Lead Architect, Army

This is a U.S. based position. All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.

Who we are:

Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional small business with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development, with headquarters in McLean, VA. Our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

About the role:

As a Lead Architect, you'll leverage your engineering background to guide technical strategy and architecture for Army programs supporting INDOPACOM operations. You'll work directly with Army customers to translate mission requirements into scalable technical solutions and provide architectural guidance across multiple engineering teams. You'll be hands-on in designing systems, reviewing implementations, and ensuring solutions align with DoD standards while meeting operational needs in the Pacific theater.

What You’ll Do

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with proven hands-on development expertise


• Direct experience working with U.S. Army programs and INDOPACOM operations


• Experience with architectural design patterns and architectural decision records (ADRs)


• Strong customer-facing skills with ability to gather requirements and present solutions to military stakeholders


• Experience building event streaming applications using Kafka, Pulsar, or Red Panda


• Ability to explain complex technical concepts in plain language to technical and non-technical audiences


• Deep understanding of CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, GitLab, Jenkins, etc.


• Experience deploying applications to Cloud Foundry and/or Kubernetes


• System architecture and design experience with technical roadmap development


• Passion for writing technical proposal documents such as white papers and RFI responses


• Understanding of Indo-Pacific theater operations and tactical deployment considerations


• Proven ability to lead and mentor cross-functional engineering teams in delivering complex DoD systems, providing architectural guidance and technical direction across multiple concurrent projects


• Obtain Security+ within the first 90 days of employment with Raft

Highly preferred:

• Deep understanding of DoD and Army environments, including defense acquisition process


• Previous experience working directly with Army units


• Experience with edge computing and tactical environments


• Track record of speaking at conferences about software engineering principles


• Knowledge of modern software trends and their applicability to defense missions

Clearance Requirements:

• Active Secret with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance

Work Type: 

• Onsite in Honolulu, HI


• May require up to 35% travel to both CONUS and OCONUS locations (Must possess a valid, active US passport with at least six months validity beyond intended period of employment to facilitate international travel and meet security requirements for government contracts.)

Salary Range:

• $200,000 - $280,000 


• The determination of compensation is predicated upon a candidate's comprehensive experience, demonstrated skill, and proven abilities

What we will offer you:

• Highly competitive salary


• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage


• 401(k) and company match


• Take as you need PTO + 11 paid holidays


• Education & training benefits


• Generous Referral Bonuses


• And More!

Our Vision Statement: 

We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission. 

Our Customer Obsession: 

We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.

How do we get there? 

Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm. 

Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration. 

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.