Hybrid Software Architect – Back-End Serverless

at Unison

• Job title: Software Architect – Back-End Serverless
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior, Lead
• Salary: $150,000 - $250,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: AWS, Distributed Systems, DynamoDB, GraphQL, TypeScript
• Location requirements: Hybrid, United States

About the role

• Software Architect leading the design and evolution of AWS serverless platforms for government solutions at Unison. Collaborating cross-functionally to ensure scalable and resilient architectures.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the backend architecture for serverless, event-driven systems built on AWS Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and EventBridge.
• Define and enforce architectural standards, reference patterns, and best practices aligned with AWS Well-Architected principles.
• Lead architectural reviews, design discussions, and trade-off analyses across teams.
• Serve as a technical authority and mentor for senior and mid-level engineers.
• Design and oversee GraphQL API architectures using TypeScript, with a focus on schema governance, versioning, and long-term maintainability.
• Guide data modeling strategies, including DynamoDB single-table design, access patterns, and scalability considerations.
• Establish resilient, observable, and fault-tolerant systems with clear SLOs and recovery strategies.
• Drive Infrastructure as Code practices using AWS CDK, enabling repeatable, auditable environments.
• Embed monitoring, logging, alerting, and automated remediation into system designs.
• Lead root cause analysis for complex production incidents and drive systemic fixes.
• Partner with DevOps and product stakeholders to improve deployment safety, release velocity, and operational maturity.
• Architect systems with defense-in-depth security, least-privilege access, and compliance-aware designs.
• Continuously assess and improve system performance, scalability, and cost efficiency.
• Ensure designs are aligned with regulatory and compliance requirements where applicable (e.g., FedRAMP).
• Work cross-functionally with product, frontend, and platform teams to translate business requirements into durable technical solutions.
• Influence roadmap decisions by clearly articulating technical risks, constraints, and long-term implications.
• Contribute to engineering culture through thoughtful code reviews, architectural documentation, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional experience in backend or platform engineering, with architect-level responsibility for production systems.
• Deep expertise in TypeScript and modern backend application design.
• Strong hands-on experience with AWS serverless architectures (Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, EventBridge).
• Proven experience designing and governing GraphQL APIs at scale.
• Advanced understanding of distributed systems, data modeling, and event-driven architectures.
• Extensive experience with Infrastructure as Code (AWS CDK preferred).
• Demonstrated ability to diagnose and resolve complex system failures through structured root cause analysis.
• Strong familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, version control strategies, and automated testing practices.
• Experience operating in Agile environments with cross-functional teams.

Benefits

• In-Person Interview: Our hiring process requires one in-person meeting, typically the final interview.
• Travel and accommodations will be provided.