Principal Architect – Cloud, Data & Subscriptions Modernization

We are the movers of the world and the makers of the future. We get up every day, roll up our sleeves and build a better world — together. At Ford, we’re all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves?

The Ford Motor Credit Company team helps put people behind the wheels of great Ford and Lincoln vehicles. By partnering with dealerships, we provide financing, personalized service and professional expertise to thousands of dealers and millions of customers in over one hundred countries around the world.

In this position…

We are seeking a Principal Architect to drive the modernization of our cloud-native data, application, and subscription platforms. This role will be responsible for defining and executing an enterprise architecture strategy that aligns with business objectives, data mesh principles, and distributed cloud-native systems, with a particular focus on billing and payment ecosystems.

As a technical thought leader, you will architect scalable, resilient, and secure platforms, collaborating with engineering teams to ensure best practices in cloud infrastructure, data engineering, and automation. You will also play a pivotal role in influencing technical roadmaps, mentoring engineers, and championing innovation, particularly in the domain of recurring revenue and customer retention.

What you’ll do…

Define and execute the technical vision and strategy for cloud modernization, leveraging Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Design and implement scalable, resilient, and secure cloud‑native architectures, integrating machine learning, big data, and observability solutions.

Establish best practices for automation, CI/CD, and Dev Sec Ops  to drive operational efficiency and software quality.

Lead technical governance to ensure alignment with business objectives, security policies, and compliance requirements.

Architect and implement event‑driven data architectures that support data mesh principles, data as a product, and domain‑driven design (DDD).

Define strategies for data interoperability, governance, and self‑service platforms to enable AI and analytics‑driven decision‑making.

Architect solutions to effectively manage the entire subscription lifecycle, from initial signup to renewal and cancellation.

Design systems to handle complex subscription scenarios, such as proration, recurring billing failures, and account holds.

Partner with engineering, product, and business teams to define scalable and cost‑efficient architectural solutions.

Act as a mentor and coach to senior engineers and architects, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.

Drive technical innovation by researching emerging technologies, contributing to open‑source communities, and participating in industry forums.

You’ll have…

10 years of experience in software architecture, cloud engineering, or enterprise systems design.

Deep expertise in cloud‑native platforms (GCP, AWS, Azure) and containerized microservices architectures (Kubernetes, Docker, Istio, Service Mesh).

Strong knowledge of distributed data systems, event‑driven architectures (Kafka, Pub Sub, etc.), and API design (Graph

QL, REST, gRPC).

Hands‑on experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible), CI/CD pipelines, and observability tools (Prometheus, Open Telemetry, Grafana).

Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.

Even better, you may have…

Experience with various payment gateways, processors, and technologies (e.g., Stripe, Pay Pal, Adyen, Recurly, Chargebee).

Deep understanding of billing models (including subscription‑based), payment processing, and financial systems integration.

Experience in data governance, security, and compliance in cloud environments.

Hands‑on experience with AI/ML deployment, MLOps, and model monitoring.

Certifications such as GCP Professional Cloud Architect, AWS Solutions Architect, or Azure Solutions Architect.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we’ve outlined, but if you…