Lead Solutions Architect

Role Overview

Join our OnVUE team as a Lead Solutions Architect, a senior technical leader responsible for guiding and governing the architecture of our innovative remote proctoring platform. In this critical role at Pearson VUE, you will provide hands-on architectural direction, ensuring our solutions are scalable, secure, and maintainable while aligning with broader platform and enterprise standards.

As a key contributor to a major core offering, you will collaborate closely with platform architects, product management, and engineering leads to translate product requirements into robust technical designs that support successful implementation throughout the software development lifecycle.

The Product:

Our OnVUE remote proctoring system allows individuals to take exams anywhere in the world, providing secure and interactive streaming video of the exam taker to supervising proctors. OnVUE has rapidly evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic and is integral to Pearson VUE's testing strategy. Significant investment is planned for the technology behind OnVUE, and your expertise will be vital in shaping its future.

Technologically, OnVUE primarily utilizes Java (currently version 25) and Angular (currently version 19), and runs on Microsoft Azure in Kubernetes, emphasizing the use of modern versions.

Key Responsibilities: Architecture & Design

• Take ownership of the end-to-end architecture for specific products or product domains.
• Design solution architecture that balances functional and non-functional requirements with delivery constraints.
• Define and document architectural patterns, including microservices, APIs, data flows, integration approaches, and deployment models.
• Ensure solutions align with cloud-native design principles, focusing on resiliency, scalability, and maintainability.
• Translate business demands and technical constraints into actionable design insights for engineering teams.
• Review and approve significant design and implementation decisions made by the team.
• Identify and resolve day-to-day architectural challenges to maintain system integrity and performance.
• Ensure adherence to enterprise architecture standards while accommodating specific product needs.

Key Responsibilities: Implementation & Delivery

• Provide architectural guidance throughout development, testing, and deployment phases.
• Collaborate intensely with engineers to ensure correct and practical implementation of designs.
• Conduct design and code evaluations, focusing on quality, scalability, security, and performance.
• Identify technical risks early and work with the team to define effective mitigation strategies.
• Ensure all solutions meet security, privacy, availability, and compliance specifications.
• Support incremental modernization and refactoring of existing systems toward the target-state architecture.
• Balance architectural principles with project velocity, making informed trade-offs when necessary.

Key Responsibilities: Collaboration & Technical Leadership

• Serve as the primary architectural point of contact for the product team.
• Collaborate with platform architects for alignment on shared services and standards.
• Work with product managers to shape technically feasible roadmaps.
• Partner with tech leads and developers to sync on implementation strategies.
• Mentor engineers by enhancing their design and engineering capabilities.
• Facilitate architectural discussions and decision-making among the team.
• Communicate architectural intent and rationale to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Promote best practices in engineering and architecture within the team.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• Strong experience in designing and implementing software systems in both enterprise and product-focused environments.
• Experience in designing APIs, service integrations, and distributed systems.
• Proven ability to guide teams through complex technical challenges.
• Excellent documentation and communication skills.

Preferred

• Experience with cloud-native architectures, including microservices, containers, and event-driven systems.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, and automated testing.
• Experience with high-availability and customer-facing platforms.
• Knowledge of security best practices, authentication/authorization, and data protection.

Skills & Competencies

• Product-Focused Architecture: Design solutions addressing immediate product needs while facilitating long-term growth.
• Technical Leadership: Lead through influence and expertise rather than authority.
• Cloud Architecture: Effectively apply Azure services to develop scalable and resilient systems.
• System Design: Decompose complex challenges into clear, actionable designs.
• Problem Solving: Identify architectural issues and propose practical solutions.
• Collaboration: Successfully work within a team and align with broader architectural goals.
• Adaptability: Respond constructively to changing requirements and priorities.
• Continuous Learning: Keep up to date with evolving technologies, frameworks, and architectural trends.

Compensation

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by various factors including skill set, experience level, and location. According to laws in multiple states, the pay range for this position is between $150,000 - $165,000.

This position is eligible for an annual incentive program, and further information about benefits offered is available here.

Who we are:

At Pearson, our mission is to help individuals realize their fullest potential through learning. We believe that each learning opportunity is a chance for personal breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. To learn more about us, please visit our website.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

If you need assistance in accessing our career site due to a disability, please request reasonable accommodations by reaching out to our Human Resources team.