Chief Product Architect Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Job Description: Nymbus (https://nymbus.com/) isn't just a leader in fintech; we're a community of innovators passionate about reimagining banking. Our award-winning modern core platform and cloud-based technology serve as the backbone for financial institutions eager to modernize and excel. Nymbus is building the next generation of fintech platforms, and that requires a new kind of product architect. This role is the technical backbone across product squads who ensures what gets built can run safely, securely, and at scale. You will define and enforce design patterns, build foundational technical components, harden solutions for production, and own operational architecture using AI-first methodology, working together with Builders and Shippers to deliver outcomes end-to-end. WORK ENVIRONMENT: Nymbus is a remote-first company, with occasional travel required for team collaboration or client engagement. Working hours primarily align with the Eastern Time Zone; candidates located in the Eastern or Central time zones are preferred. POSITION SUMMARY: At Nymbus, the AI Product Architect is the system design and technical integrity owner in our squad triad model. You are a member of the Architecture team, report to the Chief AI Officer, and typically split your time product squads. You are responsible for ensuring solutions meet the enterprise-grade bar. In each squad, you work alongside a dedicated Builder and a Shipper. You own the architecture from system design through production hardening, including the technical deployment and operating model. The Shipper owns release coordination and execution, while you provide required architectural signoff for the areas you own and may hold a release until those standards are met. You operate with an AI-first mindset, leveraging AI-powered tools to accelerate architecture analysis, technical design, implementation, reviews, and operational workflows. This is not a traditional architect role centered on diagrams, review boards, or governance from a distance. You are a hands-on technical leader who regularly commits production code in the technical layers of the product, including event processing, data access, integration frameworks, observability, and shared services. You create the design and implement the foundational components that Builders use and extend to deliver product functionality. You own the "how it fits", the "how it scales", and the "how it runs safely". THE SQUAD TRIAD MODEL You operate as one-third of a high-autonomy squad: Architect (This Role): Owns system design, technical integrity, production hardening, and cross-squad consistency. You design and implement foundational technical components, define the technical deployment and operating model, and sign off on release readiness for the areas you own. You may hold a release when architectural, security, performance, or operational requirements have not been met. Builder (Your Partner): Owns product intent, specification, and implementation. You are the primary creator — designing system behavior, authoring specs, and iterating with AI tools to produce working software. Shipper (Your Partner): Owns delivery, quality assurance, release management, and operational readiness. The Shipper ensures what you build meets quality standards, passes validation, and reaches production reliably. You collaborate on acceptance criteria, test coverage, and deployment strategy. Together, the triad owns outcomes end-to-end — from problem definition through production operation. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES: Platform Architecture and Foundational Engineering Define system and reference architectures that align the solutions in each assigned squad with the broader Nymbus platform. Own integration patterns, API contracts, data models, data flows, tenancy boundaries, and interoperability decisions. Design and regularly commit production code for foundational technical components and shared services, including event processing, data access, integration frameworks, observability, and platform utilities that Builders use and extend. Review product specifications and implementations for scalability, maintainability, backward compatibility, and cross-squad consistency, and define migration or coexistence patterns when needed. Use AI-powered tools such as Kiro and AI services such as OpenAI and Claude to explore architecture alternatives, identify gaps, draft technical artifacts, implement foundational code, and accelerate design reviews. Production Hardening, Testing Standards, and Non-Functional Quality Define the automated testing framework and standards, including how Builder-authored tests are implemented and how they run locally and against a Quality Assurance environment. Create and maintain shared test harnesses, utilities, and patterns, and establish measurable non-functional requirements for performance, scalability, reliability, security, resiliency, and operability. Partner with Builders as they implement automated tests and remediate findings; partner with Shippers as they validate test completion, pass status, and the appropriate level of coverage. Define and oversee performance, capacity, resiliency, security, and vulnerability testing for the architectural areas you own, coordinating with the Security function where appropriate. Identify failure modes, bottlenecks, and operational risks before release, and enforce the engineering quality bar that distinguishes enterprise-grade software from prototype-grade output. Deployment, Operations, and Observability Define deployment patterns across development, QA, UAT, and production environments, including configuration and environment-management standards. Own the technical design for rollout strategy, progressive delivery, rollback, recovery, and failure handling; the Shipper owns release coordination and deployment execution. Establish monitoring, alerting, structured logging, tracing, dashboards, and other observability standards, and implement shared observability components when needed. Drive capacity planning, technical production-readiness reviews, and operational runbooks, and support Builders with systemic or foundational issues while the Builder retains the SLO for support items requiring technical input or software changes. Provide required architectural signoff for the areas you own and hold a release when technical, security, performance, resiliency, or operational requirements have not been satisfied. Security, Data Protection, and AI Infrastructure Define and verify encryption in transit and at rest, authentication, authorization, role-based access control, secrets management, and audit logging. Ensure tenant isolation, data segregation, privacy controls, and regulated-data handling are designed into each solution. Establish token-based authentication and authorization patterns for AI-enabled capabilities. Ensure PII and sensitive data are masked or excluded from AI contexts and that AI-driven actions are auditable. Partner with Security, Compliance, and risk stakeholders to translate control requirements into practical platform patterns. Squad and Architecture Team Collaboration Split time across squads, actively manage competing priorities, and maintain consistent technical patterns across both. Partner daily with each Builder on API design, data modeling, integration patterns, implementation tradeoffs, automated testing standards, and the use of shared foundational components. Regularly participate in implementation through production code commits, code reviews, pairing, prototypes, reference implementations, and shared services. Coordinate with each Shipper on test evidence, release readiness, deployment execution, observability, rollback preparedness, and operational supportability. Collaborate with the Architecture team under the Chief AI Officer; surface architectural risks and dependencies early; and maintain shared context through decision records, diagrams, specifications, reference code, and operational documentation. Domain Context (Fintech Systems) Build and apply working knowledge in one or more domains such as: Core Banking including account structures, posting models, settlement processes, configuration, and data integrity. Digital Banking including account opening, onboarding workflows, KYC and CIP, authentication, and user experience. Lending including loan lifecycles, servicing logic, payments, exception handling, and integrations. Payments and Cards including transaction flows, authorization, clearing and settlement, resiliency, and integration patterns. QUALIFICATIONS: Architecture and Technical Fluency 5+ years of software engineering experience, including meaningful experience serving as a software architect, solution architect, or equivalent technical design authority for enterprise-grade production software. Demonstrated ability to translate architecture into working software by designing and implementing foundational components, shared services, and technical frameworks. Strong hands-on engineering capability and willingness to regularly commit production code in areas such as event processing, data access, integrations, observability, security, and platform services. Proven ability to define and apply architecture patterns across APIs, data, integrations, testing, security, deployment, and operations. Strong understanding of REST APIs, event-driven systems, data modeling, distributed-system tradeoffs, resiliency, and integration design. Experience establishing non-functional requirements, automated testing standards, observability patterns, deployment approaches, and technical release criteria. Ability to balance priorities across two product squads, make pragmatic tradeoffs, and collaborate closely with Builders, Shippers, Security, and other Architects. AI-First Mindset At least 6 months of hands-on experience using AI-powered IDEs or coding agents such as Claude Code, Kiro, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, or equivalent tools. Demonstrated use of AI tools for design exploration, specification, code generation, implementation, code review, analysis, or operational automation. Ability to create practical guardrails, context, and review checkpoints that help AI- generated solutions meet enterprise standards. Willingness to experiment with tools and continuously improve AI-augmented architecture and engineering practices. Comfort operating in a spec-first, AI-first development methodology. Nice to Have Experience designing or operating enterprise multi-tenant SaaS applications in a cloud-hosted environment, particularly AWS. Experience in fintech, banking, or financial services, including core banking, digital banking, payments, cards, lending, or adjacent financial platforms. A track record of modernizing or decomposing legacy applications while protecting production stability. Hands-on proficiency in two or more of Java, Node.js, Python, or React. Experience establishing and maintaining architectural standards across multiple engineering teams. CORE TRAITS High Agency: Takes ownership of system-level outcomes and drives decisions forward without waiting for heavy process. Identifies architectural gaps and closes them. Problem Solver: Thrives in ambiguity. Frames complex problems clearly, explores tradeoffs, and converges on practical approaches quickly. Architect Mindset: Optimizes for the whole platform, not a local component. Protects cross-squad consistency while helping each squad move quickly. Hands-On Leader: Builds credibility through regular production code, shared components, prototypes, reviews, and reference implementations - not authority alone. Experimenter: Uses AI tools to test architectural approaches, model failure modes, and improve patterns before scaling them. Quality Driven: Focuses on correctness, security, resiliency, clarity, and long-term maintainability. Treats platform patterns as durable assets. Scale Oriented: Designs for growing client volume, increasing complexity, multi-squad reuse, and operational realities from the start. Ownership: Does not stop at design approval. Stays accountable for architectural integrity through implementation, release signoff, and production learning, while partnering with the Builder on software changes. WHAT WE ARE EXPLICITLY NOT LOOKING FOR Diagram-only architects who are removed from implementation and production outcomes. Review-board gatekeepers who identify problems but do not propose and implement practical alternatives. Architects who define foundational designs but expect Builders to create every technical component for them. People who accept prototype-grade security, scalability, testing, or operability in production systems. People uncomfortable balancing priorities across two squads, working hands-on, or sharing ownership across the triad. Those unwilling to adopt AI-first development and architecture practices. Individuals who view architecture as a documentation function rather than a hands-on engineering responsibility. WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS AT NYMBUS Nymbus is building the next generation of fintech platforms and that requires architects who can preserve technical integrity while AI-first squads move at unprecedented speed. The AI Product Architect is the technical backbone across two squads: the person who turns working product code into secure, scalable, observable, and supportable platform capabilities, while building foundational services that allow Builders to deliver faster and Shippers to launch with confidence. This role sits at the center of our transformation, where AI-accelerated development, hands-on enterprise architecture, shared platform engineering, and production operations converge to redefine how financial software is designed and run. SALARY & BENEFITS: $130,000 - $150,000 Annual Salary Annual Cash Bonus and Equity Options commensurate with the role level and experience 100% Remote 401(k) plan Insurance - Health, Dental and Vision Paid Time Off OUR HIRING COMMITMENTS As an AI-first company, we embrace leveraging the power of AI tools throughout our hiring process. Nymbus remains committed to the importance of finding the right match for our teams and candidates alike. While we are excited about the AI tools at our disposal today, including the use of AI Video Interview tools, we remain committed to the human touch and oversight throughout the process. Nymbus is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Nymbus is committed to p