑term sustainability Raise the technical and operational maturity of Salesforce delivery teams Challenge fragmented or duplicative solutions with data and architectural discipline Leave the Salesforce ecosystem stronger, simpler, and more scalable than it was found AI Bar Raiser Expectations Demonstrate applied AI capability within Salesforce and related workflows Identify and implement AI use cases that improve measurable outcomes (conversion, productivity, resolution time) Ensure AI solutions are explainable, secure, and aligned to enterprise governance Quantify AI impact (time saved, efficiency gains, revenue influence) Elevate AI capability across platform and delivery teams Qualifications (Required) B.S. in Computer Science or Engineering 12+ years of experience in enterprise systems architecture, including Salesforce platform architecture Deep expertise in Salesforce ecosystem (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, platform capabilities) Experience defining platform standards, data models, and integration architectures Experience working with enterprise data platforms, integration layers, and AI‑enabled workflows Strong understanding of revenue operations, customer lifecycle, and enterprise system design Proven ability to influence cross‑functional stakeholders and drive enterprise‑wide architectural decisions Avalara is an AI‑first Company AI is embedded in our workflows, decision‑making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability. You’ll bring experience using AI and AI‑related technologies, ready to thrive here. You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges—improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers. You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too. How We’ll Take Care Of You Total Rewards In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses. Health & Wellness Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance. Inclusive culture and diversity Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and organizational culture. We also have a total of eight employee‑run resource groups, each with senior leadership and executive sponsorship. We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we #J-18808-Ljbffr