Staff Architect

Is it surprising to hear that a financial institution of 1.5 million members and over $30 billion in managed assets say that success comes from focusing on people, not profits?
Our “people helping people” philosophy has guided us since 1935, driving our deep commitment to serving our members, communities, and each other. When you join our team, you become part of a purpose-driven organization where your work makes a real difference.
While we’re proud of our history, we’re even more excited about our future. With business and technology transformation on the horizon, there’s never been a better time to be part of BECU.

You bring more than your expertise to your role, and that matters here. Your story, perspectives, and lived experiences help shape belonging at BECU and deepen how we connect with and support our employees, our members, and our communities.

PAY RANGE

The Target Pay Range for this position is $171,700.00-$209,800.00 annually. The full Pay Range is $133,100.00 - $248,300.00 annually. At BECU, compensation decisions are determined using factors such as relevant job-related skills, experience, and education or training. Should an offer for employment be made, we will consider individual qualifications. In addition to your salary, compensation incentives are available for the hired applicant. Incentives are performance based and targets vary by role.

BENEFITS – because people helping people starts with supporting you

• 401(k) Company Match (up to 3%)

• 4% annual contribution to your 401(k) by BECU

• Medical, Dental and Vision (family contributions as well)

• PTO Program + Exchange Program

• Tuition Reimbursement Program

• BECU Cares volunteer time off + donation match

IMPACT YOU’LL MAKE:

As a Staff Architect, you’ll shape scalable, secure, and compliant technology solutions that support BECU’s strategic direction and evolving technology environment. You’ll bring hands-on architectural expertise across cloud, infrastructure, applications, and enterprise governance while helping teams navigate complex design decisions. Your work will strengthen Application Portfolio Management, establish effective architecture standards, and ensure solutions align with security, risk, and regulatory expectations. You’ll also have opportunities to apply modern tools such as GitHub Copilot to make architecture work more efficient and effective. Through collaboration, technical leadership, and mentorship, you’ll help BECU build technology that can deliver lasting value for our members.

To join our dynamic team, we require candidates to be residents of WA, OR, ID, AZ, TX, GA, SC, NC, CA or VA. If you’re located in Washington state and within a reasonable driving distance from Tukwila, we are requesting that you come into our HQ on Tuesdays & Wednesdays.  For those candidates that live outside the commute distance of TFC and in any of our approved remote work locations, this role will be remote. Remote or onsite, we are committed to ensuring you are fully engaged and included in our collaborative environment.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Shape Enterprise Solutions:  You’ll lead the development of comprehensive solution architectures aligned with BECU’s strategic objectives, technical blueprints, and compliance standards, helping ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and reliable.
• Strengthen Application Portfolio Management:  You’ll support the governance and evolution of BECU’s application portfolio, helping teams evaluate applications, platforms, architectural alignment, and technology decisions.
• Lead Architecture Governance:  You’ll actively participate in architecture governance, design reviews, and design gates, including Architecture Review Board and Change Advisory Board activities, while helping establish and maintain architecture standards, processes, and constraints.
• Drive Cloud & Infrastructure Architecture:  You’ll provide architectural expertise across cloud, infrastructure, networking, software, and related technology initiatives, with a strong focus on Microsoft Azure and modern hosting environments.
• Own Complex Architecture Work:  You’ll manage multiple simultaneous solution efforts and personally develop, review, document, and challenge architecture designs while guiding teams through complex technical decisions.
• Embed Security & Compliance:  You’ll evaluate architecture decisions through security, risk, design, and regulatory lenses and help ensure solutions meet BECU’s technology and compliance expectations.
• Apply Modern AI Tools:  You’ll use tools such as GitHub Copilot to enhance productivity in your architecture work, applying sound judgment to validate outputs and use emerging capabilities responsibly and effectively.
• Identify Long-Term Business Value:  You’ll drive discussions about the business capability landscape and evaluate industry trends and emerging technologies to identify innovations that can deliver lasting value.
• Evaluate Technology Partners:  You’ll review and recommend third-party software platforms and help effectively integrate supplier technologies into BECU’s enterprise environment.
• Partner Across BECU:  You’ll collaborate with architects, Technology leaders, business partners, and production support teams to resolve architectural challenges, reduce design debt, and advance strategic initiatives.
• Develop Architecture Talent:  You’ll mentor junior Architects and other technology peers, sharing solutions architecture practices and helping strengthen architectural capabilities across teams.

This isn’t just about ticking off tasks on a list. It's about making a significant, positive change in BECU’s journey, where your contributions are valued, and your growth is continually fostered.

WHAT YOU’LL GAIN:

• Broad Enterprise Impact: Work across cloud, infrastructure, applications, governance, security, and technology strategy rather than being confined to a single technical domain.
• Meaningful Architecture Ownership: Stay close to the work by personally designing, reviewing, documenting, and influencing complex architectures while operating at Staff level.
• Modern Technology Exposure: Deepen your experience with Microsoft Azure, modern cloud architecture, Application Portfolio Management, and AI-enabled tools such as GitHub Copilot.
• Strategic Influence: Help shape architecture standards, portfolio governance, design decisions, and technology choices with long-term organizational impact.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with architects, directors, technology leaders, and stakeholders across a wide range of technology disciplines.
• Purpose-Driven Work: Apply your technical expertise within BECU’s “people helping people” credit union philosophy, supporting technology that ultimately serves our members.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Typically requires a Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information security, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Typically requires 7 years of experience designing and implementing technology architectures, including experience managing delivery of multiple simultaneous complex technology solutions.

Desired Qualifications:

• Certification in LEAN, Agile/Scrum, or ITIL, with demonstrated implementation success preferred.
• Advanced knowledge of cloud-native technologies (e.g. microservices, RESTful APIs, scalable designs, digital platforms) and modern hosting environments (on-premise, cloud, hybrid) required.
• Advanced knowledge of architectural hosting, security, and risk management (IAM, access control, monitoring, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS, containers) required.
• Familiarity with Microsoft infrastructure and solution stacks, and experience integrating supplier technologies into enterprise systems required.
• Deep understanding and hands-on experience with Lean/Agile/Scrum methodologies; scaled agile frameworks (e.g., SAFe) preferred.
• Knowledge of industry trends, best practices, and architectural frameworks (e.g., The Open Group, NIST, ISO 19xxx, BizBok, Gartner) preferred.
• Strong relationship-building skills across organizational levels, with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences required.
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving, negotiation, and customer service skills required.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication, facilitation, and presentation abilities required.

JOIN THE JOURNEY

Ready to make an indelible impact? Eager to be a part of a collaborative and innovative team where your ideas and contributions don’t just fill a role, but fuel the growth and success of BECU?

EEO Statement:

BECU is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected status.