Program System Architect

Remote (in DC/Baltimore area) | occasional onsite meetings in Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC area

Eligible for Public Trust

Responsibilities

The Program System Architect is accountable for program-level architecture strategy, governance, and technical direction across the full lifecycle of the program(s) platform. The role focuses on alignment, future-state planning, and technical oversight.

The Program System Architect serves as the senior technical leader for existing and future programs, and is responsible for overseeing the overall technical vision, modernization roadmap, and enterprise architecture strategy. This position provides architectural governance and strategic technical oversight across applications, integration, cloud, data, and security domains to ensure programs remain aligned with CMS objectives, AWS modernization direction, and federal compliance requirements.
This role is intentionally scoped as a program-level architecture and governance function. It works alongside existing system and technical leaders including subcontractor technical leads, by setting technical direction, reviewing major architectural decisions, and ensuring integrated alignment across functional teams.

• Establish and maintain program-wide technical vision, architecture, and modernization roadmaps
• Provide architectural governance across prime and subcontractor teams to ensure consistency with approved standards, technical principles, and CMS expectations.
• Review major technical designs, platform decisions, integration approaches, and modernization initiatives for alignment to enterprise architecture objectives.
• Research new tools for modernization and cost optimization
• Serve as the senior technical point of coordination with CMS leadership, CMS technical teams, OIT, cloud stakeholders, and other program partners.
• Lead or support development of architecture artifacts, technical assessments, white papers, decision documents, and recommendations for CMS review.
• Guide long-range cloud and modernization strategy in AWS, including modularity, resiliency, scalability, automation, observability, and DevSecOps-aligned delivery practices.
• Support the evaluation of business Change Requests and propose new system Change Requests. Support release planning, and technical risk management by identifying system-wide impacts, dependencies, and future-state considerations.
• Promote technical alignment across program technical stakeholders.
• Ensure architecture direction supports CMS lifecycle expectations, security requirements, and applicable FISMA/NIST compliance obligations.
• Contribute to continuous improvement, transition planning, and technical knowledge transfer by maintaining clear architecture guidance and current documentation.

Requirements

• 12 or more years of experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or senior technical leadership for large, complex IT programs.
• Demonstrated experience defining technical strategy and governing architecture across multi-vendor teams and mission-critical systems.
• Strong knowledge of AWS-based architecture, cloud modernization, integration patterns, and DevSecOps practices.
• Experience supporting federal health, CMS, or similarly regulated government environments with formal architecture, change, and compliance processes.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to all levels of the organization on architecture decisions, risks, and recommendations.
• Strong experience in eliciting and understanding customer problems and driving solutions.
• Demonstrated experience working with ambiguous requirements.

Preferred Requirements

• Prior experience supporting CMS, Medicare, healthcare interoperability, or related federal health platforms.
• Prior experience supporting various CMS centers such as CPI, CMMI, CCSQ, and OIT.
• Familiarity with FHIR, health information exchange patterns, and modern API gateway alternatives.
• Relevant certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect or similar enterprise architecture credentials.

Education/Certification Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline.

Clearance Requirements

• Applicants selected will be subject to a security investigation and may need to meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information; a Public Trust clearance is required.