Principal Architect Location: Cape Town, South Africa Contract: Permanent, Full‑Time (Hybrid) Leadership opportunity for a seasoned Principal Architect to join a globally recognized design and technology firm as they expand their footprint into Cape Town. The client is seeking a product‑mindful technologist to drive architectural outcomes across eCommerce, manufacturing, and data platforms. You will be the strategic lead for large‑scale platform migrations and consolidations, balancing technical pragmatism with long‑term clarity. This role is about high‑level influence – mentoring staff engineers and setting the architectural guardrails that enable engineering teams to ship safely at pace. Key Responsibilities Architecture & Governance : Define target architectures, standards, and patterns while ensuring security, privacy, and compliance guardrails are upheld. Delivery Enablement : Design robust interfaces and migration patterns that unblock teams and facilitate parallel delivery across the organization. Developer Experience (DX) & Reliability : Partner with Platform teams to uplift CI/CD, observability, and SLOs, advocating for "paved roads" that improve flow and stability metrics. Technical Leadership : Mentor senior and staff engineers, run architectural forums, and translate complex technical decisions into business impact for executive stakeholders. What We Are Looking For Migration Expertise : Proven experience leading multi‑quarter, large‑scale platform or product migrations across multiple teams. eCommerce Knowledge : Deep experience with high‑volume transactional systems, including payments, checkouts, and order management. Technical Mastery : Expert knowledge of Domain‑Driven Design (DDD), microservices, and event‑driven architecture. Cloud & Full‑Stack Breadth : Proficiency in AWS cloud‑native environments, frontend architecture (Next.js, SSR, CDN/Edge), and backend services (Node/Java). Communication : A seasoned communicator who can turn ambiguity into clear direction and influence without formal authority. #J-18808-Ljbffr