PermitSF Solutions Architect Department of Technology

Overview

The Department of Technology (DT) is seeking a PermitSF Solution Architect to lead the City’s technical strategy, integration architecture, and system interoperability for the unified permitting platform launched in 2026. This role focuses on ensuring data flows across permitting systems, establishing an integration architecture that enables Open Gov to work with City systems such as Accela, Oracle Forms, and Clariti. The Architect will define enterprise standards, guide architectural decisions, and work with PermitSF, DataSF, Digital Services, the Mayor’s Office of Innovation (MOI), and DT to align data governance, API standards, and roadmaps for Citywide modernization.

The Architect will develop a long-term plan for replacing legacy systems and guide decisions to ensure scalability, resilience, and sustainability.

• Provide strategic leadership for PermitSF’s integration and system architecture to ensure data exchange and interoperability across departments.
• Lead architectural decisions for connecting Open Gov with City systems, including legacy platforms (Accela, Oracle Forms, Clariti) and City infrastructure (API gateway, cloud, data platforms).
• Establish and maintain enterprise architecture standards covering integrations, data exchange, GIS/addressing, identity, document management, and API design.
• Define the integration layer that decouples City systems from Open Gov logic for long-term flexibility.
• Ensure alignment with citywide strategies for cloud, cybersecurity, privacy, and digital transformation.
• Architect the system landscape supporting PermitSF, including data synchronization, workflow coordination, data pipelines, GIS services, document management, and API/event-driven integrations.
• Occasionally perform light technical prototyping, configuration, or proof-of-concept work to validate integration approaches.
• Guide implementation partners and vendors to ensure architecture compliance and long-term sustainability.
• Advise on configuration tradeoffs to minimize customizations and technical debt.
• Develop the roadmap for transitioning from legacy systems to Open Gov, including coexistence and phased replacement strategies.
• Define operational standards for integrations, including monitoring, performance, security, and lifecycle management.
• Collaborate with DT engineering and operations to ensure platform readiness and support.
• Partner with PermitSF leadership, business owners, DataSF, MOI, and Digital Services to align solutions with redesigned workflows and data governance needs.
• Act as a liaison across City departments — Planning, DBI, Public Works, Fire, Public Health, DataSF, and DT — to ensure technical consistency and alignment.

Education
:
Possession of an associate’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field from an accredited college or university OR its equivalent in total course credits/units (at least 60 semester or 90 quarter credits/units with a minimum of 20 semester or 30 quarter credits/units in Computer Science, Engineering or a closely-related field).

Experience
:
Five (5) years of experience in enterprise architecture, solution design, or technical leadership roles.

Substitution
:
Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to two years). One year is equivalent to 30 semester or 45 quarter units with a minimum of 10 semester / 15 quarter units in one of the specified fields.

Note:

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted. One-year full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours; overtime is not included in the calculation for full-time employment.

• Strong background in…