Senior Level Staff Architect Jobs
Senior level staff architect jobs place experienced professionals in charge of technical direction, end-to-end project ownership, and the teams or workstreams that deliver complex solutions. Openings concentrate across Technology & Software, Electronics & Hardware, and Automotive, with a mix of on-site, remote, and hybrid settings, and employers like Dell Technologies, General Motors, and UKG hiring at this level now.
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Job Description
Zendesk is seeking an experienced Integration Architect or experienced engineer (Senior Staff Engineer) to lead the architecture and delivery of enterprise integration solutions across our internal services, enterprise applications and third-party SaaS environments. The ideal candidate will have a broad set of engineering skills across cloud infrastructure and application development; with deep expertise using AWS-native services including AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, API Gateway, EventBridge, SQS, SNS, S3, DynamoDB, CloudWatch and back-end programming languages such as Java, Python, and NodeJS to build secure, scalable, and highly reliable integration services.
The ideal candidate will also possess hands-on expertise constructing, real-time data streaming architectures and leveraging modern integration paradigms such as MCP and agent-to-agent frameworks. You will design and deploy end-to-end integration patterns that securely bridge corporate data assets and event streams with advanced AI systems to power scalable, intelligent enterprise applications.
The ability to learn, analyse, design and build integrations between internal systems, third-party SaaS environments and other suppliers is critical to this role. Prior experience designing integrations between CRM, Billing, Ordering, Entitlement, Usage and Financial systems is an added advantage.
This role will drive integration strategy, modernization initiatives, and cloud transformation programs and will bring strong software engineering fundamentals, experience solving complex integration challenges, and the ability to work collaboratively with architects, developers, business analysts, and application teams.
What You’ll Do
Solution Design & Delivery
- Conceptual to Enterprise Architecture: Design future visions for the expansion of integration architecture at Zendesk and be able to articulate both verbally and through documentation across a broad cross-section of stakeholders within the organization.
- Guide Delivery: Provide oversight, guidance and ensure implementation is aligned to the architecture and solution decisions that build towards the future vision. This is executed through the review and approval of system designs and PR reviews for code quality and extensible system level designs.
- Development: Build, test and deploy solutions for critical or high risk work as required.
- Manage Enterprise Risk: Identify potential change risks across integrations and systems and provide visibility and mitigation options for delivery.
Enterprise Integration & AI Connectivity Strategy
- Integration & Enterprise Action Layer: Formulate and execute the architecture strategy for the integration framework layer, enabling governed access to key business capabilities through APIs, events and agent protocols such as MCP and A2A.
- Platform Standards & Automation: Establish reusable components, API contracts, error-handling patterns, runtime standards, and AWS-based CI/CD automation pipelines.
- Governance & Controls: Define, publish, and execute governance standards and controls for integrations, establishing Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), API/MCP/Event design reviews, and security frameworks tailored for AI interactions.
Next-Gen AI Protocols & Innovation
- Drive AI & Integration Innovations: Combine deep integration domain skills with emerging AI capabilities to evaluate, pilot, and drive adoption of novel protocols (MCP, A2A), agentic workflows, observability and error handling, and AI ecosystem standards.
- Hands-On Prototyping & PoCs: Build high-impact Proofs of Concept (PoCs) validating agentic integration patterns, context graph, and AI skills, directly accelerating implementation and removing technical debt.
Strategic Collaboration & Technical Leadership
- Internal Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Collaborate internally across Application teams, Data & AI streams, partnering with product owners, data engineers, enterprise architects, and business domain leads to align technical capabilities with business strategy.
- Adoption & Advocacy: Promote design-first and protocol-driven thinking, advocating for standardized Integration/AI tools and contextual integration across functional and product lines.
Key Responsibilities
- Architect end-to-end integration solutions across source, connectors, orchestration, transport, and target systems using domain-driven design and API-led approaches.
- Apply a multi-platform integration strategy (Workato, Fivetran ETL, streaming, AWS) to select the right solution based on business and technical needs.
- Create high-level and low-level technical designs leveraging AWS, Workato, FiveTran and related CRM and ERP technologies.
- Define and enforce non-functional requirements including scalability, resiliency, availability, and performance.
- Ensure solutions comply with IT governance frameworks (ITGC, SOX, HIPAA, DSCSA) and pass architecture review boards.
- Design event-driven, REST-based, and GraphQL-based integration architectures.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in integration architecture / engineering, integration solution development or enterprise integrations.
- 10+ years of hands-on engineering experience and leadership demonstrated across a broad set of cloud technologies and back-end programming languages.
- 5+ years building and handling data pipelines/ETL with Fivetran DBT or similar tools.
- Proven experience designing API-led and event-driven architectures.
- AWS Certifications for development and architecture.
- Hands-on expertise with at least one major integration platform (Workato, MuleSoft, Boomi, or equivalent).
Preferred Qualifications
- Workato platform experience building and maintaining recipes, connectors, error-monitoring systems, and AI Control plane (or comparable iPaaS platforms like Mulesoft or Boomi).
- Familiarity with AI-enabled integration or intelligent automation.
- Relevant certifications (Workato, Salesforce, Snowflake, architecture frameworks).
The US annualized base salary range for this position is $161,000.00-$241,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.
The intelligent heart of customer experience
Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.
Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.
As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.
Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.
Job Description
Zendesk is seeking an experienced Integration Architect or experienced engineer (Senior Staff Engineer) to lead the architecture and delivery of enterprise integration solutions across our internal services, enterprise applications and third-party SaaS environments. The ideal candidate will have a broad set of engineering skills across cloud infrastructure and application development; with deep expertise using AWS-native services including AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, API Gateway, EventBridge, SQS, SNS, S3, DynamoDB, CloudWatch and back-end programming languages such as Java, Python, and NodeJS to build secure, scalable, and highly reliable integration services.
The ideal candidate will also possess hands-on expertise constructing, real-time data streaming architectures and leveraging modern integration paradigms such as MCP and agent-to-agent frameworks. You will design and deploy end-to-end integration patterns that securely bridge corporate data assets and event streams with advanced AI systems to power scalable, intelligent enterprise applications.
The ability to learn, analyse, design and build integrations between internal systems, third-party SaaS environments and other suppliers is critical to this role. Prior experience designing integrations between CRM, Billing, Ordering, Entitlement, Usage and Financial systems is an added advantage.
This role will drive integration strategy, modernization initiatives, and cloud transformation programs and will bring strong software engineering fundamentals, experience solving complex integration challenges, and the ability to work collaboratively with architects, developers, business analysts, and application teams.
What You’ll Do
Solution Design & Delivery
- Conceptual to Enterprise Architecture: Design future visions for the expansion of integration architecture at Zendesk and be able to articulate both verbally and through documentation across a broad cross-section of stakeholders within the organization.
- Guide Delivery: Provide oversight, guidance and ensure implementation is aligned to the architecture and solution decisions that build towards the future vision. This is executed through the review and approval of system designs and PR reviews for code quality and extensible system level designs.
- Development: Build, test and deploy solutions for critical or high risk work as required.
- Manage Enterprise Risk: Identify potential change risks across integrations and systems and provide visibility and mitigation options for delivery.
Enterprise Integration & AI Connectivity Strategy
- Integration & Enterprise Action Layer: Formulate and execute the architecture strategy for the integration framework layer, enabling governed access to key business capabilities through APIs, events and agent protocols such as MCP and A2A.
- Platform Standards & Automation: Establish reusable components, API contracts, error-handling patterns, runtime standards, and AWS-based CI/CD automation pipelines.
- Governance & Controls: Define, publish, and execute governance standards and controls for integrations, establishing Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), API/MCP/Event design reviews, and security frameworks tailored for AI interactions.
Next-Gen AI Protocols & Innovation
- Drive AI & Integration Innovations: Combine deep integration domain skills with emerging AI capabilities to evaluate, pilot, and drive adoption of novel protocols (MCP, A2A), agentic workflows, observability and error handling, and AI ecosystem standards.
- Hands-On Prototyping & PoCs: Build high-impact Proofs of Concept (PoCs) validating agentic integration patterns, context graph, and AI skills, directly accelerating implementation and removing technical debt.
Strategic Collaboration & Technical Leadership
- Internal Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Collaborate internally across Application teams, Data & AI streams, partnering with product owners, data engineers, enterprise architects, and business domain leads to align technical capabilities with business strategy.
- Adoption & Advocacy: Promote design-first and protocol-driven thinking, advocating for standardized Integration/AI tools and contextual integration across functional and product lines.
Key Responsibilities
- Architect end-to-end integration solutions across source, connectors, orchestration, transport, and target systems using domain-driven design and API-led approaches.
- Apply a multi-platform integration strategy (Workato, Fivetran ETL, streaming, AWS) to select the right solution based on business and technical needs.
- Create high-level and low-level technical designs leveraging AWS, Workato, FiveTran and related CRM and ERP technologies.
- Define and enforce non-functional requirements including scalability, resiliency, availability, and performance.
- Ensure solutions comply with IT governance frameworks (ITGC, SOX, HIPAA, DSCSA) and pass architecture review boards.
- Design event-driven, REST-based, and GraphQL-based integration architectures.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in integration architecture / engineering, integration solution development or enterprise integrations.
- 10+ years of hands-on engineering experience and leadership demonstrated across a broad set of cloud technologies and back-end programming languages.
- 5+ years building and handling data pipelines/ETL with Fivetran DBT or similar tools.
- Proven experience designing API-led and event-driven architectures.
- AWS Certifications for development and architecture.
- Hands-on expertise with at least one major integration platform (Workato, MuleSoft, Boomi, or equivalent).
Preferred Qualifications
- Workato platform experience building and maintaining recipes, connectors, error-monitoring systems, and AI Control plane (or comparable iPaaS platforms like Mulesoft or Boomi).
- Familiarity with AI-enabled integration or intelligent automation.
- Relevant certifications (Workato, Salesforce, Snowflake, architecture frameworks).
The US annualized base salary range for this position is $161,000.00-$241,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.
The intelligent heart of customer experience
Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.
Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.
As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.
Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.
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Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
- Electronics & Hardware
- Automotive
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- Banking & Financial Services
Senior Level Staff Architect Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a senior level staff architect job?
Employers at this level look for candidates who have owned full project cycles, made consequential architecture decisions, and guided other engineers or designers through execution. Demonstrating that you've defined standards, resolved cross-functional conflicts, and delivered at scale carries more weight than credentials alone. A portfolio of outcomes, not just responsibilities, is what moves a senior level application to the top of the pile.
Which companies hire senior level staff architects?
Companies hiring senior level staff architects right now include Dell Technologies, General Motors, and UKG, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Hiring at this level comes from a wide range of employers, including large technology firms, engineering-intensive enterprises, and professional services organizations that need experienced architects to lead high-stakes initiatives.
Are there remote senior level staff architect jobs?
Yes, though availability varies by employer and specialty. About 73% of senior level staff architect openings are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting strong demand for experienced architects who can lead distributed teams and deliver outcomes without being on-site full time. Hybrid arrangements are common at organizations where some stakeholder collaboration happens in person.
What makes a staff architect role senior level?
Senior level staff architect roles are defined by scope, autonomy, and influence. Where a mid-level architect executes within a defined structure, a senior level architect sets that structure, owns technical direction across a system or program, and is accountable for outcomes rather than tasks. Mentoring junior and mid-level architects, driving cross-team alignment, and making decisions that shape product or infrastructure roadmaps are core expectations at this stage.
Which industries hire the most senior level staff architects?
Senior level staff architect roles concentrate in Technology & Software, Electronics & Hardware, and Automotive, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. These sectors tend to invest heavily at the senior level because the complexity of their systems, regulatory environments, or delivery timelines requires architects who can own design decisions and lead execution across large, interdependent teams.