Head Architect

Job Description

We are looking for a highly experienced Principal Architect - Connected Vehicle to provide technical leadership and drive architecture strategy across the Connected Vehicle ecosystem. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in automotive software, connected services, cloud-native platforms, vehicle-cloud integration, OTA capabilities, and distributed systems, along with the ability to mentor engineering teams and influence technical direction across multiple domains.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate and integrate technologies, platforms, and engineering practices across the Connected Vehicle ecosystem, including vehicle connectivity, in-car software, backend services, cloud platforms, data systems, and customer-facing applications.
• Shape scalable technical solutions from business and product requirements, advise implementation teams on architecture and design decisions, and provide end-to-end architecture leadership.
• Provide deep expertise in connected vehicle systems, vehicle-cloud-app integration, connected services, software update/OTA capabilities, vehicle data platforms, and digital twin concepts.
• Establish and uphold architecture principles, reusable patterns, technical standards, and engineering guidelines across the organization.
• Mentor and coach Technical Leads, Architects, and engineering teams in solution design, engineering practices, and technical decision-making.
• Stay current with advancements in automotive software, cloud computing, data platforms, AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, and evaluate their business relevance.
• Drive continuous improvements in engineering efficiency, automation, quality, and operational readiness.
• Identify risks related to technical delivery milestones, cross-system dependencies, and architectural integrity; define mitigation strategies and ensure governance through architecture reviews and decision records.
• Enable the technical growth of individuals and teams while building a strong technical leadership pipeline within the Connected Vehicle unit.
• Promote engineering excellence across development, integration, validation, deployment, and production operations.
• Act as a technical enabler and coach, helping teams solve complex technical challenges without becoming a delivery bottleneck.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Infotainment, Vehicle Engineering, Cloud/Backend, Data Engineering, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Validation, and Operations teams.
• Partner with Unit Heads and Product Owners to align technical strategy with customer value, business priorities, and delivery goals.
• Drive Connected Vehicle technology roadmap decisions and provide technical leadership on architecture trade-offs, scalability, customer value, and delivery realities.

Required Skills & Experience

• 12+ years of relevant software engineering experience, including significant experience as an Architect, Principal Engineer, or equivalent senior technical leadership role.
• Proven experience designing and evolving large-scale distributed, cloud-based, or connected systems.
• Automotive or Connected Vehicle domain experience is strongly preferred.
• Strong expertise in one or more Connected Vehicle domains with architectural breadth across:
• Vehicle-Cloud Integration
• Connected Services Platforms
• APIs & Backend Services
• Event-Driven Architectures
• Cloud Technologies
• Practical experience with software lifecycle management, OTA/update capabilities, vehicle data platforms, digital twins, observability, failure recovery, and rollback strategies.
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity, privacy, identity and access management, secure software development, data governance, and compliance requirements.
• Experience designing highly scalable, resilient, maintainable, diagnosable, and supportable systems.
• Proven track record of defining architecture principles, conducting technical reviews, documenting decisions, and driving standards across multiple teams.
• Strong engineering judgment and strategic thinking with the ability to balance technical excellence, customer value, and delivery constraints.
• Excellent mentoring, coaching, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronics, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.