Architect

Summary

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is seeking a Technical Architect to support world class publishing operations. ACS Publications is already established as the home of the most-trusted, most-cited, and most-read journals in chemistry-related sciences. This position offers a unique opportunity to join a mission-driven organization, supporting the dissemination of scientific information globally with a growth mindset in a vibrant and energetic environment.

Within the Digital Transformation Group, the Publications Technology unit is responsible for the creation, maintenance and support of enterprise-level information technology systems that powers the lifecycle workflow for ACS Journals, books and other products.  

Position Summary 

The position reports to the senior manager, the Application Development team, of the Enterprise Applications Group. This Technical Architect is responsible for leading software architecture design and software development, technology innovations, and cloud technology adoption. This position will work with other technology leaders in the group to establish and maintain best practices in software development, data strategy and management, and cloud implementation.

The Application Development team works closely with other teams in the group and across the division and the society. They are at the forefront of innovation driving our solutions and empowering customer success. They work with the data team to implement solutions in all aspects of the full spectrum of user behavior and analytics data including analysis, architecture, development, visualization, reporting, and advanced analytics. The team is responsible for developing and execute plans to develop and migration applications in the cloud. They are also working with the DevOps team to set up processes for the IT operations. 

In this role, the technical architect will broadly influence ACS’s cloud strategy, technology innovation, and data consumers and analysts. The ideal candidate should be experienced in providing technical solutions both on-premise and in the cloud. He or she shall be comfortable with operating across the full spectrum of software development, data system development, and operations support. In addition, the candidate should be enthusiastic about adopting new technologies and translating R&D into solutions. The ideal candidate should also possess the ability and drive to proactively collect requirements via discussions with customers, develop project specifications, document project requirements, and communicate with all stakeholders involved in development and deployment processes.

 
Position Accountabilities

1. Develop architecture for Pubs Software Engineering and Pubs IT applications and systems.
2. Play a key role in engaging Pubs IT staff and peers to ensure successful product and policy rollout.
3. Provide leadership in the research and development of new products using cutting edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and other advanced technologies.
4. Provide leadership in adherence to application standards, best practices, and patterns.
5. Assume responsibilities for the planning and design of on-premises, cloud-native and hybrid solutions.
6. Participate in cross-functional technology architecture groups that review designs and implementations.
7. Work with data team lead and develop cloud architecture for analytics data warehouse systems.
8. Work with management to define the cloud strategy and roadmap for the division and society. 
9. Work with stakeholders around the business to ensure support and buy-in to the technology strategy and Vision.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Mathematics or similar discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in architectural design and at least 10 years of industrial hands-on experience in software engineering, and strong in at least two or more general programming languages (e.g., Java, Python, JavaScript, etc.)
• 3+ years of experience in building software and data solutions in Cloud, preferably in GCP and/or AWS.
• Experience in infrastructure-as-code practices using terraform or the likes.
• Experience in building robust CI/CD pipelines utilizing open source and cloud-native technologies.
• Experience with event streaming, APIs, Microservices, database technologies
• Possess critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge of architecture, enterprise architecture, and application design patterns
• Proven ability to gain knowledge of new technologies and conduct proof of concepts using well-established and innovative software development tools
• Strong verbal and written communication skills. Must be able to communicate effectively and confidently with team members, management, and business customers.
• Strong experience working with a broad range of modern data science and analytics tools (e.g., SQL, Python, ETL tools, BI platforms, and cloud platforms such as AWS and GCP).
• Knowledge and experience with GCP technologies is required.
• Ability to practice the principles of API development
• Business Analysis: Ability to quickly transform a conversation into a set of business requirements and transform business requirements into technical specifications.
• Ability to build partnerships with cross‐functional teams to develop a comprehensive understanding of key data drivers and opportunities within the business.

This position will be primarily based in the Washington D.C. or UK office. ACS employees work a hybrid work schedule, consisting of working onsite, three days per week. ACS employees are in the office on Tuesday and Wednesday with the third in-office day scheduled in consultation with the manager. While always welcome to work in the office, employees may work the other two days of the week from a location of their choice. New employees are immediately eligible for this hybrid work arrangement. ACS offers relocation assistance, if applicable.

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