Head Of Software Development Jobs in Houston, TX

ABOUT POWER FACTORS

Power Factors is a software and solutions provider leading the next generation of clean energy with Unity, one of the most extensive and widely deployed renewable energy management suites (REMS) in the market. With over 300 GW of wind, solar, and energy storage assets managed worldwide across more than 600 customers and 18,000 sites, Power Factors manages 25% of the world's renewable energy data.* 

Power Factors' Unity REMS supports the entire energy value chain, from monitoring and controls to market analytics. The company's suite of open, data-driven applications empowers renewable energy stakeholders to collaborate, automate critical workflows, and make more informed decisions to maximize asset returns. Energy stakeholders receive end-to-end support, including solutions for SCADA & PPC, centralized monitoring, performance management, commercial asset management, and field service management. 

With deep domain expertise, AI-powered insights are delivered at scale so businesses can optimize assets, unlock growth, and make smarter decisions as the world rapidly transitions to clean energy. Power Factors fights climate change with code. 

*Outside China and India

ABOUT THE ROLE

Power Factors is scaling in complexity - more products, more platforms, more sophisticated buyers, and rapidly rising expectations for AI-native capability across our renewable energy software suite. In that context, the absence of a single, accountable technical vision creates real risk: divergent architectural patterns across verticals, inconsistent approaches to AI and data platform investment, and technical debt that compounds faster than it can be paid down.

The Head of Software Architecture exists to close that gap. This is a hands-on, deeply technical leadership role responsible for defining and enforcing enterprise architecture standards across Power Factors' Product & Technology organization - spanning Platform, SCADA, EMS, APM, CloudOps, and CAM/FSM/Product Ops - while personally architecting and prototyping the hardest problems the organization faces, particularly around AI-based product introductions, IoT data acquisition, and multi-tenant SaaS scalability.

This role combines the strategic scope of an enterprise architect with the credibility of a builder who still writes code, reviews pull requests, and is comfortable being the most technical person in the room.

The Head of Software Architecture acts to define, evangelize, and enforce a coherent technical architecture strategy that allows Power Factors to scale product complexity without sacrificing reliability, security, or development velocity.

        Enterprise-wide architectural coherence: Technical decisions across verticals are grounded in shared architectural principles, not siloed team preferences.

        AI-native product development: New AI-based product capabilities are architected end-to-end - from data pipeline to model integration to user-facing experience - rather than bolted on.

        Development velocity multiplication: Engineering teams are equipped with modern AI-assisted development tooling and workflows that materially increase throughput.

        Deep technical credibility: Engineering leaders and individual contributors alike see this role as a working architect, not a slide-deck strategist.

        Domain-informed design: Architecture decisions reflect genuine understanding of renewable energy operations - SCADA, EMS, PPC, edge devices, and grid-facing data systems.

This role acts as the connective tissue between the CPTO's organizational strategy and the day-to-day technical decisions made by vertical engineering teams.

        Define and maintain Power Factors' enterprise architecture standards, reference architectures, and technical guardrails across all verticals

        Lead architectural reviews for major initiatives, ensuring consistency, scalability, and long-term maintainability

        Own the technical roadmap for cross-cutting platform capabilities (data platform, integration layer, identity, observability)

        Design for complex, high-availability systems where correctness, latency, and data integrity carry real operational and commercial consequences

        Partner with vertical leaders (SCADA, EMS, APM, Platform, CloudOps) to ensure local architecture decisions align with enterprise direction

        Build and lead a distributed architecture function that operates as a trusted technical authority across Greece, Montreal, and other regions

        Mentor senior engineers and engineering leaders on architectural judgment, system design, and technical tradeoff analysis

        Establish and run architecture governance forums (design reviews, RFC processes, technical steering committees)

        Act as a technical escalation point for the highest-stakes design decisions across the organization

        Architect and personally help build end-to-end AI-based product capabilities - from data acquisition and model selection through deployment and monitoring

        Define Power Factors' architectural approach to LLM-based products, including use of Model Context Protocol (MCP), retrieval architectures, and agentic workflows

        Evaluate and select development LLMs and AI platforms appropriate for embedding into commercial products

        Own the technical bridge between REMI and other AI-native initiatives and the broader platform architecture

        Bring machine learning and data science expertise to bear on product decisions - model selection, feature engineering, data pipeline design, and MLOps practices

        Write production code, prototype new architectural patterns, and directly contribute to the hardest technical problems facing the organization

        Lead by example on code quality, testing discipline, and engineering craftsmanship

        Stay close enough to the codebase to make credible, current architectural judgments rather than relying on secondhand reporting

        Build proof-of-concept implementations to de-risk major architectural bets before full team investment

        Architect scalable IoT data acquisition systems capable of ingesting, normalizing, and processing high-volume telemetry from distributed renewable energy assets

        Design architecture for edge devices and Power Plant Controllers (PPC), balancing on-site computation, latency constraints, and cloud connectivity

        Ensure architectural approaches account for grid code compliance, real-time control requirements, and the operational realities of SCADA and EMS environments

        Apply renewables and energy industry domain knowledge to inform data model, integration, and control system design decisions

        Own cloud architecture strategy across GCP and/or AWS, including cost, resilience, and security posture

        Advance Power Factors' multi-tenant SaaS architecture to support scale, tenant isolation, and configurability without fragmenting the codebase

        Define architectural standards for mobile app development where products extend to field and operations use cases

        Evaluate build-vs-buy and platform consolidation decisions across the technology stack

        Identify, evaluate, and roll out AI development tools that enable a 3-4x productivity improvement across engineering teams

        Define best practices for AI-assisted coding, testing, and code review, balancing speed with quality and security

        Partner with engineering leadership to measure and report on productivity gains from AI tooling adoption

        Reports to: Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO)

Embedded collaboration with:

        Vertical engineering leaders (Platform, SCADA, EMS, APM, CloudOps, CAM/FSM/Product Ops)

        Product Management and Product Marketing on AI-based product introductions

        CloudOps and Security on infrastructure and compliance posture

        Architecture in service of the business, not architecture for its own sake

        Hands-on credibility over theoretical authority

        Pragmatic standardization - enough consistency to scale, not so much it stifles teams

        AI-first thinking applied responsibly, with attention to data quality, safety, and reliability

        15-20 years of progressive experience in software engineering, with significant time spent in architecture and technical leadership roles

        Enterprise Architecture & Complex System Design: demonstrated experience architecting large-scale, high-complexity systems with significant operational stakes

        Technical Team Leadership: proven ability to lead and mentor senior engineers and architects across distributed teams

        Trading/Transactional Systems: experience building high-throughput, high-integrity trading or transactional systems where correctness and performance are non-negotiable

        AI Product Delivery: track record architecting and shipping end-to-end AI-based product introductions, from concept to production launch

        Hands-On Development: an architect who still codes - genuinely enjoys building, not just designing

        IoT Data Acquisition: experience with systems that ingest and process high-volume telemetry from distributed physical assets

        Edge Devices & Power Plant Controllers (PPC): familiarity with edge computing architectures and industrial control systems

        Renewables / Energy Industry Experience: ideally direct experience in renewable energy or broader energy sector software (strongly preferred, not required)

        Machine Learning & Data Science: solid working knowledge sufficient to make informed architectural and platform decisions

        MCP & LLM-Based Products: hands-on experience with Model Context Protocol, development LLMs, and building LLM-based product features

        Cloud Platforms: deep experience with GCP and/or AWS at an architectural level

        AI Development Tooling: experience selecting and rolling out AI dev tools that meaningfully increase engineering team productivity

        SaaS & Multi-Tenant Architecture: advanced experience designing and scaling multi-tenant SaaS applications

        Mobile App Development: working knowledge of mobile architecture and delivery, sufficient to guide teams building mobile experiences

        Strong systems thinking with the ability to zoom between enterprise strategy and line-level code

        Executive-level communication - able to translate architectural tradeoffs into business terms for the CPTO and executive team

        Comfortable operating with significant technical authority while remaining collaborative and low-ego

        Genuine enthusiasm for staying current with the fast-moving AI and LLM landscape

        Principal Engineer, Distinguished Engineer, VP of Engineering, or Chief Architect background

        Experience operating in a scaling, multi-product SaaS organization

        Comfortable being both the enterprise architecture authority and an individual contributor when the problem demands it

        Number of AI-based product capabilities architected and shipped to production per year

        Measured productivity gains (velocity, cycle time) attributable to AI development tooling rollout

        Reduction in cross-vertical architectural inconsistency and duplicated platform investment

        System reliability and performance metrics for enterprise-critical and transactional systems

        Adoption rate of architectural standards and reference designs across engineering teams

        Qualitative 360 feedback from engineering leaders on technical leadership effectiveness

This role is not a purely strategic or advisory position removed from the codebase, and it is not a people-management role focused primarily on process and reporting. The Head of Software Architecture is expected to remain a credible, hands-on technical contributor throughout their tenure.

The role also does not own product roadmap prioritization or commercial strategy - those remain with Product Management and the CPTO - but it directly shapes what is technically possible and how quickly it can be delivered.

LIFE @ POWER FACTORS

We are an agile software development company - big enough to make an impact, but small enough to move quickly and execute in a growing industry. We are a team of bold and ingenious talents driven by results. We are passionate about making the world a better place. We seek fierce and humble people to help us achieve our ambitious plan.

WHY JOIN US

By joining the Power Factors team, you'll be part of a dynamic group of innovative and driven individuals dedicated to making a positive impact. Every day, your work will directly contribute to advancing clean energy solutions and supporting global sustainability initiatives. Our culture runs deep and shows up in how we work together - committed, conscientious and collaborative. With many opportunities for professional growth, Power Factors is here to support your development as we lead the charge in transforming the energy industry. 

WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Power Factors is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to engaging a diverse workforce and sustaining an inclusive culture. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status