Description

Software Architect (Computer Engineer)

VA Boston Healthcare System

Boston, MA 02130

The role is based within a leading healthcare system in New England that serves as a major referral center and a hub for clinical research. The organization is seeking a Software Architect to architect, design, develop, and implement enterprise and cloud-based software solutions. This individual will be responsible for the full software development lifecycle of complex applications, from concept to deployment. As a knowledgeable application architect, you will be responsible for managing, architecting, designing, and implementing full-stack software solutions (front-end, API, middleware, and back-end), leading architecture, design, and working with the team for coding using various programming languages, testing, evaluating different development frameworks including microservices, Data structure & DB design, third-party and open-source software and libraries.

Knowledge of Machine Learning techniques, tools, and programming (including LLM - Large Language Models) is a plus. You will be knowledgeable in good security practices in application architecture, design, and development to implement secure solutions. 

You will join a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, researchers, data scientists, and software engineers at a nationally recognized VA health system. This role offers a unique opportunity to apply software architecture skills to highimpact translational genomic research.

PRIMARY DUTIES:

• Create an end-to-end secure application software system, including architecture, design, and solution implementation. 
• Define, develop, and implement a functional, volumetric, scalable, highly performant, reliable, and distributed system including front-end, middleware, messaging, API, data, dB, and back-end systems.
• Define and implement loosely coupled services and micro-services-based solutions.
• Design application software systems for high-performance computing and be able to execute genomics pipelines at scale with large volumes (TB / PB) of data.
• Design and implement application performance mgmt., log mgmt., audit mgmt. and system mgmt. tools, including metrics.
• Work with business teams and product managers to ideate software solutions.
• Design an effective test strategy and enable automation techniques.
• Implement effective application security and privacy mechanisms, including Authentication, Authorization, and Access control.
• Write design specs, technical documentation, and user guides.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION:

1. MUST be a US Citizen and MUST clear a US government background check
2. Resume must indicate full-time or part-time and include hours for each position listed under work experience. 
3. DEGREE: To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor’s degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics
4. EXPERIENCE: Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: Professional registration or licensure, Engineering Written Test, Specified Academic courses, or related curriculum

NOTE: Reference OPM website for more information on Qualification Standards: Computer Engineer series 854 on the OPM GS Qualification Standards, https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/computer-engineering-series-0854/

PREFERRED QUALIFICATION:

1. Knowledge of Software Development Lifecycle, distributed systems architecture, multi-tenanted application systems, architecture frameworks, and agile methodologies (i.e., Scrum) 
2. Architecture, design, and programming experience of web front-end, including web servers (e.g., Apache) and UI / UX development using frameworks and/or native mode.
3. Extensive design and programming experience of back-end, API, and middleware systems. Hands-on experience in designing with best practices.
4. Design and programming experience of Data systems (RDBMS-SQL, No SQL, Objects and files), Data access layer and databases (e.g., MySQL, SQL server, MongoDB).
5. Good working knowledge of Cloud (Azure, AWS) and ability to program and deploy applications to multi-ecosystem (i.e., on-premises, Azure, AWS), incorporating the concept of write-once and deploy anywhere.
6. Working experience in various application architecture constructs (pipeline, distributed, client-server, micro-services, cloud computing, hybrid cloud, web app, data access layer, event-driven, FaaS, and API-based)
7. Hands-on coding experience
8. AI and Machine Learning (Deep Learning, Convolutional Neural Network, Deep Variant, Generative AI, LLM) knowledge and programming experience (i.e., TensorFlow) for training and inference would be a definite plus.

POINT OF CONTACT: Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, and unofficial transcripts by June 30, 2026.  Include “Software Architect/Computer Engineer” in the e-mail subject line to Purushotham.Karnam@va.gov.

Please confirm US citizenship in your cover letter.

EEO/Equal Opportunity Employer