Principal Systems Architect

Nice to meet you!

We’re the leader in analytics. Through our software and services, we inspire customers around the world to transform data into intelligence – and questions into answers.We’re also a debt-free multi-billion-dollar organization on our path to IPO-readiness. If you’re looking for a dynamic, fulfilling career coupled with flexibility and world-class employee experience, you’ll find it here.

About the job

Are you a strong technical leader with a vision for the architecture for SAS products? If so, this may be the role for you. The Data Management division is looking for a Principal Systems Architect. This position will see you work alongside architects from other R&D divisions to shape the core architecture of the SAS Viya platform. You will be expected to work on complex architectural problems and to present your ideas to executive leadership. The work of the architecture team will have an impact across all of SAS R&D.

As a Principal Systems Architect, you will:

• Propose, update, and review architectural designs and directly assist teams with their implementation.
• Collaborate with our engineering architectural committee and coordinate all related activities.
• Establish, document, and advocate for standards, methodologies, and best practices as the technical expert for an R&D division.
• Represent the technical perspective of an R&D division during planning, scoping, and sizing efforts, ensuring key dependencies are identified and risks are mitigated.
• Collaborate with product managers, UX designers, other architects and developers to determine functional and non-functional requirements for new and existing applications.
• Ensure all products adhere to a common architecture as necessary for them to work well together, form a cohesive product line, and meet customer expectations.
• Evolve SAS software architectures to incorporate new technologies that better serve our business objectives and customer requirements.
• Organize and maintain detailed documentation about technical designs with supporting justification for architectural and design choices.
• Perform all primary responsibilities on complex projects independently; effectively manage projects to achieve expected results.
• Be a change agent, regularly looking for and implementing process improvements.
• Mentor junior developers within your R&D division, expanding the skills and talents of others.

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field, preferably in Computer Science or related field

Qualified candidates possess expertise with one or more of the following:

1. Building high-performant, elastic, scalable architectures using Kubernetes, including knowledge of ingresses, operators, CRDs, and CNIs as it relates to the implementation and lifecycle management of stateful Kubernetes applications
2. Spearheading development from prototypes to production-quality code in C, C++, Java or Golang while adhering to best practices, including following industry standards and conventions as well as focusing on code maintainability and reuse.
3. Creating comprehensive test plans, user scenarios, and performance load tests at the unit, integration, or system-wide level
4. Designing cloud-native systems within Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, or Google Cloud Platform

Qualified candidates will satisfy one or more of the following experiences:

1. 5+ years of experience building cloud-native applications with Kubernetes
2. 5+ years of experience with scripting languages such as Python or Lua
3. 12+ years of experience with server-side languages such as Java or Golang
4. 12+ years of experience with compiled languages such as C or C++
5. 5+ years of experience with at least one database technology such as Oracle or Postgres

Preferred qualifications

• Broad understanding of SAS product line and architecture.
• Familiarity with SAS languages, including datastep, DS2, and CASL.
• Broad and in-depth understanding of system software design in areas such as enabling technologies, analytics and solutions.
• Ability to comprehend the details of complex system software and the implications of architectural changes.
• Ability to write requirements for multiple, highly complex
• Broad understanding and embrace of Agile software development.
• Broad understanding and embrace of DevOps and CI/CD principles.
• Deep understanding of cloud-native principles and the impacts of cloud economics on software architecture and design.

World-class benefits    

Highlights include...
• Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental and vision plans.
• Medical plan options include…
• PPO with low annual deductible and copays.
• HDHP combined with a health savings account with a contribution from SAS (no access to on-site health care center).
• Onsite Health Care Center (HQ) that’s free to employees and family members enrolled in the PPO plan. There’s a pharmacy too! Not local to HQ? The pharmacy will ship prescriptions for no additional charge!
• An industry-leading 401k plan.
• Generous time away including vacation time, a variety of paid holidays, and our much-loved U.S. Winter Wellness Break between December 25 and January 1.
• Volunteer Time Off, parental leave and unlimited paid sick days.
• Generous childcare benefits for all full-time employees

Additional Information:

To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status. SAS is an equal opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. Read more: Know Your Rights. Also view the Pay Transparency notice.

Resumes may be considered in the order they are received. SAS employees performing certain job functions may require access to technology or software subject to export or import regulations. To comply with these regulations, SAS may obtain nationality or citizenship information from applicants for employment. SAS collects this information solely for trade law compliance purposes and does not use it to discriminate unfairly in the hiring process.

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