Principal, Solution Architecture

To be considered for this position, applications and resumes are accepted only through our careers site by directly applying to the posted job. We do not accept unsolicited resumes or sales solicitations from staffing agencies. Any OCC employee wishing to submit a referral must do so through their Workday account. Any resume submitted outside of an active job posting will not be considered for employment.What We NeedWe are building a culture that empowers continued learning, authentic innovation, and constant creativity. We are looking for an individual to join our team as a Solution Architect with the following skills and abilities:Primary Duties and Responsibilities:To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each primary duty satisfactorily.What You'll Do:You’ll be working alongside experts that are building OCC’s next generation clearing system; and paving the future of digital transformation in the capital markets industry by:Design the applications’ architecture across distributed and enterprise technology platforms while leveraging patterns such as event-driven architecture, publish/subscribe messaging, and microservices while using infrastructure-as-code (IaC) practices to enable consistent, repeatable, and automated provisioning across environments.Define and enforce architectural standards, patterns, and best practices across engineering teams.Design streaming and batch-based systems that support both real-time and scheduled data flow across the organization.Shape and guide the architecture of message-based systems utilizing Kafka or similar platforms to enable reliable, decoupled, event-driven communication between services.Develop and oversee data architecture and integration strategies spanning streaming, batch, and message-based processing to ensure reliable, secure, and efficient data flow across systems.Own end-to-end solution architecture from ideation through implementation, including documentation of architectural decisions and system diagrams.Guide the development and deployment of distributed, cloud-native services, ensuring resilience, scalability, and cost-efficiency.Collaborate with DevOps, platform engineering, and security teams to ensure architectures are operable, resilient, and aligned with organizational standards.Review designs and code from engineering teams to ensure alignment with architectural standards, security requirements, and regulatory/compliance needs.Troubleshoot and resolve complex, cross-system issues spanning application, infrastructure, messaging, and data layers.Partner with engineering, data, and business teams to translate business requirements into robust, scalable technical solutions.Translate complex architectural decisions and trade-offs into clear, actionable insights for business stakeholders and non-technical audiences to support informed decision-making.Evaluate emerging tools, frameworks, and technologies, and provide recommendations for adoption.Mentor engineering teams on architectural best practices, distributed systems, event-driven and batch processing design.Ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.Supervisory Responsibilities:NoneQualifications:The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary functions.Demonstrated experience in one or more of the following domains: event-driven and message-based systems, transaction processing systems, distributed and parallel computing.Solid experience designing application architectures across distributed and enterprise technology platforms, including microservices and streaming or batch-based applicationsExperience with projects involving complex integration of disparate types of technologies/platforms and data.Experience architecting large-scale distributed systems.Architect Kubernetes-based deployment topology for stateless services and on-demand jobs, including horizontal pod autoscaling, multi-AZ resilience, and cross-region/on-prem failover and disaster recovery strategies (hot-hot, S3 replication).Fluent in object-oriented design, industry best practices, software patterns, and architecture principles.Experience defining and documenting architecture strategies, designs, and requirements across all enterprise architecture domains – business, information systems (applications & data), and technology.Experience defining non-functional requirements (NFRs) including performance, scalability, availability, and security and others as well as ensuring applications’ architecture are designed to satisfy them.Highly motivated with a strong sense of ownership of their work/projects.Excellent oral and written communication skills.Technical Skills:Software development experience in Java, Python, or C#, including building high-throughput, low-latency services for data-intensive or transaction-oriented systemsStrong knowledge of Kafka or other messaging/streaming systems, including topic design, partitioning strategies, and producer/consumer patterns for reliable, event-driven communication.Fluent in object-oriented design principles, software design patterns, and modern architecture practices (e.g., microservices, event-driven architecture, domain-driven design), with the ability to apply them to real-world, large-scale systems.Knowledge of identity and access management using OAuth2/OIDC flows (client credentials, authorization code with PKCE), JWT-based token validation, and integration with identity providers (e.g., ForgeRock, SailPoint).Knowledge of schema management and data serialization formats, preferably Protocol Buffers (Protobuf), including schema evolutionUnderstanding of data lake-house architecture and table formats such as Apache IcebergFamiliarity with Infrastructure as Code principles and tooling preferably Terraform to enable repeatable, automated environment design.Working knowledge of DevOps tooling and practices such as Git, Jenkins, Docker, Artifactory, ArgoCD, and others to support automated build, test, and deployment of distributed, containerized applications.Experience working with Cloud ecosystems (AWS, PaaS, K8s)Education and/or Experience:Minimum Qualifications:BS degree in Computer Science, similar technical field, or equivalent practical experience.10+ years of relevant work experiencePreferred Qualifications:6+ years of work experience in the capital markets industry.Certificates or Licenses:NoneAbout UsThe Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 19 exchanges and trading platforms. More information about OCC is available at highly collaborative and supportive environment developed to encourage work-life balance and employee wellness. Some of these components include: A hybrid work environment, up to 2 days per week of remote workTuition Reimbursement to support your continued educationStudent Loan Repayment AssistanceTechnology Stipend allowing you to use the device of your choice to connect to our network while working remotelyGenerous PTO and Parental leave 401k Employer MatchCompetitive health benefits including medical, dental and visionVisit for more information.CompensationThe salary range listed for any given position is exclusive of fringe benefits and potential bonuses. If hired at OCC, your final base salary compensation will be determined by factors such as skills, experience and/or education. In addition, we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current team members as part of any final offer. We typically do not hire at the maximum of the range in order to allow for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a substantial benefits package as noted on All employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus. Discretionary bonuses are based on various factors, including, but not limited to, company and individual performance and are not guaranteed.Salary Range$175,100.00 - $282,800.00Incentive Range23% to 30%This position is eligible for an annual discretionary incentive compensation award, for which the target range is listed above (see Incentive Range). The amount of such award, if any, will be based on various factors, including without limitation, both individual and company performance.Step 1When you find a position you're interested in, click the 'Apply' button. Please complete the application and attach your resume. Step 2You will receive an email notification to confirm that we've received your application.Step 3If you are called in for an interview, a representative from OCC will contact you to set up a date, time, and location. For more information about OCC, please click here.OCC is an Equal Opportunity EmployerSummaryLocation: Chicago - 125 S FranklinType: Full time