Platform Architect, Personalized Indexing Technology

Role Overview

• Lead the definition and evolution of application and platform architecture aligned with VPI business strategy, product roadmaps, and Vanguard technology standards.
• Drive key architectural decisions for cloud‑native systems, balancing scalability, resiliency, security, and cost.
• Develop and review architecture and design documentation for new capabilities and platform enhancements.
• Partner closely with product owners, engineering teams, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions meet functional and non‑functional requirements.
• Act as a hands‑on individual contributor, designing and building solutions across the VPI platform.
• Develop cloud‑native services on AWS, including microservices, APIs, and supporting infrastructure.
• Write production‑quality code primarily in Java and Python, with a strong focus on maintainability and performance.
• Contribute to data engineering and platform integration efforts supporting investment workflows, analytics, and operational processes.
• Help modernize and evolve existing systems while maintaining stability of critical production workloads.
• Design and implement scalable infrastructure using AWS, including containerized workloads and Kubernetes.
• Build and operate microservices architectures leveraging messaging, caching, and asynchronous processing patterns.
• Partner with teams on infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and operational excellence.
• Identify and resolve moderately complex production and platform issues, assessing risks and driving pragmatic solutions.
• Consult with other technology and product teams across Vanguard to ensure alignment and reuse where appropriate.
• Lead and participate in build vs. buy evaluations, including assessment of vendors, tools, and platforms.
• Provide technical guidance during vendor onboarding, integrations, and proof‑of‑concept efforts.

Requirements

• Strong engineering background with experience building investment platforms, financial systems, or large‑scale distributed systems.
• 8 years experience with Computer science or related degree.
• Demonstrated experience as a hands‑on architect or senior engineer delivering production systems.
• Proficiency in Java and Python.
• Experience designing and building cloud‑native architectures on AWS.
• Solid understanding of microservices architectures, including messaging, caching, and asynchronous processing.
• Experience with Kubernetes and container‑based platforms.
• Working knowledge of data engineering concepts and data‑intensive systems.
• Ability to operate effectively as an independent contributor while collaborating across teams.

Tech Stack

• AWS
• Cloud
• Distributed Systems
• Java
• Kubernetes
• Microservices
• Python

Benefits

• Sponsorship Vanguard is offering visa sponsorship for this position.
• Hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection.