Software Architect

Expert-Level Software Architect (18+ years experience)

TULK is a small boutique consulting firm specializing in technology and management consulting to the US Federal Government. We help Defense and National Security clients solve their toughest problems by guiding them to acquire, design, manage and develop new and improved technology systems and business practices to advance their missions. Our people enjoy a variety of tailored benefit options to meet their individual needs to include 100% employer paid health care, generous cash bonuses, flexible work schedules, access to technology, tuition reimbursement and much more.

We seek applicants who demonstrate a broad range of competency as we don’t just place “butts in seats” – we look at your overall skillset and your career interests and then line you up with an initial assignment that best fits you, while continuously evaluating opportunities to further your career.

If the position below is of interest to you, we look forward to reviewing your application.

Overall Assignment Description of the Expert Level Software Architect

Expert-level Software Architects lead the design and development of software solutions for complex applications problems, API design, data services, platform services, cloud services and infrastructure services to meet user requirements and align to strategic goals and the Enterprise Architecture. The Expert-Level Software Architect is a software expert who makes high-level design choices and recommends technical standards, including software coding standards, tools, and platforms. The Expert-level Software Architect provides technical and software engineering support towards a model-based systems engineering approach to IT requirements engineering and architecture development, targeted at the Enterprise, Segment, and Solution Engineering levels. This consists of developing and transforming the NGA IT EA framework, processes & tools to realize EA vision, and the essential products and supporting products (if needed) that provide conceptual, logical, or physical representations of the enterprise’s IT baseline and target architecture.

Duties of the Expert Level Software Architect may include

• Modify, develop, and mature the required EA products to provide a blueprint for organizational IT transformation and modernization in terms of business functions, data necessary to conduct the business functions, applications to manage the data, and technology to support the applications.
• Develop IT prototypes and integration models. Work with product managers, developers, subject matter experts and other stakeholders to define the IT solution roadmaps, develop solution designs, scope technical requirements and solution epics, evaluate new technologies, and develop frameworks in support of mission priorities.
• Develop current and future state architectures that advance customer experience and organizational excellence. Make recommendations regarding strategic and integrated architectural considerations related to technology direction and standards.
• Develop, define and bound IT solution architecture artifacts, analyzing current trends in technology, recommending ways to integrate latest digital technologies and leverage common services to streamline internal operations, and analyzing and implementing applications for infrastructure issues.
• Develop design artifacts that describe the structure, characteristics, behavior, workflow and other aspects of the solution to project stakeholders.
• Investigate and integrate new solutions using customer software, commercial software and open-source software. Develop platform technology roadmaps to include SaaS, PaaS, custom software, third party offerings, open source and other technology components.
• Ensure a loosely coupled architecture through the use and management of APIs (e.g., REST, OData, AWS API management tools, etc.…) as well as microservices. Establish standards and guardrails for internal and external use.
• Provide architectural guidance to support Agile/DevSecOps software development solutions, modern architectures, system integrations, and cloud migration projects.
• Develop and integrate IT solutions architecture artifacts in coordination with IPOs and programs within NGA.
• Develop and assist IPOs and programs within NGA to generate and integrate the following architecture products as a minimum.
  • Business Architecture: represents holistic, multidimensional business views of capabilities, end_to_end value delivery, information, and organizational structure; and the relationships among these business views and strategies, products, policies, initiatives, and stakeholders.
  • Data Architecture: represents integration of value specifications for qualitative and quantitative variables and their alignment with business architecture and strategy.
  • Application Architecture: represents the specification and structural partitioning of technology_based automation into business logic, user experience, and data perspectives as an enabler of business architecture and strategy.
  • Technical Architecture: represents the logical and physical interconnection of infrastructure elements to enable the deployment and management of data architecture, application architecture, business architecture, and strategy.
• Develop Sequencing Plan/ Technical Roadmaps – Showing the evolution from NGA’s current, or “as-is”, operational and technological environment, to its target, or “to-be” environment, followed by the development of a plan for transitioning from the as-is to the to-be environment related to the IT EA discussed herein. The changes needed to transition from the current state of the enterprise to the goals and conditions expressed by the target architecture cannot be achieved in a single quantum step. The Sequencing Plan should provide a step-by-step process for moving from the baseline architecture to the target architecture.
• Conduct gap analysis by identifying the differences between the baseline and target architectures in all related architecture products. Consequently, the gap analysis also develops the user requirements, determines political and technical constraints, and assesses migration risks and feasibility.
• Apply data science techniques to implement and enable reportability of Enterprise Requirements using industry best practice for integration and automation of manual/time intensive tasks.
• Implement the delivery of data visualization using COTS/GOTS provided applications for response to oversight RFIs. Document and translate technical/IT requirements and digital engineering modernization / digital system engineering thread into plain English for briefing to decision makers.
• Assist the Government in integrating IT architecture products across NGA
• Develop high level business views and requirements that span the entire agency.

Required Skills and Experience of the Expert Level Software Architect

• US Citizenship
• US Government issued Top Secret / SCI Security Clearance
• 18+ Years Relevant Experience
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Computer Systems Engineering, Engineering, Engineering Management, Information Technology, Mathematics, System Engineering, or a related STEM Degree Program, or equivalent Expert level experience as a Software Architect.
• Skillset with balanced experience in Business, Data, Application and Technology architecture domains.
• Experience in defining and developing architectures, including current state, future state and enterprise technology roadmaps, working with commercial, open source, and cloud solutions including developing prototypes and integration models.
• Experience with modern architecture (loosely coupled services) - service-oriented architecture/micro-services and DevSecOps practices.
• Expert knowledge of various cloud service models to include software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service.

Desired Skills and Experience of the Expert Level Software Architect (experts should have many of these)

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, or related STEM degree program.
• Experience performing enterprise architecture modeling using an enterprise architect modeling tool.
• Experience with developing, evaluating and maintaining services-based and cloud-based solutions and services, cloud computing, service orientation, containerization, micro-services, API development and streaming platforms.
• Experience with both DoDAF and commercial architecture frameworks (i.e., TOGAF, FEAF).
• Familiarity with NGA missions and systems.
• Working knowledge of NGA’s current and in-development IT solutions (i.e., fielded or planned systems and services).
• Working knowledge of current free and open cluster management software.
• Experience documenting architecture and design best practices and guidelines.
• Experience creating proof-of-concept in new technology areas if needed.
• Demonstrated progression from a solid working technical background to an Enterprise Architecture.