Systems Architect

The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1.9 billion and launched more than 1,300 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of programs in the United States and in more than 90 countries last year. Visit www.cdcfoundation.org for more information.  
Job HighlightsLocation: Remote, must be based in the United StatesSalary Range: $103,500-$143,500 per year, plus benefits. Individual salary offers will be based on experience and qualifications unique to each candidate.  Position Type: Grant funded, limited-term opportunityPosition End Date: June 30, 2025
OverviewThe Systems Architect will play a crucial role in advancing the CDC Foundation's mission by designing and overseeing the implementation of complex technical solutions that support the mission-critical systems in a public health organization. This role is aligned to the Workforce Acceleration Initiative (WAI). WAI is a federally funded CDC Foundation program with the goal of helping the nation’s public health agencies by providing them with the technology and data experts they need to accelerate their information system improvements. Working within the Salt Lake County Health Department's Information Technology (IT) team, part of the Internal Services Division, the Systems Architect/Engineer will play a critical role in enhancing the use of public health data to inform decision-making. The Systems Architect/Engineer will provide strategic expertise in infrastructure, networks, and application architecture. This includes developing technology roadmaps and methodologies to advance the organization's mission. In addition to supporting the Data Modernization Initiative (DMI), the Systems Architect/Engineer will focus on evaluating the feasibility of consultant-recommended infrastructure, selecting appropriate data ingestion tools, and overseeing the migration of infrastructure to the cloud. This role involves close collaboration with informatics teams, IT staff, business analysts, and data engineers to ensure that the selected tools and infrastructure align with organizational needs, optimize performance, and maintain cost efficiency. This position is key to ensuring that the technical architecture is robust, scalable, and capable of supporting the department’s current and future public health projects. The Systems Architect will be hired by the CDC Foundation and assigned to the Salt Lake County Health Department. This position is eligible for a fully remote work arrangement for U.S. based candidates.

Responsibilities

• Provide expertise and leadership in technology architecture with a focus in technical (including infrastructure and networks) and application architecture, strategy, road mapping, pilot testing, analysis of feedback, testing, and training, methodology.
• Contribute to and manage the planning, design, delivery and implementation of user-centric solutions related to large scale, complex products required to meet the critical business requirements.
• Contribute to the definition, evaluation, and development of architecture policies, standards, guidelines and best practices affecting government initiatives.
• Collaborate with informatics, IT, business analysts, and data engineers to understand business and data requirements and objectives. Design and develop architectural solutions that meet these needs.
• Create system architecture diagrams, documentation, and guidelines to communicate design decisions and best practices.
• Evaluate existing systems and technologies to identify opportunities for improvement and optimization and potential replacement based on market analysis.
• Define technical standards, protocols, and guidelines to ensure consistency and interoperability across systems.
• Recommend and implement new technologies, tools, and frameworks to enhance system performance, scalability, and reliability.
• Conduct feasibility studies and risk assessments for proposed architectural changes or initiatives.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to development teams during the implementation phase.
• Perform system performance tuning, capacity planning, and scalability assessments.
• Ensure security, compliance, and regulatory requirements are integrated into the system architecture.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, network, and security teams to design and implement robust and resilient systems.
• Knowledgeable about industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in system architecture.
• Experience in evaluating software vendors and managing software licenses, focusing on cost efficiency and scalability.
• Establish effective working relationships, obtain buy-in for systems development, promote systems to partners and agency leaders.
• Develop and implement cloud strategies aligned with business goals.
• Assist in developing policies and procedures for data management, privacy, security, and compliance to align with data governance. 

Qualifications

• Required Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience
• Expertise in system architecture with deep technical knowledge of application design, implementation and deployment, as well as current and emerging architecture practices.
• Hands-on experience designing modern architectural patterns to support delivery of complex and legacy IT solutions that are stable, secure, responsive, and scalable.
• Knowledge of technical security and product management best practices.
• Expert level understanding of modern architectural standards for cloud-based solutions.
• Experience designing and writing automated test scripts for unit, integration, end-to-end, cross-browser, device, and accessibility testing.
• Proven experience applying software engineering best practices and architectural practices to product delivery.
• Experience conducting feasibility studies, reviewing new application system architecture or re-engineering legacy systems or enterprise level platforms.
• Ability to develop architectural solutions to meet complex, multi-year plans, spanning multiple internal/external partners and broadly defined business priorities.
• Ability to resolve significant integration and technical issues to address multiple systems/applications linkages, data sets, interdependencies and impacts where requirements are not initially clear.
• Demonstrated success fostering an inclusive environment working with and leading professionals from diverse backgrounds and geographies.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical partners effectively.
• Flexibility to adapt to evolving project requirements and priorities.
• Outstanding interpersonal and teamwork skills; and the ability to develop productive working relationships with colleagues and partners.
• Experience working in a virtual environment with remote partners and teams


• Preferred Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or related field.
• Hands-on knowledge of programming languages (Python, Java, JavaScript)
• Experience developing and documenting data governance processes and procedures preferred but not required.
• Hands-on knowledge of coding languages a plus (e.g. shell scripting).
• Familiarity with data governance frameworks and methodologies.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and tools.
• Understanding of machine learning and data analytics technologies.
• Familiarity with specific technologies, including Snowflake, Microsoft Power BI, Qualtrics, Secure File Transfer Protocol (sFTP), Electronic Health Records (EHR), and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). 

Special NotesThis role is involved in a dynamic public health program. As such, roles and responsibilities are subject to change as situations evolve. Roles and responsibilities listed above may be expanded upon or updated to match priorities and needs, once written approval is received by the CDC Foundation in order to best support the public health programming.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law.
We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. §§ 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans.
The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment.  Relocation expenses are not included.