Associate Director, Solution Architecture

Overview

At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, we have an exciting opportunity for an energetic, passionate, and accomplished Associate Director of Solution Architecture. This critical, hands‑on leadership role is responsible for guiding a team of architects while personally driving the development of reliable and scalable digital technology solutions. It reports to the Director of Digital Technology and Delivery and works closely with senior business and technology partners to provide the architectural leadership required to deliver a highly personalized, consistent, and engaging customer experience.

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of high‑performing solution architects, fostering their technical growth and career development.
• Roll up your sleeves and lead by example, guiding your team and personally building hands‑on Proofs‑of‑Concept (POCs) for new technologies, including AI, machine learning, and intelligent agents.
• Provide technology direction and thought leadership for the digital solutions portfolio, ensuring continuous improvement in the performance of member‑facing applications.
• Engage in deep, hands‑on technical work alongside your team and development PODs to solve complex architectural challenges and ensure solutions are implemented to the highest standard.
• Govern the architectural design of member‑facing applications, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards for performance, security, and scalability.
• Establish and enforce architectural best practices, serving as the ultimate authority on technical standards and complex issue resolution for the team.
• Forge strategic partnerships with leaders across technology (Enterprise Architecture, Security, Infrastructure, Data) to ensure architectural initiatives align with broader business and technology goals.

• Proven experience leading and mentoring a team of architects, combined with a strong, current, and continuous hands‑on technical ability.
• Deep, hands‑on expertise architecting, solutioning, and delivering enterprise‑scale mobile and/or web applications. You are expected to be able to jump in and code on POCs and contribute to design sessions at a granular level.
• A strong foundation in modern application architecture (APIs, microservices, cloud), with strategic experience governing solutions in secure cloud environments (e.g., AWS, PaaS).
• Demonstrable experience with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies and their practical application in digital solutions.
• A strategic mindset for managing technical debt, with experience implementing processes to improve code quality and system longevity.
• Extensive experience forging and leveraging strong relationships across both technical and business divisions to drive architectural alignment.
• Expertise in modern security practices and Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions.
• Experience with the following technologies:
  • Mobile Development:
    Android Native, iOS Native, Reactive Native, Angular
  • Web Technologies:
    Content Management systems such as Drupal, Content Delivery Networks like Akamai or F5
  • API and Security:
    Gateway security such as F5 and Apigee
  • Dev Ops and Cloud: AWS, Spring Boot, Confluent Kafka
  • Databases:
    Relational, Object‑Oriented, No
    
    SQL, In Memory
  • Performance and Monitoring:
    Performance testing tools (Load Runner, JMeter, Gatling), Performance monitoring and observability (Splunk Observability, New Relic), AWS Monitoring (Cloud Watch, Performance Insights), Debug and analysis tools (Splunk, Log Rocket), and Browser Stack

• Master’s degree in computer science or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of technology leadership, including a solid understanding of technology selection, architecture, full‑stack implementation, and at least 3‑5 years in a formal people‑management role.
• A proven self‑starter with a "player‑coach" mindset and the demonstrated ability to make strategic decisions.
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills, with the ability to clearly communicate complex technical concepts to any audience, from developers to senior executives.
• The ability to handle multiple strategic priorities simultaneously, combined with…