Director, Architect Principal

Your Opportunity

At Schwab, you’re empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us “challenge the status quo” and transform the finance industry together.

We believe in the importance of in-office collaboration and fully intend for the selected candidate for this role to work on site in the specified location.

The Principal Cloud Architect will help shape the next generation cloud strategy and solutions
for Charles Schwab & Co. This role is ideal for a senior individual contributor who combines
deep cloud architecture expertise with the ability to lead technical workstreams, mentor peers,
and drive alignment across engineering and architecture teams.

The ideal candidate will bring experience designing large-scale cloud solutions across multiple
platforms, with strong depth in GCP and familiarity with AWS and Azure. This individual should
also have hands-on experience with AI-enabled architectures and a broad understanding of
emerging fintech technologies. Success in this role requires strong technical judgment,
architectural storytelling, and the ability to connect executive vision to practical engineering
execution in a highly regulated environment.

What you’re good at
• Operate as a senior individual contributor who can design robust, scalable, secure, and
maintainable cloud solutions.
• Lead architecture design and delivery for enterprise-scale solutions across cloud, AI/ML,
and financial services domains.
• Lead architecture workstreams and help drive technical coordination across teams and
other individual contributors.
• Mentor peers, engineers, and junior architects to improve architecture quality, design
consistency, and engineering practices.
• Translate complex business and technology requirements into clear architecture
patterns, reference designs, and implementation guidance.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise security, compliance, resiliency, and governance
expectations.
• Communicate effectively with engineers, architects, and executives, translating technical
complexity into actionable plans and decisions.
• Drive clarity and progress in ambiguous, fast-moving environments with evolving
requirements and competing priorities.
• Partner effectively with engineering teams to transition designs into implementation and
production-ready solutions.
• Cross-train peer teams and share knowledge in a way that strengthens the broader
organization.
• Thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment spanning multiple teams, locations,
and time zones.
• Bring strong critical thinking, problem-solving ability, and sound technical judgment to
complex enterprise challenges.

What you have

To ensure that we have fulfilled our promise of "challenging the status quo," this role has specific qualifications that successful candidates should have.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8+ years of deep technical experience designing cloud solutions in Google
Cloud Platform (GCP) or Amazon Web Services (AWS).
• Strong experience creating detailed architecture designs in GCP (preferred) or AWS.
• Experience designing secure, resilient, and highly available systems in regulated
enterprise environments.
• Experience with cloud security services and secure-by-design architecture principles.
• Experience with automation and infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform, Ansible,
Salt, or similar technologies.
• Working proficiency with source control and DevOps toolchains such as Git, Bitbucket,
Bamboo, Jenkins, Concourse, or equivalent platforms.
• Experience designing mission-critical, 24x7 platforms and services.
• Hands-on experience with AI/ML architecture patterns, including data pipelines, model
deployment, and governance considerations.
• Experience leading architecture workstreams or serving as a technical lead across
cross-functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, architects, or technical peers and influence
technical direction without direct authority.
• Experience driving architecture from concept through implementation in partnership with
engineering and platform teams.
• Working knowledge of Agile/Scrum and experience supporting continuous integration
and continuous delivery practices.
• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cyber Security, or a
related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect and/or AWS Certified Solutions Architect
certification is a plus.
• Experience in financial services is a plus

In addition to the salary range, this role is also eligible for bonus or incentive opportunities