Principal Architect, Public Library Software & Resource Sharing

Together we make breakthroughs possible.
At OCLC, we build technology with a purpose: to connect libraries and make knowledge accessible worldwide, because we believe that what is known must be shared. Our teams work with complex global datasets, AI and machine learning, hybrid cloud solutions, and other technologies that connect people and organizations to the information they need. We value the power of unique perspectives and experiences to unlock innovation. At OCLC, your ideas matter, whether you have two years of experience or 20. You’ll learn, create, and problem-solve with technologists, product developers, librarians, researchers, marketing pros, and support teams around the world.
Why join OCLC?
OCLC is consistently recognized as a best place to work by several independent programs We recognize and reward people and results with a comprehensive Total Rewards package. This means competitive compensation that reflects your unique contributions—performance, experience, and skills—along with exceptional benefits, including best-in-class health coverage, retirement plans with generous company contributions, and a commitment to your overall well-being.
We know the best ideas don’t always happen at a desk. Take a walking meeting around our 100-acre campus or enjoy lunch on the patio. We’re committed to your success—both personally and professionally. Hybrid work environment: For many roles, three days a week on-site, with occasional additional days based on business needs.
Free use of our on-site fitness center, gym sports, group exercise classes, and game room
Onsite catering and cafeteria subsidized by OCLC
Health and wellness events
Work environments with individual and team spaces and the latest technology tools
Paid parental leave and adoption assistance
Tuition reimbursement and Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility
Company-subsidized pricing on local tickets and memberships
Join us in transforming how people everywhere access information and be part of a mission-driven team that makes a global impact.
The Job Details are as follows:
The Principal Architect performs high level analysis and design of software programs and systems. Create, analyze, design, modify and test programs and systems. Architect and prototype systems.
Major responsibilities:
Lead architecture for Public Library Software and the Resource Sharing domain: define target architecture, patterns, and standards for APIs, integration, data, search, and deployment.
Translate business needs into high-level designs and practical implementation plans; produce architecture artifacts and roadmaps.
Champion ideas and drive change — actively promote and advance strategic technical and product ideas, not just report on them.
Advocate for the business — balance technology leadership with a clear focus on business outcomes and user value.
Drive modernization efforts (microservices, cloud, CI/CD, containerization, API design) and guide migration decisions.
Design for non-functional requirements: availability, scalability, performance, security, resilience, observability, and operability across global deployments.
Own technical review and governance — participate in and lead design reviews; enforce architectural patterns and request/advise on exceptions with Enterprise Architecture.
Prototype and validate new technologies (search, indexing, big data, caching, streaming) to accelerate product innovation.
Work closely with Product Management to prioritize technical investments and articulate tradeoffs and risks.
Provide hands-on technical leadership: design, code and review critical components as needed; collaborate with engineering teams to unblock delivery.
Mentor and coach engineers and architects; contribute to hiring, performance management, and technical career development.
Reduce communication chaos — close gaps between teams, simplify messaging, and create clear channels for technical decisions.
Own the big picture — provide high‑level architectural direction rather than micromanaging implementation details.
Decisive yet empowering — make clear architecture decisions and enable teams to execute and make local choices.
Lightweight people management — provide leadership and mentorship without heavy managerial responsibilities.
Collaborate with integrations, support, security, and operations teams to ensure smooth production rollout and ongoing reliability.
Evaluate third‑party products, standards (NCIP, ISO, NISO, etc.), and vendor solutions relevant to resource sharing; represent the organization in relevant forums when requested.
Ensure security awareness — embed security considerations into architecture and design decisions.
Operate effectively under ambiguity — make progress and adapt when requirements or technologies are unclear or shifting.
Minimum qualifications:
Master’s degree required plus 8 to 12 years experience at a high technical level of knowledge and experience. (Equivalent experience without a Master’s degree is 10 to 14 years experience at a high technical level of knowledge and experience.)
Demonstrated experience designing and delivering large‑scale, highly‑available, distributed web systems (international deployments preferred).
Strong hands‑on background in modern backend technologies and languages (Java preferred; experience with JVM ecosystem, or equivalent in other languages).
Deep experience with service/API design (REST/GraphQL), integration patterns, message/streaming platforms (Kafka or similar), and event‑driven architectures.
Proven track record with cloud platforms and operational patterns (AWS/GCP/Azure), containers (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), CI/CD and infrastructure as code.
Strong data architecture experience: data modeling, indexing/search systems (Elasticsearch/Solr), caching strategies, and familiarity with big data toolsets (Hadoop/Spark/Cassandra or equivalents).
Strong orientation to non‑functional requirements: performance, capacity planning, reliability engineering, security and compliance (GDPR, etc.).
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; ability to present architecture to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
Experience mentoring and growing engineering teams; able to influence cross‑functional peers and senior leaders.
Desired qualifications
Desired / domain advantages
Prior experience with library systems, resource sharing, ILL, or library standards (NCIP, ISO protocols, OCLC products) — strongly preferred.
Experience with search and indexing, relevancy tuning, and large index design.
Familiarity with library metadata formats (MARC, Dublin Core) and identifiers used in the library ecosystem.
Participation in standards bodies or community projects relevant to libraries or information exchange.
Experience with security standards and threat modeling for multi‑tenant SaaS or public‑facing APIs.