Principal Software Architect

Summary:

Plans, designs, develops and tests software systems or applications for software enhancements and new products including cloud-based or internet-related tools. Most companies should be able to match to a specific software development engineer position. Use this position if company does not breakout software development positions such as Software Engineer (Applications) (5141-5146) or Software Engineer (Systems) (5161-5166).

Duties & Responsibilities:

Principal Software Architect – VIAVI Solutions 

Overview: 

VIAVI Solutions is seeking a Principal, Software Architect to lead the architectural vision and technical strategy for our next-generation NITRO AIOps 2.0 platform. This role is pivotal in shaping a scalable, extensible, and AI-driven architecture that supports cross-domain network assurance, automation, and analytics for global telecom operators. 
 
As a senior technical leader, you will collaborate across R&D, product management, and customer-facing teams to define and evolve the platform architecture, ensuring alignment with business goals and technical excellence. You will be responsible for driving innovation in areas such as AI/ML pipelines, cloud-native microservices, data modeling, automation frameworks, and GenAI-assisted development. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Define and evolve the platform’s end-to-end architecture, including core services and extensibility frameworks. 

• Lead design of AI/ML pipelines for anomaly detection, forecasting, and incident management. 

• Architect cloud-native, microservices-based solutions on Kubernetes with high scalability and resilience. 

• Develop domain-agnostic data models and APIs for cross-vendor abstraction. 

• Guide automation strategies, including RCA workflows and orchestration engines. 

• Integrate Generative AI into development workflows for code, config, and testing. 

• Ensure security, compliance, and performance across all components. 

• Mentor global engineering teams and lead architectural governance. 

• Collaborate with product, engineering, and customer teams to align architecture with business needs. 

• Evaluate emerging technologies and drive innovation in areas like event-driven architecture, digital twins, and AI observability. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s or master's in computer science or related field. 

• 15+ years in software architecture, with 5+ in telecom, cloud, or AI/ML platforms. 

• Expertise in distributed systems, Kubernetes, Docker, and CI/CD. 

• Strong knowledge of telecom domains (RAN, Core, Transport) and data models. 

• Experience with RESTful and TMF-compliant APIs. 

• Familiarity with DevOps, GitOps, and Infrastructure-as-Code. 

• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills. 

• Experience with Generative AI tools is a strong plus. 

Preferred: 

• Hands-on with AI/ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Spark MLlib). 

• Background in telecom assurance or AIOps platforms. 

• Knowledge of TMF standards and SaaS architectures. 

• Contributions to open-source or standards bodies. 

Pre-Requisites / Skills / Experience Requirements: