Senior Distributed Systems Architect

Highly Complex Distributed Systems ArchitectWe are seeking an exceptional Senior Engineer who can design, build, and deliver end-to-end distributed systems operating at extreme scale, high performance, and high reliability.This role requires:Expert-level system design capabilityAbility to handle complex business and technical requirementsHands-on engineering expertiseDeep understanding of distributed systemsStrong clarity in architecture and communicationLeadership in influencing technical directionThe candidate must be capable of turning any system requirement—large, complex, ambiguous—into a fully engineered architecture and implementation plan, covering components, communication patterns, data flows, infrastructure, observability, and operational readiness.Key ResponsibilitiesA. End-to-End System ArchitectureArchitect complete systems from initial concept to production rollout.Identify and define system boundaries, components, and service responsibilities.Produce both high-level and low-level design artifacts (HLD, LLD).Ensure architectures meet scaling, reliability, security, and performance goals.Establish clear trade-offs for design decisions backed by solid engineering reasoning.B. Component-Level DesignBreak complex systems into independently deployable components.Define APIs, communication contracts, schemas, and data models.Apply modern architecture patterns (DDD, microservices, event-driven, CQRS, hexagonal).Ensure clarity around responsibilities, dependencies, and interaction patterns.Validate component-level design for maintainability and extensibility.C. Communication Layers & Protocol ArchitectureDesign synchronous and asynchronous communication pathways:REST, RPC, GraphQL, gRPCMessage queues (SQS, Pub/Sub)Streaming systems (Kafka, Pulsar, Kinesis)Establish:Retry, timeout, and fallback strategiesCircuit breakers and rate limitingMessage ordering, partitioning, checkpointingDelivery semantics (at-least-once, exactly-once, at-most-once)Backpressure handling mechanismsImplement contract versioning and evolution.D. Data Architecture & Storage StrategyDesign data models, storage systems, and access patterns for:SQL databasesNoSQL stores (document, key-value, columnar, graph)Distributed cachesBlob/object storesSearch indexesDefine:Sharding, partitioning, replication modelsConsistency and durability requirementsIndexing, query optimization, storage lifecycleBackup/restore, schema evolution strategiesArchitect real-time and batch data flows for large-scale processing.E. Scalability, Performance & ReliabilityBuild systems supporting:High throughputLow latencyHorizontal scalingPeak load handlingImplement:Caching strategiesLoad balancing approachesHigh availability (HA) patternsAuto-scaling policiesMulti-region failover and disaster recoveryUse resiliency techniques:BulkheadsFallback mechanismsGraceful degradationChaos engineeringLeadership & Technical InfluenceDrive architectural vision across engineering teams.Align architecture with long-term technical strategy.Mentor engineers, guide design discussions, review implementations.Present architectural decisions in a clear, structured manner.Establish reusable internal frameworks and best practices.Lead issue resolution during critical production events.Required Skills & ExpertiseTechnical ExpertiseExtensive knowledge of distributed systems fundamentals:CAP theoremConsistency modelsEventual consistency and replicationLeader election & consensus protocolsStrong capabilities in:Backend languages (Java, Go, Python, Rust, Node.js, etc.)Distributed messaging and streamingAPI design and microservice patternsCI/CD, Kubernetes, containersCloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure)Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation)Observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Jaeger, ELK, OpenTelemetry)Architectural SkillsAbility to design systems handling:Millions of daily active usersMillions of requests per secondGlobal multi-region trafficSub-200ms latency requirementsExperience with:Event-driven architecturesData-intensive platformsReal-time processing systemsDistributed caches and storage layersBehavioural SkillsDeep analytical reasoning and systems thinking.Ability to simplify complexity without compromising design integrity.High accountability and ownership.Strong communication and documentation skills.Leadership in high-pressure, fast-moving environments.The candidate must be able to clearly demonstrate the capability to:Architect complex systems end-to-end, including:Functional & non-functional decompositionComponent architectureCommunication & interaction flowsDeployment and runtime architectureProduce comprehensive, high-quality technical artifacts:System context diagramsComponent diagramsSequence diagramsData flow diagramsAPI contractsEvent schemasER modelsDeployment topology (multi-AZ, multi-region)Evaluate and decide on technologies, based on:Throughput / latencyConsistency guaranteesComplexityCost modelsOperational liftFault toleranceSolve systemic architectural challenges such as:Hot partition avoidanceTraffic spikes and overloadDistributed coordinationEvent ordering and replayCache invalidationDeadlocks / race conditionsConsistent hashing and routingMulti-region consistencyLead design and recovery in critical scenarios:Major outagesProduction failuresPerformance bottlenecksCross-service failuresRelease rollback/mitigation5. Minimum Qualifications10+ years in backend engineering, distributed systems, or architecture.Proven track record of designing complex, large-scale systems.Strong coding ability in at least one major backend language.Experience with large distributed data and messaging systems.Experience owning systems end-to-end in production.6. Preferred QualificationsExperience with massive-scale systems (millions→billions of events daily).Expertise in real-time / streaming / low-latency architectures.Experience leading engineering teams architecturally.Exposure to multi-tenant environments.Advanced understanding of reliability engineering.7. Overall Summary for Job BoardsSeeking a Senior Systems Architect / Principal Engineer to design and deliver highly complex, scalable, secure, fault-tolerant distributed systems end-to-end — with deep ownership of components, communication flows, data architectures, reliability engineering, and operational readiness.