Title: Software Architect
Quick Summary
Alderframe Software is hiring a Software Architect to lead end-to-end system design for our data-intensive SaaS platform. You will define target architectures, establish engineering standards, and guide cross-functional teams through modernization and new product development. The ideal candidate blends deep hands-on expertise with clear communication, enabling pragmatic decisions that balance reliability, security, cost, and delivery speed.
Project Category or Industry
Enterprise SaaS for analytics and workflow automation
Type
Full-time employment
Experience Level
Senior preferred; strong mid-level engineers ready to transition into an architect role are encouraged to apply and will receive structured mentorship
Duration
Permanent role
Location
Remote-first across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC with at least 4 hours overlap between 09:00–18:00 UTC; optional hybrid days in Boston and Lisbon
Salary
USD 135,000–185,000 base depending on location and experience, plus annual performance bonus and equity
Payment Mode
Monthly payroll via bank transfer; contractor arrangements available where local employment is not supported
Hiring Company Name
Alderframe Software
Required Skills or Tools
Expertise in system design, distributed systems, cloud-native patterns, API design, data modeling, security and privacy controls, observability, and cost-aware architecture. Proficiency with at least one major cloud and the ability to translate business needs into technical roadmaps and reference implementations.
Project Details
Project Description
You will own the architectural runway for Alderframe’s multi-tenant platform, ensuring our services scale predictably and remain operable under growth. Work includes defining reference architectures, domain boundaries, and contracts between services; selecting platform capabilities; and partnering with product leadership on sequencing high-impact initiatives. Deliverables emphasize clarity and reusability—decision records, diagrams, templates, and guardrails that accelerate teams without constraining innovation.
Core Responsibilities and Expected Deliverables
Lead discovery and design workshops; translate requirements into target architectures, roadmaps, and measurable outcomes.
Define system decomposition, data flows, and interface contracts; champion reliability via SLOs and error budgets.
Establish architectural standards for APIs, data storage, caching, and eventing; guide secure-by-default patterns.
Produce high-quality artifacts: ADRs, sequence and deployment diagrams, threat models, and migration playbooks.
Partner with platform and security teams on identity, tenancy, secrets, and supply-chain controls.
Review designs and pull requests, mentor engineers, and facilitate design reviews and readiness gates prior to launch.
Required Experience and Preferred Qualifications
6+ years in software engineering with 2+ years in an architectural or staff-level capacity.
Proven experience with distributed systems, message queues, caching layers, and data consistency strategies.
Strong grounding in security (least privilege, key management, encryption, secrets), privacy, and compliance awareness.
Nice to have: domain-driven design, event-sourced or CQRS patterns, multi-region resilience, and cost modeling.
Professional certifications are welcome but not required.
Tools or Platforms to Be Used
Cloud and platform: AWS or GCP (EKS/GKE, IAM, VPC, managed databases, object storage)
Services and data: Kubernetes, Docker, REST and GraphQL APIs, gRPC for internal services, PostgreSQL, Redis, Kafka or RabbitMQ
Observability: OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, centralized logging with correlation and tracing
Delivery and quality: GitHub Actions or GitLab CI, feature flags, automated testing and progressive delivery
Governance: Terraform for infrastructure as code, policy as code with Open Policy Agent, ADRs in Markdown with diagramming via draw.io or Mermaid
Language Requirement
English is required for daily collaboration; additional languages are a plus but not required.
Communication Style
Asynchronous-first via Slack and GitHub with weekly Zoom ceremonies. Architecture decisions are captured as concise RFCs and ADRs in Notion, supported by living diagrams and runbooks.
Time Commitment or Working Window
Approximately 40 hours per week with flexible scheduling; core collaboration windows target late morning to late afternoon UTC. Occasional planned release windows may require brief overlap outside core hours.
Payment Terms
Monthly salary with annual performance review and bonus eligibility. Contractor engagements follow milestone-based deliverables with biweekly invoicing and net-15 terms.
Evaluation Criteria
Quality and clarity of a short architecture exercise (diagram, rationale, risks, and mitigations)
Review of prior design documents or system components with discussion of trade-offs
Live scenario walkthrough covering scaling, failure modes, and security considerations
Mentorship approach, communication skills, and stakeholder alignment
References confirming delivery, reliability, and collaboration
Other Requirements
Standard NDA upon offer acceptance, identity verification, and reference checks compliant with local laws. Adherence to secure development lifecycle, change management, and documentation standards.
About the Company
Alderframe Software is a remote-first product company building analytics and workflow tools that help operations teams make faster, better decisions. Founded in 2018, we run small, empowered squads that value thoughtful design, measurable outcomes, and sustainable engineering practices. Our team spans North America and Europe with collaboration hubs in Boston and Lisbon. Learn more at https://alderframe.com or contact careers@alderframe.com.