Software Architect

				Overview:

We are looking for a Principal Engineer with deep expertise in designing scalable SaaS platforms, complex system integrations, and AI/rules-driven regulatory systems, along with experience building global, cloud-native compliance and licensing platforms. This role offers the opportunity to define and evolve systems that enable digital trade across 100+ countries, operate across multiple cloud providers, and scale to support rapid, sustained growth. You will play a critical role in shaping the architecture that powers global registrations, licensing, and ongoing compliance, balancing automation, accuracy, and operational excellence.

As a Principal Engineer, you will set the technical vision and architectural standards for secure, scalable, and future-ready systems. You will collaborate closely with product, engineering, data, and operations leaders to translate business strategy into robust platform capabilities. This role reports to the VP of Engineering.

Responsibilities:

* Define and evolve the architecture for a cloud-agnostic, jurisdiction-aware platform that supports global registration, licensing, and compliance services.
* Architect rules engines and decision systems that interpret complex, frequently changing regulatory requirements across countries, states, and local authorities.
* Design workflow and case-management architectures that support long-running, stateful compliance processes involving customers, internal teams, and external agencies.
* Establish scalable data models and governance strategies for highly variable regulatory and licensing data.
* Design systems that balance automation with human-in-the-loop execution, ensuring auditability, traceability, and regulatory defensibility.
* Partner with product and design teams to embed compliance intelligence into customer journeys (e.g., determining where customers need to register or obtain licenses).
* Set and enforce architectural standards for performance, reliability, security, observability, and operational excellence.
* Provide hands-on technical leadership through design reviews, code reviews, and architectural guidance across multiple teams.
* Identify and mitigate architectural risks, scalability challenges, and system performance bottlenecks.
* Recommend and evaluate new technologies, frameworks, and patterns to improve engineering outcomes.
* Create and maintain clear architectural documentation, diagrams, and technical specifications.
* Promote a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

AI Leadership Responsibilities

* Lead the design of AI- and agent-driven solutions for regulatory interpretation, eligibility determination, document intelligence, and compliance lifecycle automation.
* Define architectural patterns for AI-assisted decisioning, explainability, and regulatory audit readiness.
* Establish coding, security, and governance standards for the responsible use of LLMs, agents, and AI tooling in compliance-critical workflows.
* Mentor engineering teams on applying AI to improve accuracy, efficiency, and scalability across the platform.

Qualifications:

* Bachelor's degree in computer science.
* 15+ years of software engineering experience, including full-stack development.
* Proven experience designing and scaling distributed, cloud-native systems.
* Strong command of software architecture patterns and system design best practices.
* Hands-on experience with AWS, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps tooling (e.g., Terraform, Docker, ECS).
* Experience migrating monolithic systems to microservices or serverless architectures.
* Experience with Enterprise Integration Patterns and complex system integrations.
* Experience designing rules-based or policy-driven systems (e.g., compliance, eligibility, pricing, entitlements).
* Experience with workflow orchestration engines, state machines, or BPM-style systems.
* Experience building platforms with strong auditability, traceability, and regulatory requirements.
* Familiarity with Agile methodologies, including TDD and BDD.
* Strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to influence across teams and functions.
			

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Avalara, Inc