Senior Principal Architect - Platform Engineering

Our world is transforming, and PTC is leading the way. Our software brings the physical and digital worlds together, enabling companies to improve operations, create better products, and empower people in all aspects of their business. 

Our people make all the difference in our success. Today, we are a global team of nearly 7,000 and our main objective is to create opportunities for our team members to explore, learn, and grow – all while seeing their ideas come to life and celebrating the differences that make us who we are and the work we do possible.  

Sr. Principal Architect - Platform Engineering-Hybrid San Ramon, CA

We are seeking an exceptional Sr Principal Architect – Platform Engineering to lead the architecture, design, and technical direction of our existing platform ecosystem. In this role, you will assess the current architecture of the platform, identify opportunities for modernization, and drive improvements that elevate performance, reliability, developer experience, and organizational adoption.

This position requires a seasoned, deeply hands-on architect with strong Java, Groovy engineering experience, strong data modeling expertise in Snowflake and PostgreSQL, and a proven track record of enabling platform adoption at scale. You will shape the platform’s long‑term architectural direction while remaining hands-on with design and implementation.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead Platform Architecture & Roadmap

• Develop a deep understanding of the current platform and drive its architecture, codebase stewardship, operational excellence, and long‑term roadmap
• Perform in-depth platform assessments, identifying gaps, technical debt, and architectural improvement opportunities
• Establish architectural patterns, standards, and guardrails to ensure platform consistency and long-term maintainability
• Design and construct an enterprise-grade data platform that supports middleware integration, AI agent and operational workflows, and data-driven product capabilities
• Architect robust PostgreSQL relational models optimized for transactional systems
• Design scalable, performant, and efficient Snowflake data models, schemas, and pipelines
• Apply best‑practice data modeling techniques including normalization, dimensional modeling, star schemas, and graph schema design to support scalable and flexible data platforms

Driving Platform Adoption

• Increase platform usage and adoption across engineering teams by delivering clear value, improving usability, and establishing platform blueprint
• Partner with application teams to onboard them onto the platform, address friction points, and incorporate feedback into platform evolution
• Develop documentation, reference implementations, and integration guides to accelerate adoption

Technical Leadership

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver reliable, secure, and maintainable solutions
• Provide architectural guidance for platform extensions, migrations, integrations, and new capabilities
• Mentor senior engineers and contribute to raising architectural maturity across teams

Required Qualifications:

• 12+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 5+ years in architecture roles
• Ability to commute to the office 2 days a week in San Ramon, CA
• Deep, hands-on experience with Java & Groovy (core Java, concurrency, distributed systems, microservices) 
• Proficiency with Spring Framework and modern Java libraries
• Proven expertise designing and implementing data models in Snowflake and PostgreSQL.
• Strong understanding of modern cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud‑native patterns.
• Demonstrated experience building large‑scale, distributed platforms or core shared services.
• Strong knowledge of API design, streaming, event-driven architectures, and integration patterns.
• Ability to produce clear architecture artifacts (diagrams, standards, roadmaps)
• Ability to provide technical leadership, drive architecture decisions, and mentor engineers

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in utilizing AI‑driven tools and platforms to enhance the software development lifecycle and improve engineering productivity
• Experience in designing and building data platform services leveraging graph databases (e.g., Neo4j, Amazon Neptune, or similar) for complex relationship modeling and query optimization

At PTC, we believe in the power of diverse ideas and perspectives. As a global company that values and respects all identities, cultures, and perspectives, we strive to create an inclusive PTC for ALL through an environment where everyone feels like they belong and are empowered to bring their true, authentic selves to work. Proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and hire without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, ethnicity, ancestry, marital status, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

 

For more information about PTC’s comprehensive benefits and our AI usage, please visit our Careers Page (https://www.ptc.com/en/careers/united-states-careers). Applications will be accepted on an on-going basis until the opportunity is filled.

 

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Life at PTC is about more than working with today’s most cutting-edge technologies to transform the physical world. It’s about showing up as you are and working alongside some of today’s most talented industry leaders to transform the world around you. 

If you share our passion for problem-solving through innovation, you’ll likely become just as passionate about the PTC experience as we are. Are you ready to explore your next career move with us?

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