Hiring .NET Lead Architect in Louisville

Photon Inc. is a global enterprise software solutions provider that builds scalable, high-performance digital products for Fortune 500 clients across healthcare, logistics, and financial services, with a major delivery hub in Louisville driving cloud-native transformation projects for regional and national clients. We are currently seeking an experienced .NET Lead Architect to own end-to-end technical design and delivery of Azure-based enterprise API platforms for our Louisville-based client portfolio, reporting directly to the regional delivery lead and collaborating with cross-functional teams of 8-12 developers, QA engineers, and DevOps specialists.

In this role, you will be responsible for leading the full lifecycle design, development, and deployment of Azure-hosted .NET 5+ Web API solutions, ensuring all systems meet 99.95% uptime SLA requirements and support 10,000+ concurrent requests per second for client-facing applications. You will architect and configure Azure API Management (APIM) gateways, including rate limiting policies, authentication/authorization workflows, and API versioning strategies to reduce client integration time by 30% compared to legacy systems. You will oversee the development of unit test suites using xUnit, achieving a minimum 85% code coverage for all new feature releases and reducing post-deployment defect rates by 25% quarter over quarter.

You will also manage Azure DevOps pipelines for CI/CD, implementing automated build, test, and deployment workflows that cut release cycle time from 2 weeks to 3 business days for all project teams. Additional responsibilities include designing and optimizing Azure SQL database schemas and Azure Blob Storage architectures for client solutions, reducing data retrieval latency by 40% for high-volume transactional workloads, and implementing Azure Event Hub and Azure Service Bus Topics messaging patterns to enable real-time data processing for logistics and healthcare client use cases, supporting throughput of 1 million+ events per hour with no data loss.

As the lead technical resource for your project teams, you will mentor a team of 6 mid-level and junior .NET developers, conducting weekly code reviews, technical training sessions, and career development planning to improve team retention by 20% annually. You will also collaborate with client stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical specifications, leading biweekly sprint reviews and technical demo sessions to ensure alignment with client deliverables and reduce scope creep by 15%.

Our Louisville office operates as a hybrid agile hub with flexible core hours (9am-3pm ET) to support work-life balance, with regular team offsites, technical lunch and learns, and access to paid certifications for cloud and .NET technologies. We prioritize a collaborative, low-bureaucracy environment where technical leads have direct input on tooling, architecture decisions, and client engagement strategies, with no mandatory overtime outside of scheduled client go-live windows that are compensated at 1.5x hourly rate.

Required qualifications for this role include 8+ years of professional experience in .NET software development, with at least 3 years of experience leading technical teams or architecting enterprise-scale solutions. You must have deep expertise in .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5+ Web API development, with proven experience building and deploying solutions on Microsoft Azure. Hands-on experience configuring Azure APIM, Azure DevOps (Boards, CI/CD pipelines), Azure SQL, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Event Hub, and Azure Service Bus Topics is required, as is strong proficiency writing unit tests with xUnit and implementing test-driven development (TDD) practices. Excellent communication skills are required to lead client discussions, present technical solutions to non-technical stakeholders, and mentor junior team members. Preferred qualifications include experience with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), familiarity with healthcare or logistics industry compliance requirements (HIPAA, GDPR), and existing Microsoft Azure certifications (e.g., Azure Developer Associate, Azure Solutions Architect Expert).

You will work with a modern tech stack including .NET 5+/6+, Azure App Service, Azure API Management, Azure DevOps, Azure SQL Database, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Event Hub, xUnit, and Git for version control, with access to enterprise-grade development tools and cloud subscriptions for testing and proof-of-concept work.

We offer a competitive base salary ranging from $145,000 to $175,000 annually, depending on experience, plus a 15% annual performance bonus tied to project delivery metrics and client satisfaction scores. Our full benefits package includes 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents, 401(k) with 6% employer match, 20 days of paid time off plus 10 paid company holidays, and $3,000 annual professional development stipend for conferences, certifications, or training. We also offer relocation assistance of up to $10,000 for qualified candidates moving to the Louisville area.

As a lead architect, you will have a clear path to senior architect, solution architect, and delivery leadership roles within 18-24 months, with access to exclusive leadership training programs, mentorship from senior company executives, and opportunities to lead cross-regional client projects for our national client base. We prioritize internal promotions, with 70% of our senior leadership roles filled by internal candidates in the last 3 years.

The hiring process for this role consists of 4 clear steps: 1. Initial 30-minute phone screen with our Louisville recruiting lead to discuss your experience and role expectations. 2. 90-minute technical interview with our senior solutions architect team, including a 45-minute hands-on coding exercise focused on Azure API design and .NET Core implementation. 3. 60-minute behavioral interview with the regional delivery lead and a client services manager to assess team leadership and client communication skills. 4. Final offer discussion within 3 business days of completing all interviews. We aim to extend offers to qualified candidates within 10 business days of application submission. To apply, please send your resume and a brief summary of your most relevant Azure/.NET architecture project to [email protected] with the subject line ".NET Lead Architect - Louisville Application - [Your Full Name]". We will respond to all applications within 2 business days.