Senior Software Architect

Improving Calgary offers an exceptional work environment where consultants engage with cutting-edge technology across a diverse range of client engagements, all within a positive and inclusive culture. With a strong presence in the Canadian IT services industry, Improving Calgary has been serving clients for over twenty years.

We are hiring a senior, client-facing technical leader with a software engineering background to guide the modernization of legacy enterprise applications into modern, cloud-native solutions on AWS.

You will work closely with clients and delivery teams to define modernization strategies, design event-driven architectures, guide teams through implementation, and mentor developers on modern patterns and practices.

Note: For this initial project, the client requires consultants to be on-site five days a week in Calgary.

What You'll Do

• Lead application modernization initiatives, transforming legacy systems into modern AWS-based architectures built with application developers in mind
• Design cloud-native and event-driven solutions at the application layer, selecting appropriate AWS services and patterns
• Guide teams on architecture, modernization approach, and technical tradeoffs across the full software delivery lifecycle
• Collaborate directly with clients and stakeholders, explaining solutions and influencing decisions
• Mentor and support developers, including hands-on prototyping and example implementations when needed
• Contribute to discovery and planning, evolving high-level architecture into detailed technical designs
• Stay current on modern development practices, including AI-assisted development, and help teams adopt them thoughtfully

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer or application architect, with a track record of modernizing existing applications
• Strong foundation in modern application architecture: microservices, event-driven systems, domain-driven design, and API development
• Solid AWS experience applied at the application layer, including Lambda, ECS, and event-driven services such as SNS, SQS, and EventBridge
• Hands-on enough to write code when it serves the team, from quick prototypes to working through a complex implementation alongside developers
• Background in software development is essential; this is an application-focused role, not an infrastructure or DevOps position

Nice to Have

• Java or Spring Boot experience
• Familiarity with AWS Step Functions
• Infrastructure-as-code exposure (Terraform or CloudFormation) from a developer perspective
• Experience with Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Amazon MSK, or similar event streaming platforms
• Experience mentoring development teams through modernization efforts
• Strong client-facing and consulting skills
• Passion for learning new technologies and incorporating AI tooling into delivery workflows