Lead Application Architect
Function
Our client is looking for a technically strong leader who can guide two closely connected initiatives and play a key role in shaping an AI-enabled software development approach. This opportunity combines architecture ownership, hands-on technical direction, and team leadership within an Agile environment where quality, delivery speed, and collaboration are central.
Responsibilities
You will take ownership of the technical direction of the team and help ensure the solutions are delivered efficiently and to a high standard. The role brings together architecture, delivery, and people leadership.
- Define and safeguard the technical architecture and design guidelines within the team.
- Develop complex technical solutions and support their implementation.
- Align with broader architecture stakeholders to ensure consistency with enterprise architecture principles.
- Monitor adherence to technical standards and reference architectures.
- Ensure solid technical documentation and support release processes.
- Take end responsibility for team delivery quality and speed.
- Contribute actively to achieving sprint goals and resolving technical blockers.
- Promote shared ownership and a strong team mindset.
- Lead, coach, and evaluate software developers, supporting their technical growth.
- Support recruitment and onboarding of new team members.
- Work closely with the Scrum Master on team performance and with the Product Owner on technical feasibility and priorities.
- Support sprint planning, refinement, and retrospectives while keeping technical quality in focus.
Technical Skills
The ideal profile combines broad technical expertise with practical experience in modern software delivery environments.
- .NET Core / .NET 6 / .NET 8 and C#
- API design and integrations, including REST and SOAP
- Microservices and service-oriented architecture
- Design patterns and software engineering best practices
- OpenAPI / Swagger
- Git and GitHub, including practical experience with GitHub AI tools
- CI/CD tooling such as TeamCity, Octopus Deploy, and Azure DevOps
- Build and deployment pipelines
- Cloud platforms, preferably Azure
- Cloud migrations and modern application architectures
- Secure coding principles
- Testing, quality assurance, logging, monitoring, and observability
Profile
We are seeking a senior professional who can combine technical depth with a coachable and decisive leadership style. You should feel comfortable guiding both architecture decisions and day-to-day delivery.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Decisive technical leadership and clear ownership
- Result-oriented mindset with a focus on delivery
- Coaching and connecting leadership style
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
- Team-oriented, collaborative, and supportive approach
- Proven experience as a designer and in leading all technical aspects of projects
- Proven experience in development projects
- Ability to define and safeguard application architecture and design guidelines within an Agile team
- Experience creating technical designs and coaching technical designers
- Ability to code, test, and debug efficiently
- Experience introducing and guiding Agile ways of working in development projects
Must have
- At least 5 years of experience in technical design and leading technical aspects of projects
- At least 8 years of experience in the relevant programming language or comparable environments
- At least 8 years of experience in development projects
- At least 5 years of experience defining and guarding application architecture and design guidelines within an Agile team
- At least 3 years of experience with API design and integration patterns
- At least 3 years of experience with quality principles such as testing, code quality, and secure coding
- At least 3 years of experience with CI/CD processes and tooling
- At least 3 years of experience with logging, monitoring, and observability
- At least 3 years of experience with modern application architectures such as microservices or service-oriented architecture
- At least 3 years of experience with release management and deployment processes
- Fluent Dutch at CEFR level C2
Nice to have
- GitHub Certified: Agentic AI Developer or an equivalent certification
Practical Information
This is a long-term consulting opportunity. The work is closely linked to two interconnected initiatives and includes a pilot in which an AI-driven software development lifecycle will be designed, implemented, and evaluated.
- Language requirements: fluent Dutch at CEFR level C2
- Additional language requirement: fluent English