Type: 6-month contract (possible extensions)
Work model: Hybrid
Location requirement: Local to Roseland, NJ only We are hiring an experienced Software Architect who can both design systems and write production code. This is not a pure whiteboard role. About half of the work is hands-on development, with Test-Driven Development as a core expectation.The roleYou will own architecture for backend and API-heavy systems while remaining close to the codebase. You will help shape microservices and distributed design, define integration patterns, and put quality gates into the delivery pipeline. You will also model designs clearly so engineering, product, and stakeholders can align.What you will do
- Design and evolve microservices and distributed architectures
- Build and review REST APIs and system integrations
- Spend ~50% of time writing code in Node.js and/or Java
- Apply TDD as a default practice, not an afterthought
- Use Domain-Driven Design to keep bounded contexts and domain models clean
- Support CI/CD with Jenkins, Docker, and automated quality gates
- Document and communicate architecture with UML / modeling tools (Enterprise Architect, Mural, or similar)
- Participate across the architecture/delivery lifecycle (ADLC)
- Collaborate with engineering teams on React/MERN, GraphQL, SQL/NoSQL, and related stack choices
- Help raise engineering standards around testing, observability, and maintainable design
Must-have requirements
- 10+ years of software architecture experience
- Strong, proven TDD experience (mandatory)
- Comfortable being ~50% hands-on
- Strong API and backend development background
- Hands-on Node.js and/or Java
- Jenkins and Docker
- Microservices and distributed systems
- Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
- REST APIs and integrations
- CI/CD and automated quality gates
- ADLC experience
- Architecture modeling with Enterprise Architect, Mural, or similar
- Must be local to the Roseland, NJ area
Nice to have
- React / MERN
- GraphQL
- DSQL, SQL, and NoSQL
- SOX, e-commerce, or cybersecurity experience
Tech stackNode.js, Java, React, MERN, GraphQL, DSQL, SQL/NoSQL, Docker, Jenkins, REST APIs, CI/CD, TDD, DDD, microservices