Senior Software Systems Architect_Digital Applications
Who we are:
You just found your job destination! At Thales Alenia Space, we believe in space as a new horizon to build a more sustainable life on Earth. Space-based solutions contribute to connecting people, bridging the digital divide, navigating efficiently, and monitoring our planet.
If you are willing to work on exciting space programs for a leading satellite manufacturer, Thales Alenia Space, do not hesitate and apply online now!
Based in Belval (Esch-sur-Alzette), Thales Alenia Space in Luxembourg is a Digital Competence Centre developing state-of-the-art digital solutions using big data, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity technologies to address complex end-to-end space system challenges.
What we can do together:
We are looking for an experienced Senior Software Systems Architect to join our engineering team and contribute to the design of innovative digital solutions supporting space-related activities.
You will lead key architectural decisions related to software architecture, application design, integration patterns, and technology choices for complex digital applications and software services.
The role covers a broad range of solutions, including engineering applications, data-driven platforms, mission and ground segment applications, user-facing tools, workflow solutions, and services integrating multiple internal and external operational systems.
You will address architectural challenges related to scalability, maintainability, interoperability, performance, cybersecurity, usability, data management, deployment, and software lifecycle management. Depending on project needs, solutions may combine web technologies, cloud-native architectures, service-oriented approaches, event-driven systems, and data-centric platforms.
The ideal candidate will have a strong background in architecting, designing, developing, integrating, validating, deploying, and maintaining complex digital applications.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Define and maintain the end-to-end software architecture and technical roadmap for digital applications and related software services.
- Collaborate with customers, end users, project stakeholders, and engineering teams to understand business needs, operational requirements, and system constraints.
- Translate business, user, functional, performance, cybersecurity, and maintainability requirements into clear technical specifications.
- Define reference architectures, design principles, and reusable patterns covering front-end applications, back-end services, APIs, data management, system integration, authentication, observability, and deployment.
- Design modular, scalable, secure, maintainable, and evolvable software systems supporting changing business needs and long-term product evolution.
- Define architectures for internal and external system integration using APIs, asynchronous messaging, event-driven approaches, and appropriate data exchange mechanisms.
- Ensure applications provide high standards of usability and user experience by collaborating with UI/UX specialists and integrating user needs into application design.
- Work across the product portfolio, identifying opportunities for reuse, standardisation, and architectural synergies.
- Lead architectural studies, trade-off analyses, prototypes, benchmarks, and proof-of-concepts to evaluate performance, scalability, security, maintainability, interoperability, and operational suitability.
- Define and maintain software architecture baselines, including system decomposition, interface definitions, data flows, deployment models, Architecture Decision Records, design principles, and technology choices.
- Develop and maintain technical documentation, including C4 Model and UML diagrams, software architecture descriptions, software requirements, software design specifications, interface documentation, deployment views, user guides, and API documentation.
- Ensure architectural consistency throughout the software lifecycle, from requirements definition and development through validation, deployment, maintenance, and evolution.
- Collaborate with cybersecurity specialists to integrate security requirements, risk assessments, and cybersecurity-by-design principles into software architectures.
- Support application integration and validation activities, ensuring appropriate functional, integration, performance, usability, resilience, and security testing.
- Provide technical leadership during project proposals, customer workshops, technical reviews, architecture reviews, and engineering activities.
- Work closely with development, infrastructure, validation, and DevSecOps teams to ensure architectural decisions are correctly understood and implemented.
- Contribute to engineering governance through technical standards, development guidelines, reusable components, architecture reviews, and mentoring of engineering teams.
- Evaluate emerging technologies and assess their relevance, maturity, risks, and applicability to future digital applications.
About you:
We are looking for an engineer with significant experience designing and architecting complex digital applications and software solutions.
You should have:
- Min.5 years of professional experience in software architecture, application design, or technical leadership roles involving complex digital solutions.
- Proven experience designing software applications involving multiple components, user interfaces, services, data stores, interfaces, deployment environments, and external system integrations.
- Strong knowledge of application architecture concepts, including modular design, separation of concerns, domain modelling, service-oriented architectures, microservices, event-driven architectures, and API-based integration.
- Experience designing modern web applications and understanding of front-end architecture, component-based development, state management, client-server interactions, responsiveness, accessibility, and browser security.
- Practical experience with React or comparable modern front-end frameworks.
- Experience designing and developing back-end services using Go, Python, or comparable technologies. Experience with Rust or another memory-safe programming language is highly valued.
- Good understanding of API design and service integration, including REST APIs, asynchronous messaging, event-driven communication, interface versioning, error handling, and standards such as OpenAPI.
- Experience with SQL and NoSQL databases, data modelling, data access patterns, object storage, caching, search technologies, or distributed data management solutions.
- Experience with cloud-native and container-based application environments, including deployment, configuration, networking, observability, scalability, and application lifecycle management.
- Understanding of identity and access management concepts, authentication and authorisation mechanisms, secure session management, data protection, and application security risks.
- Understanding of DevSecOps practices, including Git-based workflows, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, automated testing, artefact management, dependency scanning, vulnerability scanning, and release management.
- Experience with technologies and tools such as Docker, Git, Jira, Confluence, Postman, or equivalent solutions.
- Experience using software architecture and modelling approaches such as C4 Model, UML, Architecture Decision Records, or equivalent frameworks.
- Ability to produce clear and comprehensive technical documentation, including architecture descriptions, software design specifications, API documentation, data models, and technical analyses.
- Ability to analyse complex technical and functional problems, compare architectural alternatives, make justified decisions, and communicate trade-offs clearly.
- Strong communication skills in English, with the ability to explain complex technical topics to engineering teams, end users, customers, programme managers, and non-specialist stakeholders.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, collaboration, and technical leadership skills.
- Experience working across the complete software lifecycle, from user needs and requirements definition through architecture, implementation, integration, validation, deployment, maintenance, and product evolution.
Additional skills and experience that would be highly valued:
- Understanding of space operations, mission operations, ground segment systems, satellite data processing, or related space technologies.
- Experience designing applications used in operational, mission-critical, safety-related, or highly regulated environments.
- Experience with applications supporting mission planning, operations monitoring, or decision-support activities.
- Knowledge of micro-frontend architectures, design systems, reusable UI component libraries, and large-scale front-end application governance.
- Experience with complex data visualisation, geospatial information systems, mapping technologies, telemetry displays, dashboards, or time-series data.
- Knowledge of real-time application architectures using technologies such as WebSockets, server-sent events, asynchronous messaging, or streaming platforms.
- Experience with workflow engines, business process management, rule engines, or configurable application platforms.
- Experience with digital twin applications, simulation platforms, data spaces, federated systems, or model-based systems engineering environments.
- Experience with Kubernetes-based platforms, Platform-as-a-Service environments, service meshes, API gateways, or cloud-native application services.
- Experience with application observability, including logging, metrics, distributed tracing, audit trails, performance monitoring, and user experience monitoring.
- Knowledge of secure software practices, including zero-trust architectures, software bills of materials, cryptographic signing, secure software supply chains, and security testing.
- Experience with high-availability applications, graceful degradation, disaster recovery, data backup and restoration, and fault-tolerant architectures.
- Familiarity with space software engineering standards and processes, including ECSS or comparable quality-, safety-, mission-, or security-critical development frameworks.
- Knowledge of open-source software ecosystems and experience evaluating, integrating, or contributing to open-source technologies.
We are looking for skilled and ambitious people as we continue building our team and creating a positive, diverse, and collaborative work environment.
What we offer:
Together, we will contribute to building a new company driven by an entrepreneurial mindset. You will experience new ways of working and help create innovative digital technologies for Space.
You will become part of the dynamic Luxembourg space and digital ecosystem and work for an inspiring group of 80,000 people present in 68 countries.
We offer a competitive remuneration package aligned with your qualifications and experience.
We look forward to discussing your next career move.
Innovation, passion, ambition: join Thales now and create tomorrow’s world with us.
At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working. Great journeys start here, apply now!