Platform Architect, Personalized Indexing Technology

Responsibilities

• Architecture & Technical Leadership
• Lead the definition and evolution of application and platform architecture aligned with VPI business strategy, product roadmaps, and Vanguard technology standards.
• Drive key architectural decisions for cloud‑native systems, balancing scalability, resiliency, security, and cost.
• Develop and review architecture and design documentation for new capabilities and platform enhancements.
• Partner closely with product owners, engineering teams, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions meet functional and non‑functional requirements.
• Hands‑On Engineering & Delivery
• Act as a hands‑on individual contributor, designing and building solutions across the VPI platform.
• Develop cloud‑native services on AWS, including microservices, APIs, and supporting infrastructure.
• Write production‑quality code primarily in Java and Python, with a strong focus on maintainability and performance.
• Contribute to data engineering and platform integration efforts supporting investment workflows, analytics, and operational processes.
• Help modernize and evolve existing systems while maintaining stability of critical production workloads.
• Cloud & Platform Engineering
• Design and implement scalable infrastructure using AWS, including containerized workloads and Kubernetes.
• Build and operate microservices architectures leveraging messaging, caching, and asynchronous processing patterns.
• Partner with teams on infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and operational excellence.
• Identify and resolve moderately complex production and platform issues, assessing risks and driving pragmatic solutions.
• Collaboration & Vendor Evaluation
• Consult with other technology and product teams across Vanguard to ensure alignment and reuse where appropriate.
• Lead and participate in build vs. buy evaluations, including assessment of vendors, tools, and platforms.
• Provide technical guidance during vendor onboarding, integrations, and proof‑of‑concept efforts.
• Additional Responsibilities
• Participate in special initiatives supporting the growth and scalability of the VPI business.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of engineering practices, standards, and platform reliability.
• Required Qualifications
• Strong engineering background with experience building investment platforms, financial systems, or large‑scale distributed systems. 8 years experience with Computer science or related degree.
• Demonstrated experience as a hands‑on architect or senior engineer delivering production systems.
• Proficiency in Java and Python.
• Experience designing and building cloud‑native architectures on AWS.
• Solid understanding of microservices architectures, including messaging, caching, and asynchronous processing.
• Experience with Kubernetes and container‑based platforms.
• Working knowledge of data engineering concepts and data‑intensive systems.
• Ability to operate effectively as an independent contributor while collaborating across teams.

Requirements

• Experience with direct indexing, portfolio management, tax‑loss harvesting, or investment operations platforms.
• Familiarity with high‑volume, high‑availability financial systems.
• Experience modernizing legacy platforms into cloud‑native architectures.
• Strong understanding of operational concerns such as resiliency, monitoring, security, and cost optimization.
• What Success Looks Like
• You are deeply engaged in building and evolving the VPI platform, not just advising.
• You help shape architectural direction while still contributing code.
• You move fluidly between infrastructure, application development, and business‑driven priorities.
• You enable VPI to scale safely and efficiently as the business continues to grow.
• Special Factors
• Sponsorship
• Vanguard is offering visa sponsorship for this position.
• About Vanguard
• At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission-we're on a mission.
• To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.
• How We Work

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