Principal Solution Architect

Risepoint is an education technology company that helps regional universities launch and grow online programs for modern learners. Risepoint supports more than 100 universities and colleges across five countries, with programs concentrated in high-demand fields including nursing, healthcare, teaching, business, technology, and public service. Our suite of products and services supports the full student journey and each university’s long-term goals. Together, we increase access to affordable education that delivers a strong return on investment for learners and meets employer and community needs. Learn more at risepoint.com.

The Impact You Will Make

This role is for a hands-on technical leader who can make key architectural and design decisions and then help build them. You will set technical direction across our systems, applying sound software design principles and architecture patterns, while writing production code alongside the team. 

You will work closely with business stakeholders, developers, and QA, guiding technical decisions and staying active in agile ceremonies; backlog grooming, sprint planning, stand-ups and partnering with the Scrum Master to keep delivery on track. Our stack centers on Salesforce, .NET/C#, and Azure; deep Salesforce expertise is a plus but not required; what matters most is your ability to architect well, communicate clearly, and code when needed (C# or Apex both work). 

How You Will Bring Our Mission to Life

What You Will Do

• Own key architectural and technical design decisions for our student engagement systems, spanning Salesforce, .NET/C#, and Azure. 
• Translate business requirements into practical, well-architected technical solutions, applying sound design principles and architecture patterns (e.g., microservices, event-driven design, domain-driven design). 
• Actively participate in backlog grooming, sprint planning, and stand-ups, partnering with the Scrum Master and product owners to size, sequence, and de-risk upcoming work. 
• Pick up sprint work hands-on — write, review, and ship production code (C#, Apex, or similar) alongside the development team. 
• Guide and mentor developers and QA engineers throughout the sprint, providing technical direction, design reviews, and code review. 
• Design integration patterns across systems using REST APIs and event-driven approaches, connecting Salesforce, .NET services, and cloud platforms. 
• Define data architecture and integration strategy, including data modeling, synchronization, and data quality standards. 
• Establish core security architecture practices: access control, authentication/OAuth, and API security. 
• Contribute hands-on development on complex or high-impact initiatives and support production troubleshooting. 
• Communicate architectural decisions and tradeoffs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 
• Continuously improve development, deployment, and operational processes. 

What Success Looks Like

• Salesforce solutions are stable, scalable, and aligned with long-term business and platform strategy. 
• Integration patterns are standardized, well-documented, and reliably support data and event flows across systems. 
• Architectural decisions balance speed of delivery with maintainability, security, and operational resilience. 
• Development teams follow consistent architectural and coding standards, with reduced rework and technical debt. 
• Production issues are resolved efficiently with clear root-cause analysis and preventative improvements. 

How Impact Will be Measured

• Successful delivery of Salesforce-centric architectures supporting key student engagement initiatives. 
• Improved system reliability, performance, and scalability across our platforms. 
• Reduction in integration failures, data inconsistencies, and recurring production incidents. 
• Clear architectural documentation, standards, and decision records adopted by engineering teams. 
• Positive feedback from business and engineering stakeholders on solution quality and clarity. 

What You’ll Bring to the Team

Experience That Matters Most

• 8-10 years of hands-on software development experience, including experience operating as a Solutions or Technical Architect. 
• Strong, demonstrated command of software design principles, architecture patterns (e.g., microservices, event-driven, domain-driven design), and system-level tradeoffs. 
• Hands-on coding proficiency in C#, Apex, or a comparable object-oriented language — able to pick up sprint work and ship it, not just design it. 
• Experience integrating systems via REST APIs and cloud platforms (Azure). 
• Comfortable working directly with developers and QA in an agile environment — grooming, sprint planning, and code reviews. 
• Strong communication skills; able to explain technical tradeoffs to both engineers and business stakeholders. 
• Demonstrated ability to own a technical solution from design through production support. 

Experience That’s Great to Have

• Salesforce platform experience (Apex, Lightning, flows, security model) — a strong plus, not required. 
• Experience with cloud-native or containerized services (Kubernetes, Docker) or enterprise integration tooling (e.g., TIBCO). 
• Experience designing event-driven and asynchronous integration architectures (e.g., Azure Service Bus, Kafka). 

Risepoint is an equal-opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce.